Good Will Hunting

Synopsis

A brilliant young man that just wants to be accepted, is pushed into being the genius he is by a by-gone mathematician who then calls an old rival to help him keep the young man out of jail.

Review

I have never watched this movie from beginning to end, seeing scenes online or catching part of it when it was on TV. However, now that I have watched it, I can tell that I had seen more than I thought. I can also tell you that those scenes that I have seen, in particular one scene, influenced so much of my growing that, I am able to watch it come full circle to my life now. I'll tell you that scene later.

First off, if I remember correctly this was one of first films with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon together, and you can see the friendship that they have. There is a quick and effortless wit when they are together and some real emotion. However, as good as they are, it is and will forever be eclipsed by Robin Williams performance, which did win him the Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards that year. He was powerful, funny, emotional, and watching his performance is worth EVERY second of the movie. I haven't seen anything with him in it in years and I had forgotten how good he was. I wish he was still around. Matt does an outstanding job as well. I can't skip him, but his best scenes are with Robin so it is just hard to see the new guy standing next to the giant. Ben's best scene is when he goes to the house and Matt is there. He is hurt, but proud. It is a great scene just to show his facial expressions.

The movie is a bit long. It tells a great story. There are for sure some scenes that could be cut and nothing would have been lost. There isn't a lot of action, which isn't terribly surprising.

So the scene that has pushed my life in a direction that I didn't know until I watched this. There is a scene where Robin and Matt are in session. During the session, Robin talks to Matt about why he loved his wife and all the idiosyncrasies. Those idiosyncrasies are what he remembers the most. "People call these things imperfections, but they're not, that's the good stuff. And then we get to choose who we let into our weird little worlds." I can vividly remember that idea of people being imperfect, especially my partner, and that being ok. So when I started this dating life, I knew that they weren't going to be everything I wanted. I knew the things that I would see that weren't great needed to be evaluated. I can't tell you why this lesson has sat with me for so long. As I am in my mid-thirties and watching this for the first time, I can see the impact of this scene that I must have picked up right around the time of my first girlfriend. What a great scene too.

My Rating

I really enjoyed this movie. I was excited to go to watch this as I didn't finish it the first night. There are so many good scenes that show true friendship, love, and solid advice. I am sad that I waited so long to watch this as it is an almost perfect movie. It was just too slow to be perfect. It is a must-watch at a 9.

Parental Rating

There is so much language and crude jokes that both my mom and dad are out. However, there is such a beautiful conversation about rising above what you grew up in and becoming better than you'd expect that I know my mom would watch this. It wouldn't be her favorite, but she would watch this. I want to think my dad could put it aside, but I don't think he could. No sex, really, and no real violence other than a single fight scene. Approved by Mom and rejected by Dad.

Want to get a hold of me?
Email | reviews@epicscreentime.com