Good Will Hunting

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I'd go with 'somewhere in the middle' too.

Let's start with the good. Even though Damon co-wrote the script and played the lead (although his mate Ben Affleck's role is so awful that I imagine he can't have written much), this doesn't get in the way of the film. He's believable as an obnoxious brat with talent (we'll get onto the character later on). Everyone else performs well too. And as a film about growing up and finding a nice girl, it works. It is superficially enjoyable, which is not always a bad thing.

Now the bad. The most obvious thing is the excessive amount of swearing. No character- not even the professionals- can talk without swearing or being crass and vulgar. The movie has a lot of talking in it and maybe the swearing was done so the youngsters would think it was 'cool' and 'real'; these street kids are not 'gritty', they're repellant.

Then we get on to Will's character. Like I said, Damon does the part well...but what a badly written part it is! Will is an arrogant jerk who is good at everything. Not just maths, as I originally believed. EVERYTHING. Everybody loves Will, despite the fact that he is a jerk. Skylar (the love interest, played by Minnie Driver. Nobody in England has the name 'Skylar') is the only one to really call him out on it, although she soon comes round- the shrink, played by Robin Williams, makes an attempt but it's only because he loves him. And the professor, played by Stellan Skarsgard- whose accent veers from American to Swedish- tells Will he has something wrong (shocking!) but really, he's jealous that he isn't as wonderful and pretty as Will.

And the inconsistancies. The film is pretty implausible- if you're looking for a shallow but enjoyable film, you will laugh these off. I laughed them off although others will probably be really annoyed. The shrink gets touchy at the most obvious dig a patient could make. Will is a genius across the academic board, despite the fact that we never see him reading a book once and his vocabulary is not of the standard of an educated man. Shrink tells Will not to 'jerk off' (metaphorically). No one finds Will annoying except the audience. And no doubt there are implausibilities with the maths.

And finally, the premise. The film raises an interesting question: if you have an incredible talent, do you have a duty to use it? I thought I was going to watch an interesting film about the merits and downfalls of being academic (a bit like Educating Rita with Maths) but they did nothing with the question. Will's gift might as well have been being insanely good looking for all the difference it made to the film. Feel free to amuse yourself by mentally replacing 'maths' with whatever talent you like. I liked the professor because he seemed to have a genuine passion for maths (interesting that it wasn't an arts subject), but the poor thing was punished for it (how dare one have ambitions!). Academics in films always seem to have some sort of problem just because they're passionate about a subject. English gets a relatively good treatment, like in Dead Poet's Society- which works because the teacher and students are genuinely passionate about literature, but are not portrayed as weird for doing so. Unfortunately Maths does not get such treatment, even though I'm sure there are people who have a passion for it.

Thus ends the very long review.
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You cannot have it both ways. A dancer who relies upon the doubtful comforts of human love can never be a great dancer. Never. (The Red Shoes, 1948)



I'd go with 'somewhere in the middle' too.

Let's start with the good. Even though Damon co-wrote the script and played the lead (although his mate Ben Affleck's role is so awful that I imagine he can't have written much), this doesn't get in the way of the film. He's believable as an obnoxious brat with talent (we'll get onto the character later on). Everyone else performs well too. And as a film about growing up and finding a nice girl, it works. It is superficially enjoyable, which is not always a bad thing.

Now the bad. The most obvious thing is the excessive amount of swearing. No character- not even the professionals- can talk without swearing or being crass and vulgar. The movie has a lot of talking in it and maybe the swearing was done so the youngsters would think it was 'cool' and 'real'; these street kids are not 'gritty', they're repellant.

Then we get on to Will's character. Like I said, Damon does the part well...but what a badly written part it is! Will is an arrogant jerk who is good at everything. Not just maths, as I originally believed. EVERYTHING. Everybody loves Will, despite the fact that he is a jerk. Skylar (the love interest, played by Minnie Driver. Nobody in England has the name 'Skylar') is the only one to really call him out on it, although she soon comes round- the shrink, played by Robin Williams, makes an attempt but it's only because he loves him. And the professor, played by Stellan Skarsgard- whose accent veers from American to Swedish- tells Will he has something wrong (shocking!) but really, he's jealous that he isn't as wonderful and pretty as Will.

