Review of Good Will Hunting (1997) by Chris O — 23 Aug 2016

With powerful performances, "Good Will Hunting" is a perfect example of excellent dialogue and compelling characters.

A young janitor grew up with a troubled childhood and little to go to, but has the brains of a genius and the work effort of a teenager. One day, when he solves a seemingly impossible math problem, he finds himself under the mentorship of a few bright minds. Although he's got the potential to be basically anything he wants, his stubbornness and fears will push not only his mentors to the test, but himself.

If anything, watch this movie for the performances. A young Matt Damon and Ben Affleck should be enough to attract most people, but watching Robin Williams in one of his best films makes you feel like you're truly in the presence of greatness. The performances are all so amazing and I actually didn't expect Matt Damon to be this good. He plays this troubled teen who has so much potential but is so damaged that he refuses to do anything about it. I love his character and he's so relatable in so many ways. Ben Affleck's role wasn't too big, but he did co-write the film, so applause to him. I had never really seen a ton of Robin William's performances and seeing him in live action felt very real and genuine. I wasn't as happy with the late introduction of his character, but he was stellar none the less. Stellan Skarsgard also had a great performance with his stand out moments, and even Minnie Driver had her moments late in the game.

The screenplay was very well written in my opinion. It had a few stereotypes and predictable moments in there, and for the most part, it followed a fairly safe route. It did feel a little repetitive at times, as it felt like there were a lot of moments that followed the same dialogue structure and the biggest moments were fueled by purely dialogue. However, that's not always a bad thing, it just felt a little repetitive. It doesn't stray from the fact that I would replay certain scenes just for the monologues alone.

This movie is a great character study and it was so intriguing to learn more about these characters. There are so many relatable aspects that actually brought tears to my eyes. I smiled, I was impressed, and I wanted to cry all in one film. That's always a positive.

Now, I wasn't in love with this movie. To me, there was nothing extremely unique about this film that I haven't necessarily seen before, but this movie is the favorite film of someone very close to me. With that being said, I know I'll be able to watch this film and smile, while remembering all of the happiness and tears it brought to someone's life. This film will always be considered a classic and I'm proud to own it in my collection.

In the end, I thoroughly enjoyed this film and although I didn't love it, it'll always hold a place in my heart for different reasons.