GOOD WILL HUNTING (1997)
A film review by Steve Kong Copyright 1997 Steve Kong
We've all heard of this story line before: Boy-wonder-genius is discovered, his know how is put to use by some scientist, when the government finds out about his talent they put the boy-wonder to work for the government. As the boy works for the government he discovers something completely outrageous and some bad guys come hunting for the boy, trying to ax him. All I have to say is: Thank goodness writers/actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck took a different approach.
The title of this film has many connotations including holding the name of the main character, Will Hunting (Matt Damon). Will is a young man who has a special gift, mathematics (and most other college level stuff). Everything is as easy to him as tying our shoelaces is to us. He can read at impressive speeds and just know the material after reading it. By no means is Will the type of guy like Dustin Hoffman's Rain Man. Will is a normal guy with an abnormal talent. Will spends his time as a janitor at MIT and while cleaning the floors one night, Will solves a proof on a chalkboard which catches the attention of a hardworking professor, Lambeua (Stellan Skarsgård). After a scuffle with some punks Will is thrown in jail. Lambeaua offers to help Will out. Under the agreement that Will study math with Lambeaua and that Will get some therapy.
After a few therapists, Will meets a therapist that has a drive to help Will out. Sean McGuire (Robin Williams) is from the same part of town as Will and is never turned away by Will's horrible behavior. The problem with Will is that he has a lot of talent but he is squandering it away by being a punk and turning down "real world" ideas. Both Lambeua and McGuire see this and both want to help him out.
Along the way we get to see a relationship develop between Will and Skylar (Minnie Driver). This relationship has meaning within the movie, but it seems somewhat shallow, I would have liked to seen more of the relationship develop during the film. We also get to meet Will's friends, including his best friend, Chuckie (Ben Affleck). Again, like the relationship, the friends in the film seem somewhat underdeveloped and shallow.
Those are small things though because the script works well in tugging and pulling at our emotions. The biggest relationship developed is the one between Will and Sean. And it is in this relationship that we find out how Will became the way that he is. We also see how while Sean is helping Will, Will is helping Sean.
All performances in Good Will Hunting are top-notch. Matt Damon is on a roll, first with his big starring role in Francis Ford Coppola's The Rainmaker, and now with his lead role in Good Will Hunting. I can't wait to see what he's going to do next. Robin Williams also gives a wonderful performance. His Professor McGuire is a man with a hard past and Williams is able to get that across on screen. (I'm also glad to see Williams in a good movie instead of movies like Flubber and Father's Day.)
The script by Damon and Affleck tries to milk each and every scene for emotion, whether it is for a laugh or for a tear. And to that extent the script works very well. Sometimes there is a corny feel to the script, but that never gets bad enough to ruin the film. The direction by Gus Van Sant Jr. does a wonderful job keeping the movie moving.
Worth mentioning is the score by Danny Elfman. The score is surprisingly different from his other works. Elfman's score for Good Will Hunting is very acoustic and intimate. But, like all his other scores, Elfman is able to make it so that the score never overshadows what is happening on screen.
Good Will Hunting is a great film. The basis for the film is; if you have talent don't waste it away. The film comes very close to being inspiring and the film definitely is a tear-jerker. Don't Miss Good Will Hunting on the big screen. After seeing the film, let me know what the title means to you.
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steve kong reviews@boiled.sbay.org
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