GOOD WILL HUMAN BUT STILL HUNTING
Good Will Hunting A Film Review By Michael Redman Copyright 1998 By Michael Redman
*** (out of ****)
Nearly everyone has exceptional talents of some type and occasional sparks of genius. It's rare that these skills are ever put to use because there are thousands of reasons not to. It's so much easier to just keep on keepin' on in the same old comfortable way.
Will Hunting (Matt Damon) enjoys nothing more than drinking and fighting with his rowdy buddies from the poor Irish neighborhood of South Boston, but there's a problem. He's secretly a mathematical genius. Working as a janitor at MIT, he solves intricate formulas in minutes that took the professors years. His life changes overnight when his ability is discovered by Professor Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgard).
Lambeau catches up with him after Hunting has been arrested for assault. He arranges a release on two conditions: the young man meet with the professor once a week and also see a psychologist. The former is easy: Will wants to learn. He isn't much interested in therapy though and burns through several doctors who refuse to continue seeing him after one session.
As a last resort, the instructor takes him to Sean McGuire (Robin Williams), a former college friend who now teaches at a junior college. Will and McGuire, a fellow "Southie", make an instant connection. Both are damaged by their past and paralyzed in the present. McGuire continues to carry the pain of his beloved wife's death. Hunting can't get beyond his abusive childhood.
McGuire toils away at his thankless job, going nowhere. Hunting tells himself that it is noble to continue in his old ways rather than explore possible futures. Neither can get anywhere because they are more sheltered in the familiar, as agonizing as it might be. Through their weekly encounters, each pushes the other out of their complacency.
While Will is trying to decide just what it is he wants to do, he meets Skylar (Minnie Driver), a Harvard student who steals his heart. Their relationship is as tumultuous as that between him and McGuire. They fall in love, are filled with doubts, fight, break up, almost get back together, break up, maybe get back together...
Damon and Williams have heat in their scenes together. There's something authentic happening as they challenge each other. As real as the interaction between the genius and his therapist are, Will's changes don't ring completely true. It does happen at times that a person thoroughly makes life alterations as a result of treatment, but it's difficult to accept that it could all happen so rapidly. McGuire's transformation seems more genuine.
Much more believable is the relationship between Will and Skylar. Director Gus Van Sant ("My Own Private Idaho", "Even Cowgirls Get The Blues") captures young love admirably. The intensity of their attractions and their hesitancies are convincingly passionate. They aren't sure what they are doing and that's the way that it really is.
Damon looks to be on the fast track towards becoming one of cinema's brightest bad boys. He's a good looking guy who can look brooding with the best of them, bringing to mind James Dean and the young Marlon Brando. That alone could bring him several roles, but the fact that he has impressive acting skills insure his longevity.
Robin Williams has two modes that he excels in. The first is the manic, no holds barred wacky guy. The other is Sean McGuire. Similar to his characters in "Dead Poet's Society" and "Awakenings", Williams plays the therapist with humanistic depth. He's a human being with genuine emotions.
Ben Afflect ("Chasing Amy" and co-writer of this film along with Damon) is Will's best friend Chuckie and steals the scenes that he's in. Off-screen friends, their camaraderie translates to the movie. Chuckie is a tough kid complete with gold chains, and is in many ways the more colorful of the two. As good as Damon is in the role, the film might have been even better with Afflect as the lead.
The subtext of Bostonian classism is handled oddly. The message that manual labor is virtuous but only for some people is a strange one. It's fine for Chuckie to continue living in the old neighborhood and working all the live-long day, but not for Will. This confuses the issue. Is Will embracing his potential or betraying his roots? Not everyone can be saved, but is Chuckie, as he claims, in fact living the fullest life he could? The film tells us "yes", but well, maybe "no". Maybe those guys carrying bricks are doing honest virtuous works. Or maybe they're just being told that so they continue carrying bricks. The movie straddles the fence on the very issue it attempts to address.
Will's situation at the end is a difficult one, much like real life. He is forced to choose between his passion or his passion. It's a difficult decision, but he makes the only one possible for a man who has awakened to himself. Good for him.
(Michael Redman has written this column for over 22 years and has yet to decide which he believes was the best film of 97. Maybe he never will: stay tuned. Redman@bvoice.com is one way to influence him.)
[This appeared in the 2/4/98 "Bloomington Voice", Bloomington, Indiana. Michael Redman can be reached at redman@bvoice.com]
-- mailto:redman@bvoice.com This week's film review at http://www.bvoice.com/ Film reviews archive at http://us.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Michael%20Redman
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