Good Will Hunting [DVD] [1998]

Most famously known as the movie which launched the big screen careers of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, Good Will Hunting is a quietly beautiful, character driven piece. Damon is eminently watchable as the title character, portraying the mood swings and self destruction required with an engaging charm. Considering its associations with his fame, Affleck is actually little more than an extra - while he is entertaining as best friend Chucky, decked out in a Boston-ghetto uniform of tracksuits and bad hairstyles, he isn't really given much to do.
The thrust of the film is in Damon's struggle with his own genius, and his relationships with the people trying to make him see it and use it. First discovered by College Professor Skellan Skargard, he is bounced from prison by Skarsgard, who hopes to join forces with the wunderkind in order to leave his mark more indellibly on the Mathematical world. As part of the deal Damon enters into therapy with blue-collar shrink Robin Williams, who holsters his manic tendencies to move Will down the road to recovery with warmth and a much gentler good humour. The growing relationship between the two provides the best scenes in the film, from a lovely moment in which they ruminate on love and regret over memories of a baseball game, to the famous payoff of 'It's not your fault.'
William's performances so far outstrips the sap-fests of 'Patch Adams' and 'Jack', and here is almost unrecognisable as the childish Peter Pan character he has been so associated with in other films. Both impossibly wise and disarmingly humble, Williams marshalls the role with working class grit and great intelligence - its a shame he hasn't really been this good since, although he does play against type brilliantly in his recent work (see Insomnia, or One Hour Photo).
The dramatic drive behind Will's change, however, comes from his relationship with Minnie Driver's Skyla. Their growing bond is shown tremendously, managing to be touchingly sweet while also managing to be realistic in its awkwardness and uncertainty - a first kiss is arranged early as a way of getting the pressure off at the end of the evening. The depth of the bond between the two does grow a little too quickly and without explanation - their initial fumblings turn almost without warning into love, with Skyla asking Will to follow her across the country to pursue their relationship. Having said that, the on-screen chemistry between the two is palpable (possibly due the relationship blossoming between the two off it), and they do make for one of the better pairings in recent film.
It could be said that Good Will Hunting is little more than clever series of audience manipulations, and it is true that it is indeed often sentimental. However, it never slips into the kind of cloying sappiness that you might expect from this, and the result is simply pure, mainly unchallenging but extremely well-crafted drama.
This is the kind of film that could have been a best picture contender if it had come after it's stars breakouts, remaining at the same time intelligent and literary while also balancing mass appeal. With uniformly excellent performances, Williams' breakthrough as a proper actor and a script that gave its writers both the fame and the Oscar they deserved, this a film that deserves to be in everyone's collection, if only to remember a time before its stars went about the humdrum business of being regular movie stars. Top notch.

There are plenty of good reviews regarding this film here on amazon so I won't go into the storyline. Just to add that I first saw this film by mistake when it was first released on a rainy day when I had nothing else to do, at the time I was a degree student. I was intrigued by the title, but almost put off when I saw that Robin Williams was in it, Williams at the time was just known for being an outrageous and very loud comedian. How glad I am that it poured with rain that day and I didn't walk to the train station to go home at my usual time. This film showed what a great serious actor Robin Williams could be, it was a breath of fresh air to see him play his role as a wise old professor. Matt Damon played a blinder as the main character in the film with some decent performances from the supporting cast notably Stellan Starsgard. Ben Affleck I find rather annoying at the best of times as does Minnie Driver has the same affect on me, but Affleck I find tolerable in this as at the very least he is playing a young character. The late author George Plimpton also has a small role as a shrink. The whole film has an understated but uplifting feel good factor to it, and the scene where Williams repeats to Will that "it's not your fault" referring to the upbringing Will had is very touching. "Afternoon delight" indeed.

I recommend this film to those of you who may doubt whether you will like it. I took the plunge all those years ago and am very glad I did. Buy it.

A superb film in which the central character is a young man from a broken background who is an uncertified genius. A wonderfully unpredictable script and plot coupled with fine performances by all concerned combine to produce an enchanting, and often touching, story of a youth struggling to find himself and come to terms with his past.

It's one of those rare films that intelligently deals with the complex issues of relationships. None of the characters presented is there for window dressing, and each has depth, and plausibility.

Will (our main man) spends much of his time hanging out with his gang of friends, but with whom he can never share intellectual parity. Discovered by a world-renowned mathematician, who wants him to pursue a career in mathematics (what else?), he finds himself balking at the prospect. His emotional problems lead him to a therapist and the film spends much time exploring this relationship. Whilst in therapy he meets and falls for a college girl, but because of his emotional problems is unable to commit to her.

The whole film is a beautifully balanced mix of humour, pathos, and emotion. Certainly one of, if not the, best films of 1999. Don't miss it!