GOOD WILL HUNTING (R)
Directed by Gus Van Sant Jr. Running Time: 126 minutes Originally Released: December 5, 1997
Reviewed by E. Benjamin Kelsey
* * * * (out of four)
Given the opportunity, I would much rather be a musical genius than a math prodigy. Luckily, I stand a much better chance of that than the other. But as Matt Damon's character Will Hunting explains, it's something that some people might "just get". Beethoven looked at a piano and just understood it, Will explains, and while he can't play a tune to save himself, when it comes to complex mathematical equations, he just gets it.
Will grew up an orphan on the poorer side of Boston, living a life of abusive foster parents and insecurity. On the verge of his 21st birthday, the closest he's come to prestige is working as a janitor for the world-renowned MIT. He's hot-tempered, he's cocky, he's sarcastic, and he's fearful of even the slightest depths of intimacy, but behind all the obvious signs of a troubled kid, Will has abilities very few of us possess. Example? How about solving math problems that even learned scholars took two years to figure out, and doing it in just one night?
MIT Professor Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgård, most notably from BREAKING THE WAVES) has been leaving these challenges on a chalkboard outside his classroom so pupils can test themselves. Everyday, it appears that a mystery person has solved the seemingly mind-boggling equation, but nobody is admitting to it, and everybody, especially Lambeau, wonders who it could be. But one night after hours, Lambeau discovers a foul-mouthed janitor writing on the board, and is astonished when he realizes this is the genius he's been looking for.
Will isn't too interested in talking to the professor, but when he gets arrested for assaulting an officer, it is the professor who bails him out. The judge agrees to release Will into Lambeau's custody on one condition - Will must develop his abilities with the professor and regularly meet with a psychologist. Particulary reluctant to cooperate with the latter request, Will taunts each and every psychologist Lambeau finds for him, and before we know it, it is the psychologists who refuse to work with the smart-mouthed virtuoso.
As a last resort, Lambeau approaches an old friend named Sean McGuire (Robin Williams), a psychologist whose lesser accomplishments in life has led to an awkward relationship with the highly-lauded professor. After losing his wife to a long-illness, Sean seems to need some therapy of his own, which, along with a similar childhood, helps him connect deeper with Will than anyone has yet. After an abrasive beginning, the two develop a strong, silent fondness for each other, and it is the exchanges between them that make this film such a masterpiece. Williams, who has spent the last five years or so giving impassioned performances in such mediocre films as JACK and FATHERS' DAY, returns to acting brilliance with a performance that screams Oscar nomination. The man who has played Mork the alien, Popeye the sailor-man, Genie the genie, and even Peter Pan has reconfirmed something he demonstrated in DEAD POETS SOCIETY and AWAKENINGS . . . he's an even better dramatic actor than comedic, and we can only pray he dominates more roles like this in the future.
Other key characters include Will's best friend Chuckie, played by CHASING AMY's Ben Affleck. Affleck and Damon are life-long buddies in real life, and the two also wrote this Oscar-potential script. Affleck's role is actually quite small, but his performance is commendable and shows why he'll be a rising star in the next few years. Minnie Driver plays Will's Harvard student love-interest, Skylar, a British babe who falls almost immediately in love with the cocky but brilliant beau. The romance is by far the biggest flaw of the film. It's quite underdeveloped, needing either more focus or a complete deletion from the story. There is one scene where Will's fear of intimacy results in a bitter argument between the two young lovers. It's a wonderfully acted scene, but as great as it was, it could've packed ten times the emotional impact had the relationship been more fully developed. The romance is also important because it provides for some of the year's best dialogue as Will and Sean discuss love. Sadly, the movie would have suffered without the love-story, but it also would've been too long had they used it like it needed to be used.
Damon proves very impressive here, not only as an actor but as a writer. In truly one of the best performances of the year, Damon is less likely to be noticed here than in the more publicized JOHN GRISHAM'S THE RAINMAKER, but this is still the role to see him in. Like Affleck, Damon is on his way to well-deserved stardom, and if he continues as a writer, over the next few years, he could prove to be one of the better talents Hollywood has to offer.
Director Gus Van Sant Jr. does a fine job handling this project, but with a wonderful script and a near-perfect cast, it seems unlikely that a lesser movie could've been made, even by a more gauche director. Jean-Yves Escoffier's understated cinematography is sophisticated and artistic, and Danny Elfman provides some nice musical pieces to accompany it. Skarsgård's performance as Professor Lambeau also deserves applause.
Coming in at the end of the year, GOOD WILL HUNTING is likely to make quite an appearance at the Oscars and, hopefully, on critics' top ten lists for the year. It jumped way up to number three on mine, only being surpassed by the obvious TITANIC and the aforementioned Affleck film, CHASING AMY. While this film deserves four-stars, it is not without a few mild imperfections, but, not to repeat myself, the chemistry between Damon and Williams is enough to give this the highest grade it can get. I would highly recommend this film to everyone, but beware - this film is quite liberal in its use of the most notorious four-letter word known to Hollywood. If you still don't know what I mean, think of Joe Pesci. If you *still* don't know what I mean, you're innocence is amazing, and this film would probably knock you for a loop. For those of you who do understand, if this is something you can handle, or at least get past, it will be well worth your effort.
December 30, 1997
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