We’re near the end of the month. Almost crazy that months go by and I love showcasing and talking about the movies that I haven’t seen and the I personally love. It makes sense in the month of my birth that I talk about my personal favorite films. I’m aware that I haven’t done it in a while and just go straight to December and talk about the year’s best films that I’ve seen. To me, it’s still good to talk about the films that I like and hopefully you’ll have a chance to check it out.
1. Will Hunting
It always go back to when I was watching Family Guy as a youngster. There was an episode where Stewie tries out the adult life and it doesn’t go well. To which Brian recites the famous dialogue from this film to teach Stewie a lesson. From there, I happened to catch this movie on Netflix to see what it was all about since it has Robin Williams in a role. Color me curious, but this was when I was at that age where I wanted to watch movies that were different than the stuff that I was used to. As much as I love comic book films, I wanted to at least be knowledgeable since I was taking film classes at A&M.
With that, this is one of those films where it’s like comfort food for me. Doesn’t matter the mood or just when I feel like to whine down after a long day, but I love to watch it and just relax and watch this classic. To me, it’s a relic of the late 90s where you had Miramax that was churning out high budgeted indie flicks that where in the constant running for Awards season, but just good enough where they were making profit from the general audience. It’s a bygone era now, but I feel that this film is one of the examples of that era in time.
Just the setting in this one is such a Boston film where it’s a very blue-collar film where there’s no high stakes but just about one guy trying to figure himself out. And that’s the M.O. for the movie when you really get down to it. We follow Will as he’s a janitor for M.I.T., and he loves spending time with his childhood friends as they bar hop looking for girls. He gets arrested after an altercation and is granted clemency if he works with one of the university’s professor’s and gets therapy. It’s established that he’s a mathematical prodigy and is very intelligent among other subjects.
The remainder of the film has it where Will navigates through his therapy while establishing a romance with a Harvard student named Skylar. This is Matt Damon’s film, and the one where it propelled him as the next leading in star for Hollywood. There’s a lot about Will where it’s interesting as to how he is such a gifted prodigy as well as having a huge memory to retain such knowledge. The big thing about him is that he’s not using his skills and instead just throwing it away to be with his friends. Ben Affleck is also great too as Will’s friend Chuckie.
This is the film where the two actors would inevitably collaborate when they would make a film together. The whole basis of the film initially started as Matt Damon wrote the story as a play for his Harvard class. Just prior is when the two would meet as they started out as childhood friends. The dynamic between them as directed by Gus Van Sant is believable too since the film shows us that the characters are close enough where they can legitimately be brothers. And when the pivotal moment occurs when Chuckie has to call out Will on his use of his talent.
And I really love how we don’t take the film’s word that Will is wicked smart with just bits of dialogue and must take their word for it. We see just how much of a gifted prodigy as we see him solve the mathematics formula and read enough books to seem competent to know about a specific subject’s history. For as much as he’s gifted intelligence, what he lacks is the other side where he doesn’t have the wisdom to have an honest connection. Meaning that, while he can recite a specific trial of the past, it can’t help him when he’s on trial.
Lastly, I want to talk about Skylar as she’s the supposed prize that Will must earn to overcome his trial and tribulations. Minnie Driver is good in her role and I love how the connection blossoms as Will and Skylar slowly start their relationship and how she’s awed at his talent to retain such memory. How the relationship is used in the film is where Will does her homework to spend time with her. It becomes a detriment where she asks about meeting his family where Will gets combative. The argument moment is just great since we see just how Will is secretive about his life and that he doesn’t let anyone get close to him for fear of rejection.
2. Intellect and Wisdom
As we follow Will on his story, the sub-plot that we see involves the two men that help Will with his rehabilitation. Stellan Sarsgaard plays Gerald Lambeau who is a professor of advanced mathematics and is partly responsible for kicking off the story. He sees Will work on the formula and is baffled that he has such vast intellect for solving complex equations. What’s interesting is that he only helps him as he wants to use his mind to help solve even more difficult problems. The addendum is that he needs them while he gets therapy.
.jpg)
This is where we get to see Robin Williams in a serious role. Around that time, is when he was just a comedic icon with his performance and when he’s acting. I still remember my first exposure to him when portrayed Genie in Disney's Aladdin. With his filmography, he’s mostly typed cast to star in comedy films. Every now and then he would flex his acting chops to be in something dramatic. Though it would vary based on the individual film, when given the right script, he’s on it. It’s without a doubt that this is his best role as a supporting actor since he won his only Oscar.
The initial interaction between Will and Williams’ Sean is something to see as we see how Damon’s character operates. Will scans the room to see if he can use it against Sean, until bringing up his dead wife where he triggered Sean to grab him by the throat. All of it culminates in the scene that probably got Williams the Oscar win. The park scene is one of the best in the film and basically lays out what’s wrong with Will. To the point where Sean tells him that he’ll be with him to help him.
When we do get a break from Will, just seeing both Gerry and Sean together could be a film in and of itself. The dialogue between them is great since they both have differing ideas as to how they want Will to be as a person. Gerry wants him to use his talents for fame while Sean wants Will to choose who he wants to be. All of it is great since there’s a theme going on with how intelligence is used and how wisdom is used as well. We see that Gerry flirts with his students while Sean is at peace with his life.
All of it is great when we see the therapy sessions between Will and Sean play out. It’s all gradual where Sean wants Will to speak out first and then start with the process. Most of the scenes have a point where Will knows a lot but doesn’t have the wisdom to really understand and enjoy what he loves. The best moment is when Sean talks about his defining memory of his late wife to how she met her during the baseball World Series. It’s all great since there’s a relatability since both grew up in the city but Sean has the wisdom to instill in Will the big ideas of life.
3. Overall
Good Will Hunting is one of my personal favorite film’s and the best of the 90s.