And the inconsistancies. The film is pretty implausible- if you're looking for a shallow but enjoyable film, you will laugh these off. I laughed them off although others will probably be really annoyed. The shrink gets touchy at the most obvious dig a patient could make. Will is a genius across the academic board, despite the fact that we never see him reading a book once and his vocabulary is not of the standard of an educated man. Shrink tells Will not to 'jerk off' (metaphorically). No one finds Will annoying except the audience. And no doubt there are implausibilities with the maths.

And finally, the premise. The film raises an interesting question: if you have an incredible talent, do you have a duty to use it? I thought I was going to watch an interesting film about the merits and downfalls of being academic (a bit like Educating Rita with Maths) but they did nothing with the question. Will's gift might as well have been being insanely good looking for all the difference it made to the film. Feel free to amuse yourself by mentally replacing 'maths' with whatever talent you like. I liked the professor because he seemed to have a genuine passion for maths (interesting that it wasn't an arts subject), but the poor thing was punished for it (how dare one have ambitions!). Academics in films always seem to have some sort of problem just because they're passionate about a subject. English gets a relatively good treatment, like in Dead Poet's Society- which works because the teacher and students are genuinely passionate about literature, but are not portrayed as weird for doing so. Unfortunately Maths does not get such treatment, even though I'm sure there are people who have a passion for it.

Thus ends the very long review.
Well, I thought it ran true, for me anyway! I know a guy like the one Will played. "Everybody loves Will, despite the fact that he is a jerk" The mate who I know and occasionally catch up with today, was a jerk! And surprisingly enough, everybody loved him, though not people he robbed and fought, naturally.

My mate wasn't a "genius" but he was tested when he was 15 an supposedly his I.Q. was through the roof.

I don't recall when watching Good Will Hunting I was shocked by the excessive use of profanity. But you have to look at the context of the swearing. He comes from South Boston, a rough neighbourhood where swearing can be sometimes the culture, especially among young Men.

Being a genius Mathematician doesn't mean you're some great orator.

I for one, enjoyed this Film immensely. For I have placed it in my Top 10, and watched it at least a half of dozen times. I know a guy like this, I know mates like the characters Ben, and his brother played. I also relate to how you want the best for your mate, even if that means letting him go, so he can see bigger & better things.....like Ben Affleck's character did. Which is his best Character to date, quite frankly.



Well, I thought it ran true, for me anyway! I know a guy like the one Will played. "Everybody loves Will, despite the fact that he is a jerk" The mate who I know and occasionally catch up with today, was a jerk! And surprisingly enough, everybody loved him, though not people he robbed and fought, naturally. But I bet he really annoyed some people. There was nothing really about Will that suggested 'lovable' and it was all very biased towards Will.

My mate wasn't a "genius" but he was tested when he was 15 an supposedly his I.Q. was through the roof. Must be pretty clever then, although we know nothing about Will's IQ. He's sort of magically a genius.

I don't recall when watching Good Will Hunting I was shocked by the excessive use of profanity. But you have to look at the context of the swearing. He comes from South Boston, a rough neighbourhood where swearing can be sometimes the culture, especially among young Men. But there's unnecessary swearing throughout the film. I can see that in his rough neighbourhood, there might be a lot of swearing, but why would he swear at the shrink and professor and why do they keep swearing? I wasn't shocked so much as mildly irritated.

Being a genius Mathematician doesn't mean you're some great orator. True but you would certainly have a higher vocabulary than the one Will had, considering the vast amount of books he's apparantly read.

I for one, enjoyed this Film immensely. For I have placed it in my Top 10, and watched it at least a half of dozen times. I know a guy like this, I know mates like the characters Ben, and his brother played. I also relate to how you want the best for your mate, even if that means letting him go, so he can see bigger & better things I thought that was admirable. Except Will doesn't really do better things, or anything with his talent.....like Ben Affleck's character did. Which is his best Character to date, quite frankly.
I enjoyed the film but I thought it could have been better and done more with Will's 'gift'.



awesome movie..



bigscreenbytes's Avatar
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I liked Good Will Hunting, it was a good movie, 7/10. I thought the story was interesting and character driven, which is always a plus for me in a movie. Damon gave a very good performance, Affleck didn't have enough of a role (although I think his talent lies in comedy), and thought Williams was excellent.
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Sorry Harmonica.......I got to stay here.
I liked Good Will Hunting-- I've known a few gifted and talented people who never did anything with it. Good theme for a movie.
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I Love this movie



Oh how I adore Robin Williams' performance. It really is one of his better roles that displays his range. I find his character, and Damon's so inspiring.