Good Will Hunting
As Reviewed by James Brundage
Will Hunting (new star Matt Damon, from Francis Ford Coppola's "The Rainmaker") is the epitome of all of our hopes and dreams. A genius, a charismatic guy, smart and funny. He's also the worst things in today's society. An orphan, a victim of abuse, out of control, angry, rebellious. He can solve math equations in his sleep that have baffled the professional community for years. He also is haunted by abusive foster-parent after abusive foster-parent.
Combine him with MIT's most brilliant mathematician, a burn-out psychologist (Robin Williams), a pre-med student (Minnie Driver), and three of the most over-the-top street boy kids that you can imagine, and you have a poignant, funny, and touching story to tell. "Good Will Hunting" is one of those films that leaves you with a smile in the midst of one of the most brilliant and saddest stories this year. Between brilliantly written characters and a story that makes sense for once, with people in it that you can form definite connections to, the result becomes near perfect. It resides now in my mind and in my heart, and also occupies the #3 spot for best movies of the year (#1 is LA Confidential, #2 is As Good as it Gets).
The movie is powered by the best original screenplay (quote me on that one, Golden Globe and Oscar) of the year: a profanity-laced, smart-talking script devised by Massachusetts natives Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, not to mention the razor-sharp direction of the brilliant Gus Van Sant (Drugstore Cowboys, To Die For). With this they draw you into the world of Will Hunting as he struggles with his past, present, and future.
The film has Will Hunting proving one of the most devious theorems that the Math Department of MIT has ever devised, and, in consequence, this proof becomes his Get out of Jail Free card. One a condition: That he seek counseling. He tries to screw around with the first few shrinks until one from the same side of the tracks comes along (played by Robin Williams). This man has high hopes for Will Hunting, as does everyone, but truly has a desire to help the lost soul. What follows is a search for himself that you will never forget.
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