Good Will Hunting (1997)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Gus Van Sant

Writers (WGA):

Matt Damon (written by) &
Ben Affleck (written by)

Release Date:

9 January 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Some people can never believe in themselves, until someone believes in them.

Plot:

Will Hunting, a janitor at MIT, has a gift for mathematics but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life.

Plot Keywords:

Janitor | Genius | Mathematics | Jail | Professor

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 16 wins & 35 nominations

Cast

Robin Williams	...	Sean Maguire
Matt Damon	...	Will Hunting
Ben Affleck	...	Chuckie Sullivan
Stellan Skarsgård	...	Prof. Gerald Lambeau
Minnie Driver	...	Skylar
Casey Affleck	...	Morgan O'Mally
Cole Hauser	...	Billy McBride
John Mighton	...	Tom - Lambeau's Teaching Assistant
Rachel Majorowski	...	Krystyn
Colleen McCauley	...	Cathy
Matt Mercier	...	Barbershop Quartet #1
Ralph St. George	...	Barbershop Quartet #2
Rob Lynds	...	Barbershop Quartet #3
Dan Washington	...	Barbershop Quartet #4
Alison Folland	...	M.I.T. Student #1

MPAA:

Rated R for strong language, including some sex-related dialogue.

Runtime:

126 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Alberta) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | USA:R (certificate #35614) | South Korea:12 | Philippines:PG-13 (cut) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Belgium:KT | Brazil:14 | Chile:14 | Czech Republic:12 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 | Mexico:B | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | Israel:PG | Singapore:NC-16

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Be Gentlemen Limited Partnership

Trivia:

At a WGA seminar in 2003, William Goldman denied the persistent rumor that he was the actual writer of Good Will Hunting: "I would love to say that I wrote it. Here is the truth. In my obit it will say that I wrote it. People don't want to think those two cute guys wrote it. What happened was, they had the script. It was their script. They gave it to Rob [Reiner] to read, and there was a great deal of stuff in the script dealing with the F.B.I. trying to use Matt Damon for spy work because he was so brilliant in math. Rob said, "Get rid of it." They then sent them in to see me for a day - I met with them in New York - and all I said to them was, "Rob's right. Get rid of the F.B.I. stuff. Go with the family, go with Boston, go with all that wonderful stuff." And they did. I think people refuse to admit it because their careers have been so far from writing, and I think it's too bad. I'll tell you who wrote a marvelous script once, Sylvester Stallone. Rocky's a marvelous script. God, read it, it's wonderful. It's just got marvelous stuff. And then he stopped suddenly because it's easier being a movie star and making all that money than going in your pit and writing a script. But I did not write [Good Will Hunting], alas. I would not have written the "It's not your fault" scene. I'm going to assume that 148 percent of the people in this room have seen a therapist. I certainly have, for a long time. Hollywood always has this idea that it's this shrink with only one patient. I mean, that scene with Robin Williams gushing and Matt Damon and they're hugging, "It's not your fault, it's not your fault." I thought, Oh God, Freud is so agonized over this scene. But Hollywood tends to do that with therapists."

Goofs:

Continuity: The first lecture is on analysis and has nothing to do with combinatorics, the kind of mathematics that the rest of the film deals with.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Lambeau: Mod fx... squared... dx. So please finish Parceval, by next time. I know many of you had this as undergraduates, but it won't hurt to brush up.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Supernatural: Hollywood Babylon (#2.18)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Afternoon Delight

"Whatever blows your hair back" - This movie does it for me!

This is the best movie I have seen since the Godfather. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck make a great team...not only as actors, but more impressively as co-writers. Add Robin Williams in perhaps his best role ever (too close to Good Morning Vietnam for me to make the call), and you have a wonderfully entertaining movie.

Ben Affleck is convincing as the best friend to a genius, able to effectively play the joker and the friend who would "lay down in traffic for you". Matt Damon's portrayal of that genius realizing that life has something more to offer than batting cages and bars is equally stunning. And Robin Williams certainly leaves nothing to be desired (except maybe a beard trimmer...).

The most amazing thing about this movie is the writing. Even if the acting were not terrific, this movie still would have made my top ten list. I was captivated from beginning to end.

If you've not seen it, Good Will Hunting is without doubt a "renter", and I think after seeing it, it's one you'll want to own to watch again and again.