Rating: 
Summary: My Favorite movie
Review: I can watch this movie any time, anywhere...i just love it. The setting, the acting, soundtrack( elliott Smith! ) Everything! Its a great great movie that i highly recommend.
Rating: 
Summary: Good will HURTING!
Review: This always happens! A terriply bad movie gets aclaim because it has an (un)interesting idea.True a new math genius from humble beginings is a good idea for a movie,but the idea is never expanded upon and the plot falls apart and the viewers never notice and they heap tons of false prise on it! What is my interatation? An overhyped blob of moving images in which we,the viewers are fooled into thinking this is a good movie! Did anything happen in this movie at all! Or I'm supposed to belive that these people in this film are "actors",who "act".Also this is an obvious ego trip of Matt Daemon and Ben Affilct.Did you know that in addition to staring in this "film",they have also wrote the script and boy did they ever make their charecters humble.Why,in this movie they can have sex,swear,defy athority,be geniuses,fight(and win!),drink alot,etc.All because they wrote it into the script to satisfy their adoulesent fantasies.Hollywood,don't make another movie like this!
Rating:
Summary: Good film crafting
Review: There were few films in 1997 that enjoyed more publicity than Good Will Hunting. Most of the hype centered on the two tyro actors who penned the screenplay. It seems that they had been friends for years and in between college obligations, drinking and socialising, they had been toying with a script on the side. What started out as a rather average comedy, soon evolved into a sophisticated drama. In fact, it could hardly avoid getting better as Matt Damon and Ben Affleck must have received a ton of brutal criticism from every Hollywood executive that they approached.
The true miracle is not that two actors, unknown for writing, could get a script accepted in Hollywood but that the script was so good that it put every other effort for the year in the shade. In my opinion, the motion picture academy was correct in awarding the Oscar for best screenplay to Good Will Hunting. Everything about the script suggested writers with a profound understanding of the human condition; even now I half suspect there was an element of that old saying about an infinite number of monkeys on typewriters.
For those interested in this Cinderella story within a movie, you should listen to the director's track on the DVD. It offers a unique insight into the background of the writing and filming of Good Will Hunting. It becomes clear from Ben and Matt's reminiscences that they had a ball during every part of the process. Not only that, they took advantage of their opportunity, to offer support roles to friends and family; a situation that rarely occurs outside of independent film. Surprisingly, one of the best support performances was produced by Casey Affleck, who is Ben's cousin, (I think).
The script took a bit of a risk by making the main character a super-genius. Not only is it difficult to portray a person with such talents but it is nearly impossible to do so while making him likeable. After all, the tall poppy syndrome is strongest when it comes to intellect. We can all aspire to wealth and with plastic surgery, even beauty is not unattainable but the brains you are born with is the most you're ever going to have. However, Matt Damon proved me wrong on both counts.
Will Hunting was undeniably bright. The scene in the Harvard bar were he takes on an educational supremacist is worth watching again and again just for the superb timing that was employed. Will also manages to win our sympathy despite his I.Q. Not so much because he acts like "one of the boys" but because we discover early on that for every blessing he received in the brain department, he was given a matching curse in his life. An orphan who was raised by a series of abusing foster parents is unlikely to have much room left for pride.
The catalyst which helps Will break out of his life is Gerald Lambeau, (Stellan Skarsgård). He is an award winning mathematician and professor at MIT where Will works as a janitor. Their paths cross when Will off-handedly solves a difficult maths problem which Lambeau had set for his post graduate class. But whilst there relationship is important, it is little more than a subplot; a segue toward Will's eventual meeting with Sean Maguire, a psychiatrist played by Robin Williams.
Sean is invited by Lambeau to work with Will. The two are old friends but even so, Sean was only approached after four other therapists had been run off by Will's destructive insights and bitter insults. Sean is a bird of a different feather however. He shares a common background with Will, and if anything, he has had more pain in his life than Will may ever see. In a strange way, Sean becomes Will's mother to Lambeau's role as ambitious father.
