Sexy Cineplexy: Reviews

→ in
Tools    





Good Will Hunting
(directed by Gus Vant Sant, 1997)



Here's a movie I wish I had added to my Top 100 list but didn't because it had been so long since I'd seen it. Good Will Hunting was almost a Tour de force for me -- I say almost because I sense a few flaws with this film. It's a marvelous story about a young man who is a genius and has a talent for math where it all is somehow simply easy for him and comes to him in a flash -- second nature. His name is Will Hunting (Matt Damon) and he lives in South Boston and works as a janitor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The story begins when a college professor (Stellan Skarsgard) writes up a difficult math problem on a chalkboard in the hallway and tells his classes that whoever solves it will get their name mentioned in the college paper and will probably get other awards and accolades afterwards. Funnily enough, Will the janitor swings by and solves it -- and then he solves another problem since he never came forward as the solver of the first problem. The second time, he's caught by Stellan Skarsgard, who thinks he's writing graffiti on the chalkboard, but then his jaw drops when he sees that the janitor is in fact a genius.

Will, however, is a difficult young man who has a history of assaulting people and getting into jail. As a child, he was physically abused by his stepdad. After Stellan Skarsgard goes and tracks him down at the police station (Will had been arrested for fighting) he gets him out and they begin finding him a therapist and a great paying job where he can use his gift. A bunch of goofy therapists are tossed to the side until Will meets Sean Maguire (Robin Williams), an old college roommate of Stellan Skarsgard (the professor, but I forget what his name was and don't care). It is Sean Maguire who knows how to reach Will and get him to change his life around. Along the way, there's a new girlfriend for Will, played by Minnie Driver, who goes to Harvard and is fascinated by him.

Now, the running time for this movie is about two hours. The first hour captivated me and had me glued to the seat, eyes wide open. The second hour sunk a little, but was still pretty good. Overall, I honestly think it's a pretty extraordinary movie and a true 1990's classic. Matt Damon and Robin Williams play very compelling characters and they work well no matter if they're in a scene together or by themselves. This is definitely one of the best serious roles Robin Williams ever took and he rightly deserved the Oscar for this role. Ben Affleck plays Will's best friend, Chuckie, and he also has a commanding character. Both he and Matt Damon wrote the screenplay for this movie and it's strong and beautiful.

Stellen Skarsgard did not really thrill me, but I think he did well with what he was portraying. Minnie Driver was interesting but I think her character is one of the script's weaknesses -- though she did a lot to make her character memorable, she also seemed a little underused. This movie also uses random flashbacks at times that don't feel necessary or used right. They were strange and irksome. I also feel that maybe Robin Williams was a little bit too overused -- he appears at the very end of the movie and quite frankly, I think it would have been better to have shown Minnie Driver again, since we see a lot of Robin Williams in the end already. Gus Van Sant, my eyes are on you. I recently saw your My Own Private Idaho, another movie that had hot guys in it, like this here Good Will Hunting with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. I'm not very fond of him as a director (HELLO?! Psycho remake!) -- I think he mucks things up a bit with what he brings to the table. I would have been more interested in seeing this film directed by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. But still I am very happy with this movie -- I recommend it and I think it's warm and inspiring.




What really made the movie for me was the dynamic between Williams and Damon. The rest was so-so.
__________________
#31 on SC's Top 100 Mofos list!!



i'm SUPER GOOD at Jewel karaoke
Jason, if i was as good of a writer as you are, i'd be able to eloquently tell you what it was about Good Will Hunting i disliked, but i'm sitting here not being able to really come out with it. i just didn't care for the dialogue that much, i think that might have been what it was. plus, for some reason, all of the sentimental parts didn't make me feel much of anything at all.

so i guess that's it.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
Well, I do like Good Will Hunting quite a bit (
), but Will himself is quite unlikable most of the movie (intentionally so - he's a smug sonovabitch) and he treats his loving girlfriend like garbage, so I don't know, could that be part of it, ash?
__________________
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page



i'm SUPER GOOD at Jewel karaoke
...maaaaybe. but i like to think i'm not usually misguided like that.

i don't know. maybe i should watch it again.

mark, i'm quite shocked you give Good Will Hunting such a high rating, seeing as i know how picky you are about those damned popcorn boxes!



