Rating: 
Summary: Much Appreciated
Review: I'm not a film analyst, and I won't pretend to be. I wasn't sure I would like this film, based on the reviews, which were favorable. That's because I didn't know whether I could trust them.I suspected that reviewers may have had an axe to grind, one way or another. Sean Connery will always get good reviews for even a fair performance, his fans are that loyal. Fortunately, he doesn't mail too many performances in, so he usually satisfies in any case. Then, there is heavy black/African American content in this movie, and that can bring out higher or lower ratings, based on political or racial considerations, rather than the merits of the film. Sean Connery's performance, to me, was indeed outstanding. His best? I save that title for The Man Who Would Be King, but this one is right up there. Rob Brown, in his first effort, was actually pretty good for a newcomer. If you notice the acting, the actor screwed up. I didn't notice it, so he must have done a good job. It might well have been a veteran actor. Jamal's family is presented as typically semi-functional for a black neighborhood in a major American city (it looked like the Bronx to me, but it's been a long time since I've been there). His father is gone, mother is great, his brother has an honest but low paying job. Oddly, the one thing I noticed about the neighborhood is the almost total absence of crime, gangs, and drugs. That's almost total, since the only crime I saw take place was when Jamal broke into Forrester's apartment, and even that wasn't motivated by thievery. Rather it was curiosity, and he did it on a dare, like a bunch of scared kids outside a haunted house. For the writer and director to leave out the challenge of crime in that neighborhood must have been an intentional choice. Perhaps they felt Jamal already had enough challenges, and I can't fault that logic. Forrester, of course, is being compared to writer J.D. Salinger. A fine writer who did one novel, and some magazine pieces, and was pretty much a recluse for reasons known only to him. There is another man he might be likened to, and that is radio personality, writer, and actor Jean Shepherd, who died almost two years ago on Sanibel Island, Florida. Details are different, but I sure recognize the attitude. Both men were damned hard to really know, and each had his own means of hiding out from admirers. If there were one loose end, one might point to the fact that Forrester offered no apology to some one he deeply wronged, when he could have. It might well have been in character for him not to, though. I won't give away anything about the ending, except to say that final scene was an eye opener, and things look really interesting for Jamal. Finding Forrester didn't get very much publicity. I think it deserved to have more. It is a fine film.
Rating: 
Summary: it's nothing you haven't seen before
Review: Think "Good Will Hunting" in the Bronx. The tried and true "teacher-student relationship in which the teacher learns as much, if not more than the student" resurfaces in this film, although Gus Van Sant gives it a new spin. This time, the "teacher" is a misanthropic former wonder boy author, and the student is an inner city basketball player with an incredible talent for writing. Sean Connery and Rob Brown are very good as William Forrester and Jamal Wallace. The role of Forrester allows Connery to go beyond his superhero pose, and Connery imbues the character with genuine human qualities. He examines Forrester's wounds and eccentricities and lays them bare, but he also lets the character's arrogance shine through, exposing just enough to keep Forrester from being merely a crotchety old man. Of course, Forrester also happens to be Scottish, which isn't a huge stretch for Connery, and it allows him to plug his ancestral homeland, of course. (An ancestral homeland he hasn't lived full-time in for over twenty years...But I digress...) Brown's intense, honest, understated performance is an excellent foil for Connery's occasional grandstanding. It's not what Brown reveals, it's what he doesn't reveal that makes the performance noteworthy. You can see the intelligence in Jamal's eyes, a difficult thing for any actor to convey. The problem with "Finding Forrester" is that the film spends so much time developing the two main characters, everything else pretty much goes by the wayside. The plot is conventional and predictable, and the supporting cast is pretty much forgettable. Will Hunting's scrappy, sometimes obnoxious group of drinking buddies (Ben Affleck, Casey Affleck, and Cole Hauser) were some of the most memorable minor characters in recent film because they were so well developed, but Jamal Wallace's friends and family are barely given enough screentime to have a conversation with him. Other characters fare just as badly. F. Murray Abraham essentially reprises his role as the disgruntled, talentless composer Salieri in "Amadeus", but this time, he plays a disgruntled writer who takes out his anger and disappointment on his students. Unfortunately, Abraham is never given the chance to reach the emotional complexity of Salieri, reducing his role to an angry, jealous old has-been. Anna Paquin, one of the finer young actresses of the day, is basically wasted in the thankless role of Jamal's potential love interest, Claire, the upper class white girl. Paquin is given neither the screen time nor the material to develop Claire into a remotely interesting character. The film ends before it can delve into "West Side Story" territory. "Finding Forrester" has every intention to be something other than conventional. Unfortunately, so much time is spent building up the relationship between the two main characters, there isn't enough film left to do anything new, and the final message is nothing that we haven't heard before.
Rating:
Summary: Good Movie, excelent music!
Review: What a good movie... but the music is Excelent! i recomend everybody to buy the soundtrack of this movie, the amazing tune OVER THE RAINBOW/WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD is only one of a very fine selection of music! (reviews at the cd section). The history have a lots of cliches, but the cast is so perfect that you can forget/forgive those cliches easily. I like this kind of movies, I'm from Venezuela and my mother language is not the english (as you can guess!) but the idioms and particularly the english can have a rhythm that you can really enjoy like in this movie, from slang to the "educated english" the experience is enhaced thanks to this. In the same way the adventure of 'finding' the infinite posibilities of the human being is portrayed sincerely like Forrester said "...he only helped Jamal to find his own words" truely i think that to write builds a bridge between all kind of people. Perfect if after you watch it you write something and share it with a friend.