The film is rich with detail and is a wonderful medium for the support actors. Ben Affleck's role as Will's best friend is not as visible as Matt Damon's but he carries it off with just the right amount of fatalism and aggression. Will's Lady friend Skylar, is also worth special mention. Minnie Driver takes a seemingly token "love interest" role and breaths real depth into it. Without her efforts, Will's final choice would not have rung true and might have marred the whole film.
Good Will Hunting is a tribute to the dreams of American youth. Both because two young men managed to reach the pinnacle of their craft on their first outing but more importantly, because it deals with one young man's struggle to overcome his troublesome past while reaching out to grasp life, love and happiness. It's touching, entertaining and at the same time inspirational.
Rating: 
Summary: I couldn't enjoy!
Review: I can't understand why so many people admire this movie. This movie didn't touch me and left me nothing except that I knew there was a movie like this.But some people may get someting from this movie. After all, you have to see yourselfe and think about this. Thank you.
Rating:
Summary: _Hunting_ for excellence no longer
Review: _Good Will Hunting_ has much to recommend it, not least of which is its redemptive story of renewal and growth. The notions that psychotherapy actually produces real results and that men have genuine emotions are antithetical to most Hollywood films-aside, perhaps, from _The Prince of Tides_. This film not only celebrates these unexplored realities, it manages to do so with style. This is made possible only by the control the director exercises over his actors, and the film's excellent script. Robin Williams, in particular, is kept wholly within the bounds of his tightly drawn character-and we are very much enriched by his performance. And while it might be true that the script might be self-indulgent on the part of its writers, but the selves that are indulging are fascinating. The same story told by different writers with a different set of real life experiences might well have been unlovable, but Affleck and Damon's lives produced experiences we actually *want* to see. For me, though, it is the story of exceeding to the full measure of one's potentials, both emotionally and professionally, that makes _Good Will Hunting_ a movie to own. There are two DVD versions, and their price differential is minimal enough to make buying the regular version a waste. No, you should definitely go for the Collector's Edition, as the bonus materials are significant and worthwhile. First among these is the absolutely first rate audio commentary, which is among the most useful ever recorded for any film. Students of film will learn much from the combination of this audio commentary and the production featurette also included.
Rating:
Summary: The search for goodwill
Review: I had a teacher who once said that the brightest students oftenweren't the ones getting A's. I think he would have liked "GoodWill Hunting", a movie about a young genius floundering away as a janitor at M.I.T. Matt Damon plays the troubled kid, Will Hunting and Ben Afflect ("Chasing Amy") plays his best friend Chuckie. (In real life, Affleck and Damon are good friends and co-wrote the screenplay, which won an Oscar and a Golden Globe; Damon was also nominated for Best Actor, although some have suggested that may be undeserved.) The story focuses on Will. An abused orphan, the young man solves a difficult mathematical theorem and is soon envied by the professors at M.I.T. He also has a rap sheet as long as his arm and is released from jail only on the condition he sees a therapist. After an unsuccessful start with a number of big-name shrinks, he settles in with one he begins to trust (played by Robin Williams). He also falls for a Harvard pre-med student (well played by Minnie Driver) he meets in a bar. There's a good scene ..... "Good Will Hunting" is directed by Gus Van Sant, who previously directed "Drugstore Cowboy" (a personal favorite) and "My Own Private Idaho" - two good films. Honestly, though, I liked those films more than this one which is shot rather conventionally (and not as artfully). Also there's nothing new in Will's relationship with Robin Williams. Still, the movie's heart is in the right place and the ending worked for me.
Rating:
Summary: Deep Hurting!
Review: If this movie had a point besides a Matt Damon and Ben Affect ego-trip,could somone please explain it to me!They write the script so they get to star in it! I felt ready to for the movie to kill off both of them just to end this abomination.The jokes were unoriginal and were very boring and unfunny.Just watching the charecters act and spout terrible diologe almost put me into a coma and left me emotionally numb for several hours after watching it.Oh,and the gentle opening scene with the tender music and faceted shots could almost fool me into thinking this could be a good movie instead of the moldy flith that is this movie!
