There were few films in 1997 that enjoyed more publicity than Good Will Hunting. Most of the hype centered on the two tyro actors who penned the screenplay. It seems that they had been friends for years and in between college obligations, drinking and socialising, they had been toying with a script on the side. What started out as a rather average comedy, soon evolved into a sophisticated drama. In fact, it could hardly avoid getting better as Matt Damon and Ben Affleck must have received a ton of brutal criticism from every Hollywood executive that they approached.
The true miracle is not that two actors, unknown for writing, could get a script accepted in Hollywood but that the script was so good that it put every other effort for the year in the shade. In my opinion, the motion picture academy was correct in awarding the Oscar for best screenplay to Good Will Hunting. Everything about the script suggested writers with a profound understanding of the human condition; even now I half suspect there was an element of that old saying about an infinite number of monkeys on typewriters.
For those interested in this Cinderella story within a movie, you should listen to the director's track on the DVD. It offers a unique insight into the background of the writing and filming of Good Will Hunting. It becomes clear from Ben and Matt's reminiscences that they had a ball during every part of the process. Not only that, they took advantage of their opportunity, to offer support roles to friends and family; a situation that rarely occurs outside of independent film. Surprisingly, one of the best support performances was produced by Casey Affleck, who is Ben's cousin, (I think).
The script took a bit of a risk by making the main character a super-genius. Not only is it difficult to portray a person with such talents but it is nearly impossible to do so while making him likeable. After all, the tall poppy syndrome is strongest when it comes to intellect. We can all aspire to wealth and with plastic surgery, even beauty is not unattainable but the brains you are born with is the most you're ever going to have. However, Matt Damon proved me wrong on both counts.
Will Hunting was undeniably bright. The scene in the Harvard bar were he takes on an educational supremacist is worth watching again and again just for the superb timing that was employed. Will also manages to win our sympathy despite his I.Q. Not so much because he acts like "one of the boys" but because we discover early on that for every blessing he received in the brain department, he was given a matching curse in his life. An orphan who was raised by a series of abusing foster parents is unlikely to have much room left for pride.
The catalyst which helps Will break out of his life is Gerald Lambeau, (Stellan Skarsgård). He is an award winning mathematician and professor at MIT where Will works as a janitor. Their paths cross when Will off-handedly solves a difficult maths problem which Lambeau had set for his post graduate class. But whilst there relationship is important, it is little more than a subplot; a segue toward Will's eventual meeting with Sean Maguire, a psychiatrist played by Robin Williams.
Sean is invited by Lambeau to work with Will. The two are old friends but even so, Sean was only approached after four other therapists had been run off by Will's destructive insights and bitter insults. Sean is a bird of a different feather however. He shares a common background with Will, and if anything, he has had more pain in his life than Will may ever see. In a strange way, Sean becomes Will's mother to Lambeau's role as ambitious father.
The film is rich with detail and is a wonderful medium for the support actors. Ben Affleck's role as Will's best friend is not as visible as Matt Damon's but he carries it off with just the right amount of fatalism and aggression. Will's Lady friend Skylar, is also worth special mention. Minnie Driver takes a seemingly token "love interest" role and breaths real depth into it. Without her efforts, Will's final choice would not have rung true and might have marred the whole film.
Good Will Hunting is a tribute to the dreams of American youth. Both because two young men managed to reach the pinnacle of their craft on their first outing but more importantly, because it deals with one young man's struggle to overcome his troublesome past while reaching out to grasp life, love and happiness. It's touching, entertaining and at the same time inspirational.
Every now and then, a movie comes along that absolutely blows your world apart. It gives you a perspective on life that you never had before. It weasels its way into your psyche, unbeknownst to you, and takes root...becoming a major part of your inner workings. It's like Inception! When I first saw Good Will Hunting (1997) in 1998 when it came out, I had no idea that 13 years later this little indie film written by two wet-behind-the-ear kids from "Bahh-ston" would be one of my favorite films of all time. I mean...these two guys, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, are my contemporaries and I was 24 when this movie touched my heart and soul. That's pretty incredible writing from two young guys in their 20s, which won them both Oscars for Best Original Screenplay. Good Will Hunting is firmly planted in my Top 25 films of all time. And I doubt it will ever leave. Especially because the film is as fresh and critical today as it ever was. Repeatedly, over and over, this movie gets to me like so few do.
