Rating: Summary: . Review: Some of the bitingly negative reviews of this movie are pretty amusing, and I should point out that most of the criticisms are, in fact, highly valid. As Leonard says above, this is not a movie that bears close scrutiny. It's all too easy to envision Ben Affleck and Matt Damon giggling over beers and a notebook as they concocted a pseudo-intellectual "moving" screenplay (which they probably figured the academy would love) in which Matt Damon gets to play a young, masculine super-genius and occasionally go on scathingly, cynically profound rants, boldly break a girl's heart, and kick some ass in between before learning a valuable moral lesson from that fuzzy personification of Chicken Soup for the Soul, Robin Williams. An interesting thing to speculate on is how self-aware the two were of exactly what they were putting together and why. And while some of Van Sant's direction is interesting, if inexplicable (I love the way Matt Damon's face glows with a strange angelic light as he looks at Williams' painting in his office), he is a director I have yet to find myself in admiration of. Still, with these things said, I have to admit I enjoyed the movie quite a bit, primarily because the performances are strong, and because Will Hunting is fundamentally a fascinating character, despite all the egotism evident behind his creation (or maybe, in part, even because of it.) He is so representative of the elations and dilemmas of male psychology (this may not be entirely intentional), and if one isn't too busy being put off by the film's shortcomings, he embodies a number of very philosophical conflicts (existential thoughts and values vs. sup-of-life romanticism, say.) It's actually a pity to see the sappy romanticism win out, but if it didn't, it probably wouldn't have been up for an Oscar, and almost no one would like it. Anyhow, all of this isn't handled in the most insightful way, perhaps, but the strength of the performances, which I've already mentioned, and one or two genuinely intelligent exchanges, help pull it together. What it really comes down to, I think, is whether or not you can get into the Will Hunting character. If you can suspend disbelief for his sake and be engaged by his problems, dilemmas, and attitude, you'll get something out of this. Others who might enjoy it are girls who are all squishy for Matt Damon and anyone who thinks Robin Williams is just too darn heart-warming for his own good (though he is at least sort of frumpy and watered down here -- to his and Van Sant's credit.)
Rating: Summary: Overall good Dvd Review: My Rating is based on video quality, sound, features, and the movie itself. Video quality: I thought it was excellent but what I liked most about this dvd was the anamorphic view. This means a wider than usual widescreen which means a bigger picture for most of us. Sound: Great, nothing to report. Features: I made the mistake in buying the regular version of this dvd. Features-wise it only has a music video as an added extra. A little poor on the features but thats why they have the collectors edition. Movie: The movie itself is a great movie. Set in Boston, the movie caught me by suprise because I usually like action movies and not drama. Overall, I think it is worth it to the COLLECTORS EDITION Dvd. Do not get the regular dvd because for a couple bucks more you can get a whole lot of features.
Rating: Summary: One of the best DVDs I own... Review: I own more than a dozen DVDs and this is one of the finest discs I have. The video quality is stunning as is the audio. The extras are informative and interesting. Listening to the commentary track is almost as much fun as watching the normal movie. The deleted scenes are high quality and include interesting commentary as well. To top it all off the behind the scenes feature and the music video by Elliott Smith are both EXCELLENT! Definitely a must-have for anybody who appreciates moving drama and quality DVDs....
Rating: Summary: Great movie that's worthy of it's oscars! Review: This movie is fantstic!It was well written and acted.This cast is magnificent.This was the first movie I saw Ben Affleck and Matt Damon in and I think they give great preformances here and just keep on giving them. They also wrote a wonderful movie. I'm so gracious that they finally gave Robin Williams an Oscar. I think it is a long overdue award!
Rating: Summary: toshiba sd-3109 owners... try regular version Review: I tried 3 collector's edition dvd.. all of them had double layer gliches toward 2/3 of the movie.
Rating: Summary: Pay no mind to the 1-star reviews before me... Review: By giving the movie 1 star, they are basically dismissing it as total garbage (which is far from the truth). "Good Will Hunting" is driven by its both warm and cold moments...the character interaction is not what you would expect--maybe that's why it's so fresh. On that last lengthy review, you probably noticed how nitpicky the reviewer was about unimportant details in the movie. And since the movie didn't show EVERY date Will went on with his girlfriend, I can only assume it was more than two, hence they fell in love. All this said, I would recommend this film if you're an AVERAGE movie viewer who can willingly suspend disbelief for awhile. Also it helps if you love movies with great acting (Williams especially shines), humor, drama, and the ability to prove that young, aspiring screenwriters have something to offer to the film industry.
