Good Will Hunting

tech77

OK it's an oldie, but it really is a film i come back to again and again.
I can imagine people dismissing it as a bit cheesy but there's something i really like about it.

I love the themes in it- emotional difficulty vs intellectual facility.
Massively wasted potential vs realisation of same (something close to me own heart :rolleyes::D ).
Risk vs safety.

Again, people don't like Damon, but I think he is great as the cynical, angry and deeply untrusting genius.
Williams gives a good performance as well (the monologue to Will in the park was great).

Stellan Skarsgard (sp?) is great as a foil for Williams' character and i love how they play off each other- rationality vs emotionality and the reconciliation of this

(and their own friendship).

He gives a great performance himself (he's always kinda intense anyway:) ).

Some great scenes- the bar scene with an unusually cerebral Cyril O' Reilly from Oz (can't think of his name) where Will literally seethes, the fight scene, the burning of the maths proof, Affleck's character lecturing Will about throwing his life away.
Just thought it was really nicely directed- even down to things like the last scene on the highway, the shots of Boston etc.

Soundtrack was decent as well.
Elliott Smith, Gerry Rafferty's Baker's Street during the slo-mo fight scene.

One thing i didn't like was the impression that

all his psychological problems disappeared after the cathartic last psych session.

Other than that, a decent film.
Just wondering if anyone was a fan?

kaimera

"How'd ya like the apples"

Yeah, quality movie.

krudler

Great movie, its a real rainy day flick for me, yeah its a bit twee in places but William's and Damon's performances are excellent

Basq

It's one of those movies I could watch again and again.. it shows how talented Affleck and Damon are at writing because they're, for the large part, rather mediocre at acting!

Elliott Smith's "Miss Misery" is the perfect way to close the movie too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5qajitmZd0

bnt

One bit of trivia that intrigued me was that Kevin Smith was offered the movie to direct, but turned it down saying he wasn't a good enough director for the script. I wonder how that might have turned out, bearing in mind that none of the Oscars went to Gus Van Sant's direction, but to Robin Williams and the Damon/Affleck screenplay.

I like this bit of dialogue:

Will: See the sad thing about a guy like you, is in about 50 years you’re gonna start doin' some thinkin' on your own and you’re gonna come up with the fact that there are two certainties in life. One, don't do that. And two, you dropped a hundred and fifty grand on a f***in’ education you coulda' got for a dollar fifty in late charges at the Public Library.
Clark: Yeah, but I will have a degree, and you'll be serving my kids fries at a drive-thru on our way to a skiing trip.
Will: [smiles] Yeah, maybe. But at least I won't be unoriginal.

I'm doing a degree at the moment, but a) it's not one of those "humanities" degrees, and b) it's not costing me anywhere near $150,000, thankfully.

Earthhorse

Yeah, it's a great little movie, for all the reasons you stated.

Affleck and Damon seem to get an undeserved hard time. Both are fine actors in my opinion though Ben is someone who clearly needs a good director or script in order to put in a performance. Otherwise, he can be dire. They were great in Dogma, for instance.

People do criticise the film as twee but I personally I think the script and performances save it from that. There's some really great dialogue in there; all of Damon's scenes with Williams (who again is a great actor given the right role), the scene where tells off the NSA guy, the scene in the bar where he gives the guy a history lesson, his speech to the judge (and the next judge's speech to him), it's all really good stuff.

That scene that basquille posted is the on that always sticks with me. It's not the Elliot Smith soundtrack but the part where Affleck calls up to the door, loiters on the porch, looks in the window, waiting for his friend, and that small realisation that he's gone, like Affleck wanted him to, to get away from this, and he's glad he did but also sad to have lost a friend; that's all without dialoge too. Great stuff.

Basq

Earthhorse wrote: »

It's not the Elliot Smith soundtrack but the part where Affleck calls up to the door, loiters on the porch, looks in the window, waiting for his friend, and that small realisation that he's gone, like Affleck wanted him to, to get away from this, and he's glad he did but also sad to have lost a friend; that's all without dialoge too.

And Affleck's smile at the realisation Will left is perfect!

the whole year inn

Aggre completely with bnt siad on this.Not sure where people get that ben and matt are bad actors,for the most part I like what they do and they seem not to take them selfs too seriously.

I think its just thought for no reason they are bad actors and its taken for granted they are.

This is a great movie with good performances,might watch it right now

][cEMAN**

One of my favourite films. But, I mean if you have a problem with that, we can just step outside and we can figure it out.

nix

Apple sauce bitch!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ70hbvaPdU

tech77

nix wrote: »

Apple sauce bitch!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ70hbvaPdU

Love the way your man comes back to Will and says "now, i've read stuff you haven't even heard of yet.. how d'you like THOSE apples" (dunno the exact quote)- It's just so childish .
And the way Matt's expression changes.

Always gives me a laugh.

Great film.

I think it's amazing how much ability Williams has in serious films when he is known generally as the comic type.

the whole year inn

ever see Matt Damon doing the impression of Matthew McConaughey. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuYD2cwMbpw

cant get the youtube funcition to work

lostexpectation

never got it, don't really want to.

Simian!

Great, great film. So much emotion in it. I've never heard Damon getting stick over his acting so it's news to me (he was brilliant in The Talented Mr. Ripley) but Affleck destroyed himself with the whole Bennifer shambles, and his reputation has been in tatters since Gigli - still a good actor though.

This film is a standalone gem, considering how young the guys were when they wrote it, and Williams' performance is incredible.

Some great scenes when the guys are hanging around - the one with Casey Affleck **** in his mates' mothers' bedroom is hilarious.

Simian!

basquille wrote: »

It's one of those movies I could watch again and again.. it shows how talented Affleck and Damon are at writing because they're, for the large part, rather mediocre at acting!

This is bugging me a bit now. Fair enough if Affleck is considered mediocre (his reputation precedes him now) but Damon has had great turns in Ripley, Good Will Hunting, Chasing Amy, Saving Private Ryan, Syriana and all the Bourne films! He's one of my favourite actors.

And I even forgot to mention The Departed! Good Will Hunting was a sign of his obvious potential.