Review: Good Will Hunting (1997)
A film review by Jason Cline © 1998 Jason Cline jccline@ix.netcom.com
³Good Will Hunting² ****
USA, 1997
126 minutes (2 hours 6 minutes)
Rated R (for language)
Director: Gus Van Sant
Writers: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck
Cast: Matt Damon (Will Hunting) - Ben Affleck (Chuckie) - Robin
Williams (Maguire)
Minnie Driver (Skyla) - Stellan Skarsgård (Gerard Lambeau)
Every once in a while you see a film that is so effective in delivering the goods that it is easy to forget, and forgive, its glaring imperfections. Such is the case with ³Good Will Hunting², a subtle character study about a socially inept mathematics genius who struggles to find his path in life. Despite some serious character problems, this is still a very good film.
You probably know about the plot so I¹ll make it quick. Will Hunting (Damon) is a janitor at M.I.T., he¹s really smarter than Einstein but nobody knows it. He likes to go out with his friend Chuckie (Affleck) and their other working-class buddies and drink beer. He¹s good-looking, charismatic, and witty but has a terrible time with authority and stiff college folk. After getting into a tiff with the law, a distinguished professor (Skarsgård) discovers Will¹s genius and offers him a chance to clean up his record and avoid jail time, at a price: He must attend weekly sessions with a therapist and work on various mathematical problems (that have stumped the academic elite) with the professor. After outsmarting and scaring the hell out of a couple of different psychologists he meets his match when hooked up with a once-promising therapist named Sean Maguire (Williams) who has his own problems. In the meantime Will meets a British medical school student (Driver) and they begin to fall in love.
The story starts out well enough and is a pretty original basis for a film. Even though we¹ve seen movies about misunderstood, erratic prodigies before (³Shine² ring a bell?), the script here creates a complex narrative that doesn¹t just focus solely on one character.
Alas though, this is not a perfect film, as much as you feel like it could¹ve been while watching it. The one real problem I had with it is the unrealistic nature of the main character. Is it possible for a lowly janitor to be this intelligent? Of course. Is it possible for him to be estranged from any deep, human relationships? Usually, yes. But, is it possible for him to also be so handsome, funny, quick with the tongue, and city-street tough? Not very likely. Come on, usually these guys are total nerds who can¹t even buy their own shirts, much less talk down a Harvard student in a hip pub while picking up phone numbers from pretty med.-school girls. Will is just a little too perfect, and in order to accept the character your disbelief suspension needs to be in excellent working condition. The heavy-handed, anti-war statement made by Will at a government job interview late in the film is also boorish, overlong, pompous, and completely unnecessary. All this sounds pretty bad, but the film somehow makes up for it in other ways. Damon¹s acting overshadows the fact that the character is slightly unbelievable, his performance is truly extraordinary.
Which leads me to the really good part of the review. The strength of this movie can be summed up in one single word: acting. I can¹t recall seeing a film recently that was so well-acted from top to bottom. From Minnie Driver¹s frustrated lover to Ben Affleck¹s laid-back best friend, and all the small roles in between, the performances are magnificent. Robin Williams¹ skill is a given as a bereaved psychologist who could¹ve had a legendary career but was knocked off the path somewhere down the line. The real gem though is Stellan Skarsgård¹s turn as Professor Lambeau, an award-winning mathematician who feels reduced in comparison to a younger, smarter Will Hunting. The scenes between Williams and Skarsgård, as two old college pals who¹ve been brought back together by this enigmatic kid, display some of the best acting I¹ve ever seen. When I say delivering the goods, this is what I¹m talking about. Watching these two work is what going to see movies is all about.
Gus Van Sant¹s (To Die For, Drugstore Cowboy) cold, urban direction is right on, as well as Danny Elfman¹s sauntering musical score. I highly recommend ³Good Will Hunting². Despite its faults, it is still an intriguing and fascinating film and you are not likely to see a better acted one this year.
**** (4 out of 5)
Scale * (Awful) ** (Watchable, but barely) *** (Recommended, Above average, Well-made) **** (Excellent, Must see) ***** (Classic)
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