In 1997, Good Will Hunting came out. It proved to the world that Ben Affleck and Matt Damon actually had talent, in not only acting but writing as well. The film went on to be very successful and won some academy awards, and is generally beloved by people... and I flat out didn't like it. I'm not sure what it was I didn't like about it, but Good Will Hunting did nothing for me. I know, I know, maybe I'm just weird. I even did a ten minute report on the film with several others, all of whom liked it a lot. I still made a fine report and all; I just wasn't able to connect with the film.

Will is a genius living in a rundown part of South Boston. By day he works as a janitor at MIT and at night he converses with his friends. Chuckie is his best friend, he drives him to work every day, and they generally seem to connect more. His other friends, Morgan and Billy, and Chuckie all work basic construction working jobs and don’t have a lot of potential in their lives. Will however, does. One day he answers an extremely tough problem on the board put up by Professor Lambeau, he sees Will do this and Will runs away. Professor Lambeau sees what Will has done and tries to find him, he finds Will after Will has been arrested and arranges for Will to go to therapy instead of jail time. After going through several physiatrists Will finally is sent to Sean McGuire, a college professor at a much lesser college than Lembeau, who like Will is from South Boston. Anyways will and Sean eventually bond as Will discovers who he is and what he is capable of doing

So, yeah it's a good dramatic story and all, the characters are there and well established. But unlike good dramas, Good Will Hunting didn’t make me feel anything. I didn't feel compassion, sympathy, or any sort of feelings for this movie or characters. I just didn't care. I think part of the problem is that, it is hard to relate to Will. Sure the fact that he lives in less than adequate housing and gets in trouble with the law are real problems, but most of us anyways cannot relate to someone who is a mathematical genius of incredible proportions. The character of Will is also kind of annoying, I get that he was abused and lived a tough life, but I don't see why that should give him an excuse to be an a**hole to everyone. Kind of killed his character for me, I think they should have made him more sympathetic or less of a jerk.

The acting for the most part is fine. Matt Damon is good in his role, even if I didn’t exactly his character. The one gripe I had about him was that he was playing a twenty year old turning twenty one, when he is actually close to thirty and looked way too old here. Anyways, Ben Affleck is a pretty good actor despite Gigli and other films marring this fact. Casey Affleck is here also, and he is a bit better actor than his brother, but unfortunately he isn't given much to do here, except provide some unfunny comedic relief. Cole Houser is here also, I liked him a lot in Dazed and Confused so it's nice seeing him in role. Stellan Skarsgard is great as Professor Lembeau who is by far the strongest character. I usually hate Robin Williams, but he does a pretty good job here, only letting his usual antics ruin the moments a few times. Other than that most performances are fairly strong here. I wouldn't say amazing or anything, but it’s one of the better parts of the film.

The themes presented here are strong. Friendship, ambition, and doing things you love are the three main ones I found. I thought the whole issue of Will not wanting to do genius work instead doing stuff to contribute to society was good, until they decided to ruin it and have Will run off for a romantic relationship. The whole relationship subplot fails, it goes nowhere until it is forgotten, and then brought back in the last ten minutes. Other than not caring about the characters and their problems, I felt this movie was about twenty minutes too long. At 127 minutes, over two hours is a bit long for most movies. If it was trimmed up a bit and tightened, I think it would improve the film.

Overall, I didn't particularly enjoy Good Will Hunting, it had some good ideas and themes but in the end it never really went anywhere. But worst of all, I never cared the entire time, and for a film like this to really work, I think you need that element to be there. But most people seem to disagree with me on that so who knows, maybe I'm crazy. I don’t know, this film receives a lot of praise and while I don't think the screenplay is inherently bad, I just think a lot could be improved on it. I do think Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are talented other than just acting, Ben Affleck is an especially good director (Gone Baby Gone anyone?) and maybe this was just a warm up for the two. I think it's a good indicator on their potential for the future, but Good Will Hunting just doesn't cut it with me.

2 Stars

Cast

Matt Damon - Will Hunting
Ben Affleck - Chuckie
Robin Williams - Sean McGuire
Stellan Skarsgard - Professor Gerald Lembeau
Cole Houser - Morgan
Casey Affleck - Billy
Minnie Diver - Skylar


Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older