It's a perfect film (5 out of 5 stars) about the inherent flaws and failures that go hand-in-hand with life's greatest successes and achievements. The human condition, especially the condition of being a man, is flopped onto the operating table in Good Will Hunting and surgically dissected into all the psychological bits and quirks that somehow magically come together to create each of our lives. The emotional and intellectual depth present in the script, the acting, the dialogue, and all the details of this film, belies its book cover. If by some odd chance you haven't yet gone on this journey with Will Hunting, then by all means, get into this film now and for many years to come.
I watched Good Will Hunting for the umpteenth time tonight, but for the first time in over a year and the first time in HD. Having seen the film in the theater, on VHS, on DVD, and on TV, I know it like the back of my hand. And yet in HD, there were details that were brought to my attention like never before. Textures in the actors faces, colors that were brighter than they've ever been, locations that popped out, and dialog that reminds us all why we enjoyed The Social Network (2010) so much this past year. Director Gus Van Sant has never been better in his cinematic craftsmanship, then with his work on Good Will Hunting. He brings his artistic flare and unique storytelling techniques to a more mainstream presentation than his typical indie fare. It's films like this that make someone's career, or bring it back to life. And it did that for all the major players here. It brought the incredible filmmaking talents of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck to the attention of Hollywood, both for acting and writing. It brought Gus Van Sant into the light of mainstream Hollywood directing. It really introduced us to Stellan Skarsgård, Minnie Driver, Casey Affleck, and Cole Hauser, all of whom are well known actors now, who got there talents showcased in this film. And it finally gave Robin Williams his much deserved Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, after being nominated for his incredible work in Good Morning Vietnam (1987) and Dead Poets Society (1989).
It's hard for me to write about Good Will Hunting because its the kind of complex, intelligent, yet very emotional story that is really best told through film, not writing. I love reading good prose like anyone, but film has a way of bringing that prose to life through its visuals, emotions, and music that our brains just don't create for us in our imaginations quite so viscerally. That being said, I'll do the best I can here! Matt Damon stars as Will Hunting, a mathematical genius in the form of a young man who was an abused orphan. Hunting has struggled all of his life, moving from foster home to foster home, job to job, and brawl to brawl. But living in South Boston, he's made some extremely close friends...brothers really...played ironically and fortuitously by real life brothers Ben & Casey Affleck and Cole Hauser. It absolutely helps sell the realism of the relationship between these actors that 3 out of 4 of them grew up in Boston together in real life.
After Will gets into another fight to defend his tough 'Southie" reputation, he gets arrested and put in jail. And this time he can't intellectualize his way out of it. But before being arrested, he catches the attention of a math professor at Harvard, played brilliantly by Stellan Skarsgård. Professor Gerald Lambeau challenges his students to solve a complex math problem that he puts up on a chalkboard. Working as a Janitor at Harvard, Will puts the solution to the math problem on the chalkboard one night while cleaning, and eventually gets discovered by Lambeau, who convinces the Judge to let Will out of jail under his guidance and care. But in return, Will has to attend weekly therapy sessions to address his issues with violence and crime. After going through a string of different types of therapists, Lambeau takes Will to his old college roommate Sean Maguire who happens to be a psychologist and community college instructor from Southie, just like Will. Robin Williams plays Maguire with absolute brilliance, creating a character that challenges, helps and befriends Will. The rest of the movie follows this journey through Will's therapy sessions, his new love relationship with Minnie Driver's "Skylar", his weekly "hang outs" with his best friends, and his work with Professor Lambeau solving complex math problems. The journey is really all about Will completing his past and starting to discover who he is and what gifts he has.
