Drama

Good Will Hunting

Lawrence Bender Productions

Be Gentlemen Limited Partnership

Miramax

United States of America

English

Matt Damon

Robin Williams

Ben Affleck

Stellan Skarsgård

Minnie Driver

Casey Affleck

Cole Hauser

Vik Sahay

John Mighton

Rachel Majorowski

Colleen McCauley

Matt Mercier

Ralph St. George

Rob Lynds

Dan Washington

Alison Folland

Derrick Bridgeman

Shannon Egleson

Rob Lyons

Steven Kozlowski

Jennifer Deathe

Scott William Winters

Philip Williams

Patrick O'Donnell

Kevin Rushton

Jimmy Flynn

Joe Cannon

Ann Matacunas

George Plimpton

Francesco Clemente

Jessica Morton

Barna Moricz

Libby Geller

Chas Lawther

Richard Fitzpatrick

Frank Nakashima

Chris Britton

David Eisner

Bruce Hunter

Robert Talvano

James Allodi

Michael Arthur

Christian Harmony

Riva Di Paola

Harmony Korine

Thomas Lundy

Paul McGillicuddy

Daniel Olsen

Stephen L'Heureux

Jonathan Gordon

Su Armstrong

Gus Van Sant

Missy Stewart

Pietro Scalia

Suzanne Smith Crowley

Lawrence Bender

Bob Weinstein

Harvey Weinstein

Jaro Dick

Kerry Barden

James McAteer

Jean-Yves Escoffier

Billy Hopkins

Marcia Scott

David Till

Delphine White

Vanessa Vogel

Tracy Shaw

Malcolm Nefsky

Andrew Shea

Lisa Janowski

Gerri Gillan

Mark Manchester

Concha Solano

April A. Janow

Doc Kane

Marc Corriveau

Jennifer Myers

Mike Boudry

Frank Rinella

Stuart Mitchell

Mike Mertens

Gary Burritt

Dave Staples

Marnie Moore

Margie O'Malley

Bryan Forde

Richard Moore

Tom E. Dahl

Michael 'Gonzo' Gandsey

Leslie Sebert

Jery Hewitt

Jeffrey Kimball

George Kraychyk

Kenneth Karman

Patrick Winters

Leslie Shatz

Kelley Baker

Herb Reischl Jr.

James D. Brown

Scott Mosier

Chris Moore

Kevin Smith

Vair Macphee

Brent O'Connor

Jennifer McNamara

Brian Ricci

Christopher Goode

Robert Hackl

Pamela Winn-Barnett

Heidi Vogel

Elizabeth Cecchini

Robert Easton

William 'Billy Jack' Jakielaszek

Prudence Emery

Edward Zwick

Richard Linklater

Terrence Malick

William Goldman

Peter Yates

Kelley Dixon

Elliott Smith

Danny Elfman

Greg O'Hara

Pablo Ferro

David A. Cohen

Beatrix Aruna Pasztor

Sophia Lofters

Kiley Fascia

Kathryn Buck

Marty Dejczak

Mark Logan

Rick Perotto

Joe Micomonaco

Peter Sweeney

Owen Langevin

Jim Thompson

Erika Schengili-Roberts

Dave Kellner

Bob Hannah

Jim MacCammon

William McKibbin

Will Hunting, is a working class 20 year old mathematical genius, and yet chooses to shun a university education, preferring instead to be a janitor at Harvard university. 

At a social level he is headstrong, arrogant, likes getting into fights as well as ending up in police cells for his regular anti-social behaviour. 

Despite having friends, they are not shining beacons leading him into a better light. He is happy with his lot, shuns commitment and his best form of defence is attack both physically and verbally against those who want to impose their will on him for better or worse.

At the same university a professor of mathematics throws out a complex mathematical challenge to his students, asking them to complete the formula on a blackboard in the hall outside of his classroom. Will is cleaning floors one morning, comes across the blackboard and within seconds he has completed the formula before carrying on his duties while the professor wonders who it was!

It turns out Will was abused in his youth, and has moved on from one foster family to the next, but none of them were seemingly any better, and never reached out to his needs leaving him feeling bitter and angry.

A psychology professor (Robin Williams), spends various sessions with Will, and slowly, ever so slowly, Will begins to open up his darker side until both Will and the professor find a bond.

Make no mistake the premise is original but predictable. However, the acting performances are terrific, especially from Damon, whom I never really had much time for up until this film.

I was also impressed by the performance of Will's girlfriend, played by Minnie Driver. She soon fell in love with him, only to find that he never reciprocated and pushed her away just as had done to other people who tried to get too close to him in the past.

It is very much a feel-good film with a nice satisfying ending. It pulls at the heartstrings sometimes, but you just know everything will work out right in the end.

So great!

<em>'Good Will Hunting'</em> is a film I had heard many a great thing about but had never actually seen it so didn't know anything about the plot - so much so that I genuinely thought it was about the good will of hunting or something... and certainly not about a character named Will Hunting! The poster makes it look like a film of that sort, in my defence.

I also didn't realise, aside from the lead two, that the cast list was so stacked until the credits came up at the start. The names didn't let me down either, as the acting is superb across the board. Matt Damon and Robin Williams are truly outstanding together, I already rate them from other productions so I'm glad I can add another cracker to their respective filmographies.

