Review of Good Will Hunting (1997) by Ambermd — 21 Feb 2018

This an exceptional movie revolving around the theme growth. We start out meeting Will Hunting as a cocky, rude and frankly dangerous 20 year old who has no idea what he is doing, and when he is convicted for a fight, we soon learn at court that he is an orphan who has had many abusive foster families, causing his behaviour.

By the end of the movie, Will has ironically matured in age and in character as he gets a job he is finally worthy of, and whilst he originally takes it, he decides to leave it whilst he goes to "see about a girl".

This therefore shows he has taken the even braver option, facing his demons of forever being alone. The growth theme takes the same journey with Will's therapist Sean, who we see move on from the passing of his wife.

When Will first confronts Sean about his wife, Sean gets so angry that he strangles him, but when Will confronts him about it more angrily in a later session, Sean replies calmly. Sean is also shown to have confronted his inner termoil towards the professor.

Sean's plotline concludes as he decides to go travelling (showing he does not need to put all his focus into his work after his wife's death), when he finds a letter from Will saying he has left to follow Skylar, foreshadowing that Will will continue to lead a successful and in-love life, similar to Sean's.

Overall, the script and acting is really what carried this movie, with heartfelt performances from Williams and Damon, and incredibly detailed and articulate writing, helping the audience delve deeper into Damon's character.