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Amazon.co.uk Review
Finding Forrester is a very accomplished example of the sentimental melodrama that Gus Von Sant has made his own--issues like integrity and snobbery are presented with just enough simplification to the set pieces that no-one feels challenged. Brilliant baseball player Jamal gets the chance to move from a sink school in the Bronx to a private academy where his real intellectual and artistic talent will be nurtured along with his sporting skills. This is an American film about class and race, but one that makes the real issue Jamal's unsuspecting need to defend himself against accusations of plagiarism. His artistic mentor is a reclusive novelist, whose whereabouts he keeps secret even when he stands to lose everything. Rob Brown is extraordinary as the boy, conveying the sensitivity, genius, obstinacy and physicality of a character written as a paragon; Sean Connery turns in a predictably fine performance as Forrester, using his authority to make the part credible; F Murray Abrahams is, as always, an effective villain--he brings an observed creepy snobbery to the film; Anna Paquin makes a good impression in the minor part of Jamal's white schoolfellow and supporter.
On the DVD: The disc includes two powerful deleted scenes of school choirs, a "making-of" documentary and a short film about the auditions process which found Rob Brown. It has fine sound--Dolby Digital 5.1--that brings out the film's jazz score perfectly. The anamorphic 2.35:1 aspect ratio, enhanced for 16:9 TVs, looks just fine. --Roz Kaveny
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Finding Forrester is one of those movies that comes along every now and then. It seemed to arrive without much fanfare and I wonder why. Why is something this good not given a big promotional tour, lots of publicity and a lot of glitz? The truth is - it doesn't need it. What a film needs is a great script, tight direction, excellent leads and "something". The "something" in this film is the spark between Forrester and Jamal. It's the rancour between Jamal and the teacher (played exquisitely by F Murray Abraham). And, it's the fledgling friendship between a girl and a boy.
Quite simply it's a wonder. Sean Connery turns in another seemingly effortless performance. (I'm biased, as I'm from Edinburgh, but I think it's the best thing he's done since "The Man Who Would be King".) Rob Brown (as Jamal) isn't dwarfed by Connery's performance and turns in something eyecatching himself. F Murray Abraham, always worth watching, gives us plenty to dislike as Jamal's snobbish teacher. Anna Paquin fared well as Jamal's school friend - but this could have been expanded on a bit more.
However, don't just read this review. Watch the film. You won't regret it.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This film is a lot more than the story of a black boy from the Bronx finding his full realization in both basket-ball and creative writing. This film is a lot more than the skimming of black public high schools by white private high school to find the winning sportsmen they need. This film is a lot more than the story of a black teenager who finds his mentor, a father substitute since he has no father and his elder brother is not the model he wants, in a famous and yet totally marginal writer, Scottish by origin and bird-loving by choice and passion. This film is a lot more than the exacting tyrant a failed writer can become when he decides to compensate his failure in writing by becoming a creative writing and literature teacher. And this film is also a lot more than the phenomenal emotional shock it is for an aging man, diagnosed with cancer, entirely solitary and marginalized to find by accident and the insistence on the side of the foundling, the younger man who is going to be his follow-up next generation. He gets out of his cocoon. He gets out of his seclusion. Even so much that he will save his foundling from academic probation and even open up the door to his future. This film is all that together and a lot more. It is the story of loyalty, commitment and yet betrayal and salvation. Deeply emotional all along the film gets to a poignant ending when the death of the older man is announced by a lawyer to the younger man, and when this younger man is given the full legacy of the older man: the keys to the older man's den and sanctuary in the Bronx, a final farewell manuscript letter and the manuscript of his second and posthumous novel to be prefaced by the younger man. The racial problem is dealt with delicately but thoroughly showing how little race has to do with creative imagination, or even plain human love, but also that it has a lot to do with some preconceived ideas that a black basket ball player cannot be a creative writer of any excellence. A film to watch several times just for fun and emotional inspiration. You can always trace and track all the visual or situational allusions to many other films, like Matt Damon as a young lawyer. I have seen that somewhere else. Solve the many riddles of the type like the older man on his old fashioned bike cycling to the private school to save his black younger friend from ostracism and rejection. He just misses a black gown flying around him.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, University Paris 8 Vincennes Saint Denis, University Paris 12 Val de Marne Créteil, CEGID.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, University Paris 8 Vincennes Saint Denis, University Paris 12 Val de Marne Créteil, CEGID.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I can't add anything to the first two reviews which are fairly accurate regarding content although my only observation is ,that I ask myself was I entertained? and yes I was! I loved the the way the film delt with a number of very important social issues ie; arrogance, pride, racisim, bullying, face saving,rivalry, jealousy,sentiment,loyalty,forgiveness and of course the list goes on.The point is that it was made for entertainment and if you pay too much attention to detail (too many convenient co-incidences which incidentally I had not even noticed.)You miss the point I feel the film was not overstreched in its believeability and certainly achieved its aim.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Fascinating
A real treat, a hidden gem. I have seen this around but never got to watch it.
Just watched it and I was really impressed, reminded me a bit about Good Will Hunting. Read more
Just watched it and I was really impressed, reminded me a bit about Good Will Hunting. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Vegar
Finding Fault
So the film is 11 years old now, so what. You are soon thrown into the very different lives of the characters and wonder where it will all end up. Just brilliant.
Published 3 months ago by Fugly
Joy!
Wonderfull movie, one of those that really shows there doesn't necessary need to be "action" and special effects to really enjoy a good story. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Niko
Finding Forrester - A fabulous film!
This is an excellent, thought provoking film. For those who appreciate clean drama it is a good watch. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Queenjule
soul searching
I loved this film and cried a lot at the end. I am not usually a weeper, there is only one other movie I cried whilst watching.
Would highly recommend it.
Would highly recommend it.
Published on 1 Mar 2010 by S
Thought provoking and fascinating
Finding Forrester isn't one of Connery's better known films, but it is one of his better performances. Read more
Published on 11 Feb 2010 by J. Holland
A fitting au revoir
Although he did another one or two films before his formal retirement, this is as good a swan song as the splendid old so-and-so deserves. Read more
Published on 16 Nov 2007 by m
well-crafted, but not original and deep enough
I must say that "Finding Forrester" is fairly satisfactory movie about friendship, romance, basketball, literature and books. Read more
Published on 24 Jun 2007 by Serkan Silahsor
On the lines of Good Will Hunting
This is one of those movies which seems more impressive when you are viewing it than on later reflection. Read more
Published on 22 May 2007 by Jay
HEART FELT, REALISTIC FANTASY
Having taught a few decades ago in the South Bronx, I found the setting and kids portrayed in FINDING FORRESTER refreshingly believable. Read more
Published on 14 Jan 2005 by F. Sweet
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