CLICK ON CAROLINE. Dear Caroline Film Reviews http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Studio/7066
Good Will Hunting
Dear Caroline --
Two up-and-coming actors you probably haven't heard of, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, have only recently been featured in their first leading roles this year, and already they have their pet project coming our way. Now that's show business.
The rising young stars have created a personal postcard of their hometown with "Good Will Hunting," the screenwriting debut of the best friends, high school classmates and current Los Angeles roommates.
The Boston-area natives enlisted the help of New England-educated director Gus Van Sant to create a rewarding film about a young genius from blue-collar South Boston, who must deal with the recent discovery of his mathematic problem-solving powers.
This is clearly a personal triumph for co-writers Affleck ("Chasing Amy") and Damon ("The Rainmaker"), who return to their Beantown roots, accents included, and provide snippets from the best of the Hub: the Charles River, Harvard Square, Charlestown and the T's Red Line.
Damon gets the better role as Will Hunting, a 20-year-old orphan with photographic memory working as a janitor at M.I.T. The film's title is an oxymoron, since there is little goodwill with Will. He drinks with the guys too much, gets into a street fight and punches out a cop. For kicks, Will likes to prove complicated mathematic equations provided by M.I.T. professor Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgard, currently of "Amistad").
Ironically, Affleck hasn't written much of a role for himself as Chuckie, one of Will's drinking buddies along with Affleck's brother, Casey, as Morgan. Chuckie has one big scene, but the film is built entirely around Will.
Affleck and Damon's influences are clearly from New Jersey ndependent writer-director Kevin Smith, who has been riding a roller coaster with heralded "Clerks," spiteful "Mallrats" and quirky "Chasing Amy." "Good Will Hunting" is well written. It is raw, down to earth, lively, and cynical about life and society. Affleck and Damon aren't afraid of challenging the establishment, whether it is high-minded academia or government bureaucracy.
"Good Will Hunting," however, follows similar territory about previous movies involving discovered genius. More recently, "Little Man Tate" or even the 1968 Cliff Robertson-Oscar winning film "Charly," also set in Boston, dealt with how genius is found in the unlikeliest of people. "In Little Man Tate," it is a small boy. In "Charly," it is a retarded older man subjected to medical experiments.
Genius is seen as a burden each time, and troubled Will Hunting doesn't seem any different. He is undecided about a purpose in his life, undecided about a woman, Skylar (Minnie Driver, Damon's real-life girlfriend), he has recently met. Undecided about pretty much everything.
Robin Williams is brought in as a junior college psychology professor, Sean Maguire,who is enlisted to help Will. The role is similar to Williams' teacher in "Dead Poets Society," without the hysterics. Maguire is more wise beyond his years and opens young Will's eyes to a world he has only memorized in books.
Maguire agrees to see Will at the urging of Lambeau, who took over temporary custody of the rebellious Will after his legal problems. Lambeau hopes to tutor Will in advanced mathematics and then send him off to a think tank.
It's difficult to take your eyes off Damon, who broke through this year with the lead role in Francis Coppola's film version of another John Grisham novel. Damon's first major role was as a drugged-out Persian Gulf war veteran in the underappreciated "Courage Under Fire."
Damon's three main roles already have a few things in common. Damon, with his wry smile and shaggy brown hair, excels at playing insecure individuals with a secret, wounded past. He seems sincere and trustworthy when he is lying, which is why you'll be seeing more of his name in the near future.
I'm not sure if this is a one-shot deal for the co-writers from Cambridge, who might appear to be at a crossroads after writing a fine first script. It could be a Catch-22 for them. Both have refreshing new faces that should lead to greater acting success, but do they wish to be considered actors or proven screenwriters? We shall see.
Rating: Three stars
Thinking of you, Geo. M. Wilcox
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