I think the main reason Good Will Hunting has such a strong place in my heart as a film is because of the story of Will. While totally different than my own, it still has the same fundamentals of growing up, finding yourself, getting complete with your childhood and your past, falling in love, and searching for your purpose in life that we all experience....and continue to experience over and over again throughout life. While I'm no math genius, never been to Boston, or been an orphan, I still strongly relate to the emotional and psychological struggles that Will has. Damon and Affleck clearly wrote this story pulling from their own lives to some degree, their own journeys into male adulthood, and brought a realism to the details of the story that makes this relatable to just about anyone. The jokes and stories in Good Will Hunting are absolutely hilarious and still give me a great laugh now, dozens of times later. And the verbal banter between Skarsgård and Williams, Williams and Damon, Damon and Driver, and amongst the 4 friends/brothers, is simply some of the best dialog ever written and acted. I laugh, I cry, and I escape in to the world of Will Hunting every single time I watch this movie.
I've said before that part of how I judge a movie to be a 4 or 5 star film is because of it's longevity and appeal over time. I rarely give a movie that I see for the first time a 4 or 5 star rating. Usually they get 3 or 3.5 stars initially, and then have to earn there way up the ladder through repeated viewings over years. I know that Good Will Hunting was probably a 3.5 or 4 star film to me when I first saw it, not that I was rating films back then like I do now. But over the years, I've connected with Good Will Hunting time and time again. It's one of those movies that I watch once a year, not so much as "entertainment" but as a heartfelt psychological escape that puts me "in touch with the universe" as I like to call it. It reconnects me, when I need it to, to the universal energy and "truths" that we are all continually seeking comfort in. It reminds me that I'm here to live the life I've been given, and not someone else's. Will feels this obligation to his friends to stick around Southie, to work in some blue collar job like the rest of them, to raise a family there and go to ball games with his friends and their eventual families. But Will has talents and genius that don't really fit into that world. And he's pulled in these two opposite directions, one with his head and one with his heart. Who in their life hasn't felt that same struggle at some point? Or goes through it again? And again? I know that I have...and that I continue to periodically. Good Will Hunting reminds me to connect my head and my heart and create a path that wins for both.
As I was watching all of the sizzling scenes between Skarsgard and Williams tonight, it dawned on me more clearly than ever how these two characters represent the two opposing, yet complimentary aspects of our human nature: our mind and our heart. Skarsgard, as the Math Professor, represents our intellect, our mind, our voice that's always rattling things off to us in our head. That logical and responsible part of ourselves. Williams, as the Psychologist, represents our heart, our soul, our gut instincts, our feelings. That lover and fighter within us. These two yin-and-yang characters play out so well when separated into these distinct characters, giving us an external view into our own internal battles. I've always known this on a subconscious level, but tonight I became aware of it consciously. Amazing how this film keeps giving me little kernels of insight into myself and into the universe each time I watch it and internalize it.
In terms of filmmaking, Good Will Hunting has excellent production design, Oscar level acting by nearly the entire cast, brilliant writing, subtle but incredible cinematography, and masterful directing. It just doesn't get much better than this! The music and score for Good Will Hunting, while subtle like the photography, are perfectly fitted for the mood, emotion, and story of this film. Music Composer Danny Elfman did his best work here, still to this day. What strikes me most about Director of Photography Jean-Yves Escoffier's work here is the stillness he brings to the shots. It's like he's waiting with his camera for something to happen. And it does! He lets the actors, the sets, and the locations do the work, instead of the handheld photography doing the work. I feel like so many current films, like Black Swan (2010) for example, get caught up in handheld photography that makes me feel like we've all got ADD and can't just sit and watch the story unfold, but that we need the camera to "jiggle" to remind us somehow that we are like voyeurs peeking into the lives of these characters. I don't need that on every character-driven movie! There's my little rant on the current state of handheld cinematography being so dominant in current films. But my point is that Good Will Hunting, which pre-dates the current popularity of handheld photography, has a more subtle yet powerful way of presenting its visuals to us through the richness of the design of the sets, the locations, the costumes and makeup, and the actors themselves.