Rating:
Summary: a great film from a line of great films about boy geniuses
Review: There have been several great films that focused on the life of one boy genius. Rushmore, Little Man Tate, and Searching for Bobby Fischer are prime examples. These three movies did three very important things. First, each one looked at the child genius with sensitivity, doing an excellent job of focusing on the tenuous aspects of childhood, while attempting to fathom and apprehend the child's genius. Two, the films show that these geniuses are, foremost, human beings who have the same basic, fundamental needs all humans have--the need for love, contact, undertanding, friendship, and intimacy. And three, they show that ultimately, what makes a human being special is not how smart, talented, or exceptional he is, but how he conducts his life in relation to his fellow human beings and how compassionate and caring he is. Needless to say, these films are exemplars of their genre. And Goodwill Hunting is their peer. Will Hunting is a genius, not on the order of an MIT student, but on the order of Einstein, Mozart, Shakespeare. On the surface, Will comes off as tough, rough, cool. He is good looking, fast-talking, and seemingly brimming with confidence. When forced into therapy by court order, Will aviscerates his therapists with a mixture of brashness, brilliance, and utter lack of respect. While being a genius, he is also a miscreant who commits petty thefts and assaults in his spare time. He is a strange mix of savant and savage. Underneath the outward manifestation of his genius, underneath his rebellious nature and irreverence is a scared kid in need of compassion and human connection. And that is what Goodwill Hunting is essentially about--one boy's attempt to make human contact after bearing years of mental, emotional, and physical abuse. The genius aspect of Will is almost ancillary, but is important because it allows another important message to be sent--great intelligence does not designate a person as great. This message is sent home in many ways throughout the movie, but is most aptly illustrated when Will embarrasses a pompous Harvard boy in a debate. This scene was definitely one of the most gratifying scenes on film. In sum, Goodwill Hunting is a very good film. It is funny, humane, uplifting, and touching. The acting is very strong, the writing is very good, and the character of Will is complex, smart, snide, vulnerable, and highly likable. If you like films that make you feel excited about being human, then watch this film. If you want something a bit more commercial, watch Titanic.
Rating:
Summary: I need to "see about" buying this movie
Review: I'm mad as hell that I didn't catch this film on the big screen. Lack of promotion, I assume. This is the most satisfying movie I've seen. The ending was totally unexpected, but still very true to Will Hunting's character. I was talking in that accent for days afterwards. I know people who waste their talents because of problems in their pasts and pray that someone like "Sean" would come along and knock some sense into them. I really liked the fact that even the villain in this movie had only the best intentions for "Will". Actually the only real villain in this movie was Will's past - which makes for one of the most engaging characters in the history of film. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are going to have a tough time trying to top themselves in their next writing effort. Kudos to Robin Williams, who once again proves his diversity in acting cannot be matched. One footnote, read the article Affleck wrote for the February '00 issue of Premiere magazine. I was rolling. I'm on my way out to buy this DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Four for the movie, Five for the DVD
Review: The angry one star reviews for Good Will Hunting demean the legitimacy of the angry one star reviews for films such as Titanic, which are truly terrible. Good Will Hunting is not a lavish hollywood blockbuster that cost 70 million to make and trippled that at the box office. It did well and garnered critical praise but it's still a (relatively) art house film handled well by Van Sant who has constructed good, small, location and lifestyle specific American movies. This movie is the same. I actually agree with some of the legitimate criticism that this movie is predictable and over wound up at the end. The other criticism about how Will shouldn't be a genius and that the film is generally "trite" seems like silly prejudice. Take my perspective... I'm a young writer of screenplays and saw the silly looking trailers for this movie written by two young guys. I was sort of furious on the inside that these two were being lauded as great and I've never seen a Robin Williams movie that wasn't over sentimental trash. Then I go to the Angelica in New York, fuming and ready to hate this movie. But I couldn't... it was too well done, well acted by all three of my nemesis and genuinely funny and emotional. Those below who say that Matt Damon's performance is bad are one of two things - without any clue about acting or jealous (and stupid because honestly I'm jealous yet I think he was great). In addition, the features here are definately good for a couple of days watching and paint a vivid picture of how this film came to be.
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