Rating: 
Summary: A well-made feel good movie
Review: I have seen many feel good movies in my lifetime such as Good Will Hunting, Scent of a Woman, Dead Poet's Society, Patch Adams, & Finding Forrester is way up there with them. The movie is portrayed as a matter-of-factly of a 16 years old African American boy, Jamal living in the Bronx. He deliberately passed his grades simply rather than excelling in the exams & shooting hoops in order to fit in with his peers but his hidden potential was soon discovered by an elite school in the nation's bursary which offered him a free scholarship. In a dare with his friends, Jamal sneaked into William Forrester's (depicted brilliantly by Sean Connery) apartment & by accident, a lifelong frienships ensued. Jamal's significant improvement in his grades raised suspicion from his teacher (potrayed well by Murray Abraham). As William put to Jamal's succinctly, a good teacher could either be very effective or very dangerous & soon enough, Jamal was at the receiving end of the teacher's wrath for being too good. Naturally, race issue was touched upon, & the awkwardness of Jamal to date a white woman (acted by Anna Paquin) with a rich background was displayed not by words but by those silent moment & brief glances. Towards the end, it all came to a climax with a predictable but resounding ending. A movie that deserved to be savoured slowly & the message shines thru, that if you have a dream, pursue it albeit how late it is as long as you pursue it. A cameo appearance by an unexpected star which would give the whole meaning to irony. Rob Brown (who played Jamal), a non actor was believable with his big innocent eyes craving for knowledge, Busta Rhymes played a surprisingly low key character of Jamal's elder brother who wished for nothing but the best for Jamal as he accepted his own fate as a parking attendant at the local stadium, & Sean Connery was simply splendid as always. A movie that deserved to be stood alone on its merit. Special features in the DVD are widescreen presentation, English & French subtitles, Dolby Sound, HBO Making of the movie, Rob Brown, deleted choir scenes, theatrical trailers, talent files, interactive menus, production notes, & lastly scene selections.
Rating:
Summary: No Guts, No Glory
Review: Good premise; well casted; and starts with much promise. Unfortunately, cops out and starts reaching for comfortable and popular Hollywood cliches. Hence, a pretty mediocre film. The last third of the movie craters to conventionality with some silly built-up foil (the mean teacher at the School) getting his just deserts - yawn - it doesn't work and really wasn't necessary except for the "feel good" factor that all Hollywood movies feel the viewing masses need to ensure the movie's profitability [no matter how implausible the set-up]. Made worse in that the movie showed no confidence in itself in refusing to allow its characters to be heard in the end; instead relied on sentimental music build-up not permitting the audience to honestly arrive at the intended and desired emotional response. Alas, what it could of been..... Still not entirely wasted rental, provided you do not go into expecting too much.
Rating:
Summary: The Old Scot did it again
Review: The old theme of redemption through friendship gets quite a curious approach here. Put together an old actor that is acting better and better with age ( Sean Connery ), a promising youngster ( Rob Brown ), a good Director, and two classical passions of the USA ( baseball and victory through merit ) and what do you get? ... an excellent and entertaining movie that catches your attention from beggining to end. I wish some Directors could learn from this. Special applause to Sean Connery. His underacting is a lesson to all movie fans.
Rating:
Summary: Finding a good movie
Review: Movie Summary: A 16 year old black kid from the Bronx stumbles across a reclusive author who had a Pulitzer winning novel 40 years before and hadn't been heard from since. They end up pulling each other out of their shells. The kid is scared to let his friends see that he is smart. The author is scared of everything. My Opinion: This was a really touching movie. The only problem I have with it is that the trailer gave everything away. I know that's not the fault of the movie, but it would have been a lot better had I not seen the trailer six months before in the theater. Do not watch the trailer before you watch the movie. This is a good rule in general. Sean Connery is awesome. He just keeps getting better. Rob Brown is amazing in his first role ever. The mix of academics and basketball is very well done. I enjoyed both. DVD Quality: It's anamorphic so I was happy. There are a bunch of extras which are nice. I didn't notice the picture or sound being good or bad because I was too into the movie. What You Should Do: See it for sure. I'd probably put this movie in the "try it before you buy it" category. Yes there are people out there who buy DVDs without seeing the movie first. Right Rhett? Don't worry about the Good Will Hunting comparisons. They are not that much alike. Make up your own mind.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Will Hunting clone
Review: I was excited about this one because writing is dear to my heart. This one, however, is so much like Good Will Hunting I expected Robin Williams to come charging in at some point to tell Jamal that it was not his fault! Matt Damon makes a cameo - that doesn't help to separate the comparison. It's a formula that works - just not as well the second time around. This one is good for a rental. The extra cheese is included.
Rating:
Summary: Additional Info on Special Features
Review: For those of you who are interested in the special features contained on this DVD, the DVD contains the following features: - HBO Making of "Finding Forrester" - Found: Rob Brown Featurette - Deleted Choir Scenes - Theatrical Trailers for "Finding Forrester", "Fly Away Home", "To Die For" and "First Knight" - Talent Files - Production Notes - Interactive Menu - English and French SUbtitles - English 5.1 (DD) and 2.0 (DS), French 2.0 (DS) - 2.35 Anamorphic Widescreen Hope this helps.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating and Intriguing
Review: This movie, Finding Forrester, is one which at first sparked little interest in my viewing it. But, after viewing it, I was pleasantly surprised as well as pleased. This movie provides drama as well as love. Subtle comedy occasionally appears throughout the movie especially when Forrester(Connery) makes Jamal write a 5000 word essay about "why he should stay the &#*@ our of his home". Jamal obliges. The movie's ironic and unusual friendship between Forrester and Jamal add color and mystery to this movie. The next time that you are in Blockbuster on a weekend, you should consider renting Finding Forrester. I promise you won't be disappointed.
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