Good Will Hunting (1997)

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 which is discovered, and a psychologist tries to help him with his gift and the rest of his life.

Plot Keywords:

Apology | Fear Of Failure | Masturbation Reference | Death Of Wife | Ethnic Slur

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 16 wins & 35 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Thur. Sept. 18	8:00 PM	TNT
Thur. Sept. 18	10:30 PM	TNT

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:

SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Iceland:12 | USA:R (certificate #35614) | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | South Korea:12 | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Philippines:PG-13 (cut) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta) | 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:

The script was originally developed by Castle Rock, the production company of Rob Reiner. When they didn't know what to do with it, filmmaker Kevin Smith took the script to Miramax. It became the highest grossing film in Miramax history until Chicago (2002) topped it.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Professor Lambeau is interrupted at the alumni cocktail reception, the alumni wearing the red jackets are all too young to be wearing the he "Artillery" Red jacket, which is the MIT 50-year alumnus jacket.

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 "Saturday Night Live: Ben Affleck/Fiona Apple (#25.13)" (2000)

Soundtrack:

Angeles

Incredible, moving movie.

A lot of things have been said about this fantastic movie, and I only hope to add a few more praises.

The fact that it was written by Ben and Matt was a shock to me, I did not expect any strong writing and a solid script, but boy was I wrong. The movie lasts for 2 hours, and every minute of it I couldn't even focus on anything beside the incredible world of Will Hunting.

Matt plays Will Hunting, who is a brilliant young man who denies his unreal intellect. Will has had a very abusive childhood which hurt him mentally to a point where he can no longer let anyone close to him aside from his best friend who is played by Ben. That is until a professor at one of the top colleges finds Will's talent and helps him out of trouble with the law. Robin Williams later comes in as a therapist to Will, he is the only one who can really stand up to Will's intellect and manages to break the layer of distrust that Will has developed over years of solitude, and the two develop a bond beyond friendship.

Yes there is a girl, but this is not a romantic movie. There is more to life then what we are taught and what we have to show for it.

The writing is witty, brilliant and hilarious at times, both Matt and Robin Williams preform wonderfully from both a comedic and theatrical prospective. Matt's best work since Dogma and Williams best along side Dead Poet's Society.

If your looking for a typical Hollywood movie with a Hollywood ending, then do not bother spending two hours on this movie. This movie is ahead of it's time, and lands an easy 10 out of 10.

This one is a keeper in my movie library.