Even away from Messrs Damon and Williams, you've got very good displays from the likes of Stellan Skarsgård, Minnie Driver (emotionally, particularly, excellent) and Ben Affleck. Pretty impressive that it was written by both Affleck and Damon too!

The plot is great, the way the friendship builds between Will (Damon) and Sean (Williams) is so beautifully done. Both characters are very interesting, even if I didn't buy the genius of Will at all at first but I quickly let that go as the film does such a grand job at crafting everything together around it.

In short, it's ace! Glad I finally checked it out.

CinemaSerf

"Will" (Matt Damon) is a rudderless character who works as a caretaker. He's an attitudinal pain in the neck whom, aside from his best friend "Chuckie" (Ben Affleck), is pretty much shunned by everyone. "Professor Lambeau" (Stellan Skarsgård) spots some potential in this wayward lad, especially when he realises that he has an amazing ability to solve mathematical problems. To that end he sends him to see the eccentric psychologist "Sean" (Robin Williams) who proves remarkably adept at cutting down the young man's defences and at beginning to rebuild the character of the man in a more positive and life-affirming fashion. The film combines some excellent performances from all four men, but especially a bang on-form Williams as the penetrative, but flawed, route to salvation for an equally flawed and angry almost younger version of himself in the genius "Will". Damon is entirely convincing as his temper and his prodigious nature are juggled adeptly and aided by a powerful script that allows the actors to take and keep centre stage as the potency of the plot becomes more and more focussed, we are presented here with a ground-breaking and thought-provoking look at what makes a great teacher as well as what makes a human being tick, what makes one happy and fulfilled - and what makes one the opposite! For my money, Gus Van Sant's finest interpretative work and well worth watching a few times, for more detail emerges to appreciate each time you see it.

Filipe Manuel Neto

**A very good film, but with some flaws and problems that deserve attention.**

This film is about a boy from Boston, who comes from very poor backgrounds, but who has a gift for mathematics, easily solving theorems and advanced problems that leave Harvard professors unanswered. He is discovered after solving one, at night and without telling anyone, and one of the professors at the university decides to help him be someone and make use of his gift. The problem is that he doesn't want to, he's not able to trust anyone, and he's seriously stuck with justice. Therefore, he will recruit an irreverent psychiatrist to try to help the boy.

The film's premise is very good, and the story has merits that we cannot ignore or minimize. It's one of those delicious movies to watch, that leaves us without feeling the time that passes. We really know that guy is not a bad person, but it's not easy to like the character due to his options and his bad social attitude. However, what bothered me the most was the construction of Robin Williams' character and his whole way of acting and accompanying that patient. I think anyone who has ever had the need to see a psychiatrist knows that they have strict rules about what they can and cannot do, and Williams' character breaks a good number of them.

And this leads us to talk about actors. I really enjoyed Williams' work, but he is a long way from the best that the actor has given us. Matt Damon also did a good job, perhaps one of the best of his career, and one that opened more doors for him in his professional life. Stellan Skarsgard also intelligently took advantage of the opportunity to impose himself on the American cinematic scene, with a job well done and of great merit. Minnie Driver also did an interesting job, perhaps even more so than Ben Affleck, whose character doesn't have as much visibility or relevance.

Technically, the film has many merits, starting with the excellent cinematography, a good set of sets and interesting costumes. The effects are understated, but they work quite well, and the soundtrack also does a pretty good job. It is not, however, a film that stands out for its technical aspects, nor could it be. The important thing in this film is the story it brings us and the work of the cast.

Psychological drama well in the beginning of Ben Aflleck and Matt Damon in their careers - they star (with Matt in the role of the protagonist) and wrote the script together. The director was Gus Van Sant (Drugstore Cowboy).

The movie tells a story about a irish-descendant boy in Boston that works as janitor in a mathematics faculty, and it is a self-taught genius, with a troubled past and present - some  mathematical riddles are left by the head of the chair in the faculty (Skarsgård) and mysteriously solved by night. Catching up with Matt Damon character Will he can be out of parole if he gets a job and consult with a psychiatrist what shows to be a tid bit tough thing. 

The film received positive reviews from critics and grossed over $225 million during its theatrical run against a $10 million budget, and received nominations in nine categories, including Best Picture and Best Director, and won in two: Best Supporting Actor for Williams and Best Original Screenplay for Affleck and Damon. Nothing bad, at all for someone being just out of Harvard University. Anther curiosity: character Skylar in the movie have the same name and background of Matt Damon's girlfriend back then.

Robin Williams acts as the psychiatrist that could connect with this troubled boy, in a solid role - speaking of solid role it was nice to see Matt Damon out of some action movie in really nice drama scenes. Another actor that shows up is Stellan Skarsgård, yes the father of the four sons the most known being Bill (of "It"). 

Nice heartwarming moving movie thought the end with a solid script. I would scorre it a 8.0 out of 10.0 / B+. It is strange that I didn't even reminded this one back in 97, but then I remembered that that year I was in the 3rd year of Medicine so not much time to seeing movies I guess.

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Good Will Hunting

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Cast

Matt Damon

Robin Williams

Ben Affleck

Stellan Skarsgård

Minnie Driver

Casey Affleck

Cole Hauser

Vik Sahay

John Mighton

Rachel Majorowski

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