Good Will Hunting (1997)

As many of you know already my now, Robin Williams died a couple of months ago, likely committed suicide. I have not been able to bring this up until now because of how busy I more or less have been with work and starting to go to a university for my bachelors in film and TV. But I have been wanting to write a review that in some way honors this great actor and comedian that is already sadly missed. Originally I was going to do Flubber and then something else. But after re-watching that movie and writing most of the review for it, I realized that while I was giving it a somewhat positive rating, I had a lot of negative things to say about it, and I don't want to post a review like that as part of trying to honor him. So I'm putting that review on hold for a few more months at the least before I'll eventually finish and post it. In the meantime, Candra and I had another movie night before The Heat, which I brought up in my review for that, and the film we saw was a film that neither of us have seen but wanted to see because of Robin Williams and that we've heard a lot of other stuff about it. So here's how it turned out.

Plot: 20 year old Will Hunting is a self taught genius intellect who works as the janitor for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and spends a lot of time with his friends. When a professor in the institute, Lambeau, posts a difficult algebraic graph theory problem for his class, Will anonymously solves the problem, but Lambeau figures it out. So shortly after Will is arrested for assault, Lambeau arranges for Will to avoid jail time in exchange for studying mathematics under Lambeau's supervision while also simultaneously seeking psychotherapy. Lambeau has trouble finding a therapist that he can open up to, but eventually he calls on his old estranged college roommate, Dr. Sean Maguire, who slowly begins to reach out to Will.

While I admit that the all around setting about a person who has this unique ability and is only now discovered by someone isn't all that new, this is still an all around enjoyable film. The story, while it needs to pick up sometimes, delivers in giving us an emotional experience about Will and the people in his life. What comes out is a story that revolves around the choices Will makes, while the people around him, such as his girlfriend, Skylar, Lambeau and eventually his friend Chuckie all try to lead him to they each believe is the right path, while Maguire tries to get Will to open up about himself. And the moral of the film is given very differently with the story given in a somewhat unique structure, even if, again, it does so to the point where it would need to pick up once in a while. But the biggest strength and the most entertaining part of the for me personally was the moments between Will and Maguire. Their relationship was interesting, the things they would talk about kept me invested, and it was through them that I felt we got the most development with Will as a character. But a lot of that comes from the actor that was the real reason Candra and I where interested in this movie, Robin Williams. And honestly, why shouldn't he be? I was interested in what his part would be in this movie even before he died and really, he gave the best performance in the film. I said before in my review for Awakenings that I wanted to see more films like that particular film because it shows that he really was a great dramatic actor. Oh don't get me wrong, he still has moments where he was fun and has one particularly cute line at the end. So there's definitely some of the fun personality that we've loved Williams for. But still, this was more a drama, and he did a spectacular job doing it. I liked Maguire, I liked how he was helping Will, I liked his backstory, I liked watching him fight for Will, there was so much to like about him. The best scene in the movie, at least for me, was when Williams delivers this monologue about Will and his refusal to open up to Maguire. The monologue just by itself is very well written, but Williams delivered it beautifully. It was strong, it was meaningful, and it was a terrific means for Maguire to go deep into what he thought about Will. Williams may have never won an Oscar for a leading role, but I for one am content knowing that he at the very least got an Oscar for a supporting role with his performance in this film.

And that's my review for Good Will Hunting. While Candra and I thought the plot needed to be picked up sometimes, the film still gives us a clever, very well acted story about Will's life and the people around him. But it is also a film that gave us a terrific performance from Robin Williams that makes me feel all the more sincere that he was a great actor and that I really feel he deserved more movies like this film, or Awakenings, or Good Morning Vietnam (which I intend to review someday). And it really is a tragedy that he didn't. He was a great actor, he was a loved comedian, and he already is painfully missed. Rest in peace Robin Williams, and thank you for all the memories you've given so many of us.

Rating: 85%