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
I think it's one of those "spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down" movies (without songs, HA!) and Williams is great. The closing Elliott Smith song helps a lot. I've seen it recently so I don't plan on changing it.



planet news's Avatar
Registered User
Yup. I was actually just going to say that the final shot and the Elliott Smith song sealed the deal for me emotionally. I remember it more than anything else from the film (other than the ponytail guy, who I've often been compared to). It was also one of the few blatantly Van Sant-esque moments in the film.

Did like Will though.
__________________
"Loves them? They need them, like they need the air."



i'm SUPER GOOD at Jewel karaoke
i don't think it was Will i didn't like, though. i think it was just the characters in general that i didn't feel a connection to. people always talk about this movie and i really do feel like i'm missing out on something major here.

guess it's time for a rewatch.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
I'm not saying that Will didn't have reasons for acting like an A-hole, but if you NEVER thought he was a dick, then I don't see how the movie works. He goes from likable to... ? He was so likable he didn't need Williams? C'mon now, work with me here.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
You have completely turned me into some kind of automoton, so I'm going to take my marbles and go play in somebody else's yard. I also don't think you even understand the intentions of the filmmakers, but I really don't care. My value judgments are far more about entertainment than they are about morals, so I thought that put us on the same side.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
Look, I know you're a good guy but I think you sometimes type before you think. Maybe not. I'm just some flippin' Holy Roller who thinks I'm better than everybody. That's hilarious since I know I'm worse but I try to keep it out of this site. By worse, all I mean is that anything you guys have done or thought about, I've done the same and probably moreso. It would be nice if most of it were "good" but then it would turn me into that Holy Roller Douche!



planet news's Avatar
Registered User
Look, I know you're a good guy but I think you sometimes type before you think. Maybe not. I'm just some flippin' Holy Roller who thinks I'm better than everybody. That's hilarious since I know I'm worse but I try to keep it out of this site. By worse, all I mean is that anything you guys have done or thought about, I've done the same and probably moreso. It would be nice if most of it were "good" but then it would turn me into that Holy Roller Douche!
Anyone who's seen as many films as you has a very special relationship with films that no one else who hasn't had the same experiences can attest to or even comment on accurately.

I get why you're taken aback by SC's attempts to simplify that relationship into some basic axiom.

Just know that every time your rating disagrees with mine, I hate it. I respect you, sir. To watch films might not be work or a chore, but to watch is to know and you know a lot.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
Nobody can push a button about my movie watching, but you can push a button if you think you're trying to psychoanalyze me. That really gets to me because based on my job and my age and my family situation, I'm the one who needs to be in charge of so many damned important things. As far as films go, I may disagree with you about something but at least I know that it's honest. There's nothing kneejerk about any of it. I've seen so many films so many times I often take for granted that people don't actually understand what I say, and if you don't I'm sorry. I guess that makes it sound like you can push my button; if that's true, it's not about movies though. It's more about how I invest just as much time here as anybody else and I feel I know you all quite well, at least as much as you let me. It's a shock when I'm told I'm wrong. Why would you think that might be?



will.15's Avatar
Semper Fooey
Hey, mark f, A Matter of Life and Death still sucks.
__________________
It reminds me of a toilet paper on the trees
- Paula



Personally speaking, I try to avoid characterizations of people as being one particular thing or another. People have free will and are complex. They can't be summed up easily. I do tend to kid around a lot and sometimes people misinterpret that as treating them negatively but it's just my preferred way of talking.

Not that anyone asked for or needed my opinion, here.



I didn't characterize Mark. This whole thing has been totally blown out of proportion.
I'm sorry, I just got into the conversation and don't know for sure what you said that seemed to upset him so much.

I still stand by what I said, but I'm not saying I know what the situation here is for certain.



A system of cells interlinked
Yup. I was actually just going to say that the final shot and the Elliott Smith song sealed the deal for me emotionally. I remember it more than anything else from the film (other than the ponytail guy, who I've often been compared to). It was also one of the few blatantly Van Sant-esque moments in the film.

Did like Will though.
I knew you would bring that up. Nah, you're more like Will. I compare other people to Pony-Tail Guy, although they were both (PTG and Will) being jack asses. I'm like Pony-tail guy, unfortunately. Luckily, I'm done hanging around in bars, so I probably won't get embarrassed by a smarty janitor anytime soon.
__________________
“It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” ― Thomas Sowell