I look forward to the eventual release of this cinematic masterpiece on Blu-ray, which I would bet comes to fruition this year or next. It will certainly be a film that I upgrade my current DVD collection to include in HD. And hopefully Damon and Affleck will re-team someday to bring us another film of this caliber. As far as I'm concerned, they both have yet to top their performances in Good Will Hunting. But they've come really close with their recent work. Damon with the Bourne Trilogy, and Affleck with The Town (2010).
Buy Good Will Hunting Now
This movie goes off the charts in all the most important ways, in terms of storyline, ensemble acting presented, contemporary humor, revealing truths about life and the problems associated with a young, brilliant, but emotionally troubled young man trying desperately to make sense out of a crazy world. What is so amazing and so remarkable about the film is that it was the handywork and dreamchild of two relatively unknown (at least up until then) actors and screenwriters in the persons of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, boyhood friends and denizens of the greater Boston area.
Add to this superb screenplay the support of wonderful actors like Robin Williams, who won a best supporting actor oscar for his role as the psychiatrist who unlocks the secrets to the protagonist (Will Hunting)and allows him to grow and mature. Minnie Driver is also excellent as the love interest drawing Will Hunting toward his beckoning adulthood. She is also the occasion for the single best line in the film; "You like apples? I got her phone number! How do you like them apples?" This film works so well on so many levels that it is really a shame that it lost the Oscar for best picture to "Shakespeare In Love", for this is a far more powerful, enduring, and worthwhile film experience. if you haven't seen it, I recommend you RUN to the nearest video store and rent it. And after you swoon before its magic, you'll want to come back to Amazon.com and order a copy for your personal video library. Enjoy!
Read Best Reviews of Good Will Hunting Here
The angry one star reviews for Good Will Hunting demean the legitimacy of the angry one star reviews for films such as Titanic, which are truly terrible. Good Will Hunting is not a lavish hollywood blockbuster that cost 70 million to make and trippled that at the box office. It did well and garnered critical praise but it's still a (relatively) art house film handled well by Van Sant who has constructed good, small, location and lifestyle specific American movies.
This movie is the same. I actually agree with some of the legitimate criticism that this movie is predictable and over wound up at the end. The other criticism about how Will shouldn't be a genius and that the film is generally "trite" seems like silly prejudice.
Take my perspective... I'm a young writer of screenplays and saw the silly looking trailers for this movie written by two young guys. I was sort of furious on the inside that these two were being lauded as great and I've never seen a Robin Williams movie that wasn't over sentimental trash. Then I go to the Angelica in New York, fuming and ready to hate this movie. But I couldn't... it was too well done, well acted by all three of my nemesis and genuinely funny and emotional. Those below who say that Matt Damon's performance is bad are one of two things without any clue about acting or jealous (and stupid because honestly I'm jealous yet I think he was great).
In addition, the features here are definately good for a couple of days watching and paint a vivid picture of how this film came to be.
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I love this movie and got it today on Blu Ray. This is not made in the states but I was lucky enough to see it listed on Ebay and got it for only $15. It was made in Canada and has cover act that has some info in both English and French. Even though its not a high action movie that would really benefit from the Blu Ray upgrade, I think the upgrade is very noticable and I am glad I decided to upgrade. GWH is one of my favorite films of all time and having it in Blu Ray is awesome!
There is a scene in Sleepless in Seattle when Sam (Tom Hanks), Suzy (Rita Wilson), and Greg (Victor Garber) are discussing what are frequently referred to as "chick flicks." Whatever the criteria for selection, there are many candidates for this category which usually include Steel Magnolias. After seeing it again recently, I decided that calling it a "chick flick" demeans what director Herbert Ross and his cast and crew achieved. This film really does have wide and deep appeal to both and men and women of all ages. Of greater significance, it seems even better each time it is seen again. The reverse is true of almost all other films which touch our hearts. As in Robert Harling's play on which it is based, all of the main characters are women: Clairee Belcher (Olympia Dukakis), M'Lynn Eatenton (Sally Field), Truvy Jones (Dolly Parton), Annelle Depuy Desoto (Daryl Hannah), Ouiser Boudreaux (Shirley MacLaine), and Shelby Eatenton Latcherie (Julia Roberts).
