Released 1997
Stars Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Minnie Driver, Stellan Skarsgård
Directed by Gus Van Sant

"Good Will Hunting" is a character study. Chock-full of brilliant dialogue and amazing- almost frightening- performances, it manages to suck the arrogance out of every movie cliche ever born: the know-it-all professor, the soft-spoken therapist, the noble sidekick and "the girl" each have their typical Hollywood molds shattered. Commendable, but not entirely successful, for in doing so, the movie creates a hero that is, in large part, unlikable. Will Hunting may be a genius, but he is also a prick, and as the movie wraps up, you get the sense that the filmmakers recognized this, and Will is forced to come to terms with his (surprise!) grimy childhood. It's as if the script felt the need to give him cause to be a jerk, and resorted to good ol' mental repression to explain it all. Well, fellas, I refuse to buy into it, because no one, no one with the brains of Will Hunting could be so lacking in dignity.

Aside from this minor stretch of the imagination, "Good Will Hunting" works, and Robin Williams deserves credit for restraining himself and doing a knockout job. The first meeting between he and Will is perhaps the best scene in the movie, and Williams gives you the heebie-jeebies as he chisels away at the cocky prodigy's swollen head. There is also some humor here (a lot of it low-brow), and the subtle final frames of the film are burnt into my memory.

Summary by Chris Forbes