Review of Good Will Hunting (1997) by Starmarx39 — 17 Mar 2015

For what it is, Good Will Hunting isn't bad. Robin Williams is okay, the message is inoffensive, it serves fine in that respect. But by no means is it special. Even if it was relatively original for its time, this is just another hefty serving of Robin Williams ego-porn. "He's a genius". "This is unorthodox". The whole stupid slew of quirky-but-good nonsense audiences eat up to make them feel like they've achieved something. The protagonist is bland, annoyingly shallow and eerily 2d. He exists purely for the audience to relate to so when he is told he is oh-so-bloody-great the audience will feel complimented, proud, and therefore enjoy it. Anyone looking for a story however will find bland, unoriginal pandering and little else. It may have been one of the first films to do this trope, but today with all the times we see this bland predictable little sketch it simply can't be justified to watch unless you have some deep personal connection with Robocop. I mean Matt Damon. I mean WIll. Bland, competently well done, mostly well-acted but in the end utterly forgettable and lacking substance.

And don't go all artsy on me, that symbolism they toss in is clumsy and obvious as it gets. I was told "You'll like this. It's a smart movie." It isn't. It's ego-porn. Make no mistake.