Rent Good Will Hunting (1997)

fantastic! - Good Will Hunting review by CP Customer

i absoloutely LOVE this film! it is such a well rounded movie, there are performances to make you laugh, make you cry and you can relate to each character the whole way through. fantastic acting from matt damon, ben affleck, minnie driver and robin williams. but, of course, robin williams and matt damon make this film as special as it is, the relationship which develops between these two men is completely realistic and robin williams does a very good transition here from funny man to strong and serious as he also does in 'the night listener'. great film would recommend it to anyone. have bought this and watched it a thousand times it is that good. a real gem!

Excellent script, excellent performances, excellent film - Good Will Hunting review by RP

Robin Williams won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and Matt Damon + Ben Affleck won the Best Screenplay Oscar. And thoroughly deserved these awards are too - pity that Brit actress Minnie Driver didn't win her Oscar after being nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

Robin Williams is usually a bit too over the top for me, a manic comedy actor, but this film and also 'One Hour Photo' show a much more restrained side to his acting abilities.

The storyline goes like this: Will Hunting (Matt Damon) is a lowly janitor at MIT who is also a genius mathematician. He lives in Southie (South Boston) and hangs out with his blue collar friends, drinking beer etc. He is arrested after a brawl and released into the care of an MIT professor on condition he attends therapy sessions with a psychologist. Will sees off several therapists and eventually ends up with psychologist Sean Maguire (Robin Williams) who is able to understand the emotional damage he has suffered from his abusive childhood, forms a bond of trust and friendship, and encourages Will to follow his girlfriend (Minnie Driver) rather than a career as a mathematician.

Yes, it sounds implausible (and it is) but it works really well and the excellent script and excellent performances allow you to suspend any disbelief you may feel and enjoy what is a very moving story. Great stuff - 5/5 stars.

Unmissable - Fantastic heart Warming Drama - Good Will Hunting review by GI

A film that is a success story all round, from the excellent and first time script by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck to the unpretentious direction by Gus Van Sant to the award winning performance of Robin Williams. This heart warming drama remains a firm favourite with many and it never ceases to impact even after several times of seeing it. It's actually a very clever story too and one that doesn't fall into the trap of overplaying it's central plot device but uses it to expose the real focus of the film, which is the pain of an abused young man struggling to fit in the world. Will (Damon) is a janitor at the prestigious M.I.T. school at Harvard University. His life revolves around hanging with his best friend (Ben Affleck), drinking and fighting. But he happens to be a mathematical genius, a gift that comes naturally and when he writes the solution to a complex problem on a blackboard at work he comes to the attention of a top professor (Stellan Skarsgård) who sees huge potential in him. But being on parole for assault Will must attend counselling sessions. He resists those and the efforts of everyone to help him change the course of his life. He harbours deep seated pain from his past that only Sean, the counsellor (Williams), understands. The essence of the story is in the relationship between Will and Sean, a father & son dynamic, that is nurtured only very carefully and skilfully by Sean who harnesses his own demons. When Will meets and falls for Skylar (Minnie Driver) he begins to see what Sean is trying to do for him. It's a touching film with all the key performances being exemplary. Williams is the stand out here though in a film where he puts aside his comedy for a serious and moving role for which he rightly won awards. It's his best and most memorable film and he is the rock that the whole narrative revolves around. The narrative only uses the genius of Will to expose the pain he hides and to save him from his past. This is a clever aspect of the story and whilst there are elements of the class differences here especially seen when a Harvard student attempts to embarrass Will and his friends and finds that this lowly janitor knows more than he does, it's not a film that dwells on this. It has an uplifting theme that one should use one's talents whatever they maybe to gain life's full potential. A quite wonderful film and one to check out again if it's been awhile since you've seen it.