Good Will Hunting

Director: Gus Van Sant
Screenplay: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck
Starring: Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Ben Affleck, Stellan Skarsgard and Minnie Driver

John's Review

     An impressive scripting debut for actors Matt Damon (John Grisham's The Rainmaker) and Ben Affleck (Chasing Amy), Good Will Hunting--perhaps in part because it feels so little like a film by Gus Van Sant (To Die For, Drugstore Cowboy), who directs--drew the second-strongest audience response at ShowEast. And rightfully so: This story of a college-age math savant, Will Hunting (Damon), who appears to have no chance of partaking of the Ivy life due to the hard existence he's been living since becoming an orphan in Boston, usually plays at a level of fine human emotion and leaves little room for any lack of sympathy. Even the appearance of Robin Williams as a concerned psychologist doesn't deter Damon and Affleck from their course; much like his role in Dead Poets Society, Williams delivers an honest portrayal that adds greatly to the film's character interplay.
    Part coming-of-age saga, part drama, part love story, part Forrest Gump fairy tale, it is totally disarming. The young man works as a janitor at prestigious MIT when he's not hanging out with his Southie gang, putting away pints and leading with his fists. Just when he comes to the attention of a prize-winning MIT professor (Skarsgard), police arrest Hunting for assault. Professor Lambeau promises to take Hunting under his wing and introduce him to a good therapist in exchange for his parole. After a number of
misfires, enter Sean McGuire (Williams). This South Boston shrink and professor gradually draws Hunting out while healing himself in the process.
Like his name, Hunting is on a search - a search for maturity, for his status as a man, for his place in the world. It's up to the four people who mean the most to him - the ambitious Lambeau, the empathetic McGuire, best friend Chuckie (Affleck) and dream pre-med student Skylar (Driver) - to help Hunting realize the good in himself. And the journey to get there is well worth watching

Grade: B+

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