Good Will Hunting

Brilliant, engaging drama, Good Will Hunting is a near perfect work of drama that boasts impressive performances, direction and a great story. The cast here is well chosen, and the film is terrific in the way that it tells a powerful, memorable story.

This is Matt Damon & Robin Williams greatest performance.

Good Will Hunting introduces Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in their break out roles. The former plays the role of the titular broken and cocky young genius: Will Hunting and the latter plays the role of his best friend Chuckie. Drama ensues when Hunting is given a chance by a Judge and a math professor to hone and discover his potential instead of going to jail. He is forced to go to mandated therapy sessions with Sean (Robin Williams) during which he is made to reevaluate his life's choices and confront his history of childhood abuse. He also has to attend weekly meetings with Professor Lambeau who recognizes Will's genius and tries to make the orphan assist in solving what he views as difficult mathematics. There is also a bit of romance introduced in the movie through the character of Skylar, Will's love interest who is a wealthy heiress attending Harvard. The two characters fall in love which only adds to the development and action in the plot. Though there is something to be said about the frivolous use of coarse language in the movie, it remains an enduring portrayal of the battles that plague humankind.
- @TheEccentric of the Teen Review Board of the Hamilton Public Library

Good Will Hunting is a very touching movie following the story of Will Hunting, a troubled young boy working as a janitor at MIT who is actually a mathematical genius. Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Stellan Skarsgård flawlessly portray their well-developed characters in this film. In fact, Damon and Affleck actually wrote it together in addition to producing and starring in it. This is simply a very beautiful film with strong and important messages and a lovely soundtrack. I would recommend it for older teens as opposed to very young ones because there is some violence and the characters use coarse language. Rating 4.5/5 stars.
- @reginaphalange of the Teen Review Board at the Hamilton Public Library

I love this movie--great performances, writing and music and beautifully shot. Good Will Hunting is rated R for strong language, including some sex-related dialogue.

The screenplay, direction and performances form the essence of any movie. And surely this essence is present in this movie in form of a beautiful screenplay by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, the precise and very sensitive direction by Gus Van Sant. And last but not the least to mention the heartfelt performances by Matt Damon and Robin Williams.
The story was fantastic, the cinematography was beautiful. Many emotional scenes throughout, and the ending was deeply satisfying.
Every once in a while you come across something that you don't want to forget or can't forget. Good Will hunting definitely will leave a great impression to last a lifetime! One of the best films of all time!

I could spend some time comparing this film to Gus Van Sant's later Finding Forrester. This was the first time I've seen Good Will Hunting, but I saw Finding Forrester when it was first released in theaters. That being said, my heart was first given to Sean Connery and newcomer Rob Brown. I think both films are certainly wonderful. One film shines in one area. The other shines in another. I don't think it's possible to say much about Good Will Hunting that will not be colored through the lens with which I view Forrester. Both films are certainly worth a watch.

A good movie.

Hope there are real life Seans helping broken people.
" it's not your fault".
Reflective story, flawless acting

I enjoyed this movie overall, but it moved at a slow pace for the first half. I really loved Robin Williams in this movie, he got an Oscar for his role in the film and deserved it. His scenes with Matt Damon were my most favourite scenes in the whole movie.

"Good Will Hunting" follows the story of the titular character Will Hunting (played by Matt Damon) who works as a janitor at a prestigious college. One evening after Will believes everyone has gone home, he solves an allegedly unsolvable mathematical equation on the chalkboard outside a lecture hall, catching the attention of Professor Gerald Lambeau (played by Stellan Skarsgard). Will remains undetected and his genius is kept secret until he gets into a fist fight in a park in the projects and finds himself detained with bail set at $50,000. Knowing Will can't afford it, Professor Lambeau steps in and offers him the money on two conditions: first, that Will meets with Lambeau to discuss math, and second, that Will attends therapy sessions twice a week. Will agrees to these conditions -- after all, he has little choice -- and meets with several therapists under Lambeau's supervision. However, no therapist will agree to treat Will, considering his behaviour and how he mocks their profession. Lambeau decides to visit an old friend of his, a community college professor named Sean Maguire (played by the late great Robin Williams). Sean is nothing like Lambeau; he doesn't value fame and status. He values people and human emotion. In Sean, Will meets his match, and together their sessions force them to drop their walls and shed light on the sort of people they really are. "Good Will Hunting" is filled with many other three-dimensional characters performed by big-name stars, such as Ben and Casey Affleck playing Will's working-class comrades and Minnie Driver playing Skylar, an orphaned college student who uses her inheritance to pay her way through school. Skylar charms her way into Will's life, but does stand-offish Will care enough about her to keep her in it? Weaving together the many complex threads that compose the vulnerable Will Hunting, the film ultimately is about motivation and success and how we define it. I won't spoil the story, but it is a beautiful one worthy of watching. The script is studded with strong monologues that prove the capacity to speak in a way that moves you, sometimes to laugh, sometimes to cry, and its strength in the writing department makes the film a crowning achievement. The Academy got it right when they gave Matt Damon and Ben Affleck Oscars for their screenplay; in my opinion, nothing holds a candle to it. I highly recommend "Good Will Hunting."