Good Will Hunting

Such clever boys. At an age when I was writing love ballads to my teenage sweethearts and gasping for breath with socialism, Damon and Affleck came up with a truly adult script that opens up a whole range of themes glossing over a somewhat extreme example of the actually inevitable step towards adulthood, however much that means freeing oneself from selfish freedoms at the expense of a certain uniformity and generally discernible motivations such as acknowledging one's place in society or making sacrifices on the altar of love. What they’ve bitten off, however, is quite a mouthful for the two burly guys, as there are actually four storylines in the film (Damon-Williams, Damon-Driver, Damon-Affleck, and Williams-Skarsgard), even if they’re all tied to a single denominator, but especially the one depicting the slacker resignation of the Boston suburbs (the bottom of which is so perfectly portrayed by Harmony Korine in a brief cameo – heh heh you gotta love this guy), it's all too obvious that the film needs it, especially at the beginning and the end. In between, it just has to keep it alive through more or less comic scenes. Where I would have given Oscar nods like crazy would have been in the case of Minnie Driver, that girl is unreal, she defies the usual femme fatale stereotypes, clearly her character has a life outside her scenes and her relationship with Damon gets the strongest sequences, among them the excellent bed dialogue, shot only in close-ups with subdued lights, where the camera work and editing make spatial orientation impossible, reminding you of those stormy weekends when it's raining outside and you don't even know what time it is. (16/03/2018)

I enjoyed the film a lot more than the first time I saw it. Plus, I had some good laughs watching the scenes with Ben Affleck, whose face was clenched like a person's rectum. It was a good story, you could tell that the creators put effort into it, which means I wasn’t hit by a tsunami of pathos. 4*+ (13/08/2020)

Americans love stories about talented outsiders who have managed to succeed, and the whole world loves touching stories that skillfully manipulate our emotions. Good Will Hunting fulfills both of these criteria and shows why Hollywood is called the dream factory. It has nothing to do with real life, but it is enjoyable to watch and is a nicely cast film with decent direction, and above all, a screenplay that fully meets the requirements for a box office hit. I won't give it five stars because it is too artificial, but I also can't go below 4 stars. Overall impression: 75%. (19/01/2012)

The two hunks did a good job writing it, although superficially, and where psychology was not enough, they provided proven phrases like "follow your heart". In the end, however, this drama about the search for the meaning of life also offers quite a moving resolution. What’s more, Van Sant directed it gently, with feeling and plenty of space for excellent actors... Even though Good Will Hunting bubbles like simple lemonade, it is able to amuse and has a decent impact. (10/06/2009)

It's been mentioned here many times, but the script is simply unprecedented for two people so young. The dialogues between Matt Damon and Robin Williams are amazing, they blew me away and I just believed them. The film itself may not have wowed me as much as I might have expected, but thanks to the wonderful soundtrack, the performances (especially Damon’s) and last but not least the idea itself, it definitely deserves at least a little place in my heart. (04/07/2012)