Review of Good Will Hunting (1997) by Adam A — 02 Oct 2014

The wonderful thing about certain films is that they can resonate with you as a person, you can feel the characters pain or anguish because you have been through a smiliar process. For me, Good Will Hunting, strikes those chords and its not because I think im a genius who should be doing something better with his life, its because the main message of this film is so strong that everyone on the planet can relate to it.

Good Will Hunting, follows the story of a troubled youth called Will, He and his friends, typically go out, they drink, they get in fights. In fact Will actually has quite the criminal history. The flip side is he is one of the smartest mathematitions around.

He is noticed by Jerry, a Lecturer at one of Americas most prestigious universities after Will has secretly been completely extremely complex algorythms. Jerry decides to go out on a limb and come to an agreement with the courts.

If Jerry works with Will every week and also gets Will to successfully endure therapy, the judge will drop the case. Cue Sean, one of Jerry's old friends from college, the only therapist to relate with Will, trying to set him on the correct path.

Good Will Hunting is a master stroke of genius. Its hard to believe that Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, the 2 co stars of this movie wrote the thing, the dialogue, although a bit forced in some places, is some witty, so intellectual and thoughtful to think that 2 kids could come up with that, is amazing.

It also helps that the talent behind this film is immense. Gus Vant Sant directs, Lawrence Bender, Kevin Smith and the Weinsteins all produce. The cast, which includes, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Stellan Starsgard, Casey Affleck, Minnie Driver and of course the late great Robin Williams are all absolutely on the button, it sends this film into the stratosphere.

The relationships here are all genuine and heart braking. Wither it be the heart aching relationship between lovers Will and Skyler or Will and Sean, every relationship has a meaning, it has weight, it has an important reason to be within the film.

Which is why at no point does the film include any forced material or even needless material. The acting ranges from good to superb. Matt Damon, Stellan Skarsgard, Robin Williams and Casey Affleck all knock it straight out of the ball park.

Ben Affleck works well enough as Will's best friend, however his character is a little under developed and under utilized. Minnie Driver is also reasonable but kind of gets swept under the carpet here by the surrounding talent.

The pacing is wonderful, you are never board, you are never twiddling your thumbs waiting for something monumental to happen, your too engrossed on the screen. Van Sant gets us up close and personal with his characters also, even in some of the rawest moments between Williams and Damon, after Will rubs up his therapist about his dead wife, the camera is right up in the action, right in the emotion.

You cant help but feel the surge of power come from their performances. The film looks great and over 15 years old, it still looks the part, it almost feels timeless. It could almost be set in modern day.

There are very few things wrong with this movie, yeah there are a couple of minor characters who are just in there to fill the screen at points and some of the dialogue, mostly between the younger characters can be a bit forced and dated but it doesnt take away from the over all experience.

Finally, now more than ever, and not that this film should be judged on the credentials of one actor, but watching this film after Williams departure with us, serves as a reminder of what a loss we truely have experienced in the film world.

His therapy during the film is heart braking, to watch him re-tell stories of him and his wife, or try and make Will understand what life is all about, knowing the troubles he later went through in life, still makes for a very hard watch.

It's difficult to not get teary eyed while watching this film. But that is not a bad thing, that serves as an ode to Williams and the sheer dominance he had at his job. A brilliant film, with brilliant performances and a fantastic script.

A must see.