Rating: Summary: Great Work Review: Right off the bat, this is my favorite movie of all time. I think it is written beautifully. The way they portray Matt Damon's character is great, they make him believe that what he has isnt that special, and the way they make you think that his problems are not that deep is just great. I love that they show you how he breaks down and finally comes to terms with his problems, and to Robin Williams, who plays his character magnificantly.
Rating: Summary: This is a good movie - very entertaining Review: I really liked Good Will Hunting. I think this movie's intention was not to create cinematic history or surprise the audience with plot twists and turns. I think perhaps it only meant to strike a chord with any viewer who has ever felt alone. Did it speak to me? YES. guilty as charged. It IS a feel good movie, but along the way you get treated to great acting from Robin Williams, good acting from Matt Damon, Minnie Driver and Ben Afflect, and a genuinely funny script. If there is a weakness in the plot it is that boy genius/floor scrubber is a little hard to swallow. But this is ,after all, the movies and I contend that a little artistic liscence should be granted in such matters. The relationship between Sean (Robin Williams character) and Will (Damon) is what this movie is about, and it unfolded with a grace that more experienced writers could not have managed. Kudos to Affleck and Damon for beating the odds.
Rating: Summary: Good Will Hunting >>FAILS<< to be genuine. Review: I have problems enjoying this movie. In fact I hated it. That is why it troubles me to see so many good reviews. Because of the word limitation I will not be able to clearly elucidate all my dislikes for this movie. but, here goes... 1. The story line is trite and predictable. 2. Though the story line is unoriginal, we see Will admonishing a Harvard student for being unoriginal. 3. Using Howard Zinn's 'A People's History of United States' as a source for history is puzzling at best. If anyone has read this book, one will find obvious one-sided arguments that one can figure out in just the language *itself* without knowing any history. Zinn admits to its one sidedness and gives his reasons. Did the writers actually read this book? 4. The depiction of Will Hunting as a mathematical genius the likes of Ramanujan without any effort is a joke. Ramanujan, Gauss, Archimedes, Newton, Mozart, Bach, Durer, da Vinci, and every genius put enormous efforts in their works and have thus been called geniuses. 5. If Will is such a great genius, then why couldn't the audience see his works? Could it have been as deep as the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra, or insightful as Euler's discovery of e? Or as profound as the discovery/invention of non-euclidean geometry? If Will was on par as the disoverers of these mathematical ideas, then how can you separate the man from his brilliant mind? 6. The development of the relationships in this movie is best described as being 'convenient'. That is to say, there is no development. I had the impression that the writers have not lived enough to flesh any details in this department. In fact, I could not ignore this thought; that is why it was no surprise to me that the parents of Will's girlfriend were killed in a fire. This way, the writers could 'conveniently' avoid fleshing this detail. 7. Contrived psychotherapy. Repeated saying that 'it not your fault' can actually help? This is almost as far fetched as Will being a math genius. 8. Science is a hard subject. What a slap in the face of the practiioners of science to treat mathematics and Organic Chemistry as trivial. 9. Will is a smart boy, but he's a baaad boy. Is this every girls' dream? An exciting 'dangerous' man but can fill her curiousity about Boltzmann's statistical mechanics. Now only if Will could develop his psychic and telekinetic skills, then I'd be really impressed! It makes you wonder about Damon who insisted he play the part of this dreamboat. 10. I don't see this movie as an accurate portrayal of Boston. If so, I'd think I'd move back to New York. 11. 'But I love you scene' was so terribly funny. Will goes out with a girl for a few dates and now she is in love with him. Is this realistic? A girl falls in love with a foul mouth janitor? It is hard to suspend my disbelief for a movie that presents itself as serious. Perhaps that's my problem? I take this movie too seriously. Maybe this movie is suppose to horribly bad like a cheesy horror flick. I'm suppose to laugh at the unrealism as I would someone getting his head chopped off? How can I address the great love people have for a movie I hated? I've talked to those in Boston who have liked this movie and the answers were rather disappointing: 'I like the shots of the T (subway)' 'It was neat to see Boston on the movie screen.' Finally, I came to an answer that I could accept. When I asked a thoughtful person why he liked it, he told me that the movie sucked, but he felt an emotional attachment to Will. So maybe, just maybe, the acting was not so bad.
Rating: Summary: Watch something else Review: I don't understand the good reviews. I've seen this movie and every reason listed for it being good, I have not seen demonstrated in this movie. It was boring and cliche for me. In fact, very boring and cliche.
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