Good Will Hunting [VHS]

Good Will Hunting [VHS]
by Gus Van Sant

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VHS Tape Cover Information

Actor: Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Minnie Driver, Robin Williams, Stellan Skarsg?rd
Director: Gus Van Sant
Writer: Matt Damon
Writer: Ben Affleck
Producer: Bob Weinstein
Producer: Chris Moore
Producer: Harvey Weinstein
Producer: Jonathan Gordon
Producer: Kevin Smith
Edition: VHS Tape
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
Running Time: 126 minutes
Release Date: 1998-12-01
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Publisher: Miramax
Studio: Miramax

VHS Movie Reviews of Good Will Hunting [VHS]

Movie Review: Just Another "Holden Caufield"
Summary: 2 Stars

After watching Good Will Hunting, I was struck by two similarities to other works of fiction (in this case, novels) that I had previously read: J.D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye", and Stephen King's "Rage". Unfortunately, I did not enjoy either of those efforts, and didn't take to "Hunting" any more pleasantly.

For a basic plot summary, this film centers on young Will Hunting (Matt Damon), a mathematical genius (of savant proportions) who spends his time mopping floors at a local university before solving a complex equation left on a blackboard and catching the eye of a math professor (Stellan Skarsg?rd). However, Will is a troubled young man who lacks motivation, along with a history of violence, and thus is sent to therapist Sean Maguire (Robin Williams), who tries a rather unorthodox approach to salvaging the boy's unique talents.

Although I can see why some people would like this film much more than I (due to the deep psychological themes), I have never been one much for the "bratty youngster needs a character treatise to understand what he is going through" type of storytelling. To me, Will Hunting was an arrogant, unmotivated jerk in the beginning of the film, then a whole bunch of psychological terms/scenarios were thrown around, and now suddenly I'm supposed to believe that everything is okay? Not quite.

To me, the most interesting scenes in this film revolved around Hunting's potential girlfriend (played by Minnie Driver). I actually felt that her relationship with Will (and her character altogether) were the high points of the film, not the "tense" client-therapist scenes that were supposed to steal the show.

I realize that I am probably in the minority here, but I really can't recommend this film to anyone besides those who love to be wowed by psychological scenarios/situations. I found it be pretentious and bloated to be otherwise.

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Summary of Good Will Hunting [VHS]

Robin Williams won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, and actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck nabbed one for Best Original Screenplay, but the feel-good hit Good Will Hunting triumphs because of its gifted director, Gus Van Sant. The unconventional director (My Own Private Idaho, Drugstore Cowboy) saves a script marred by vanity and clunky character development by yanking soulful, touching performances out of his entire cast (amazingly, even one by Williams that's relatively schtick-free). Van Sant pulls off the equivalent of what George Cukor accomplished for women's melodrama in the '30s and '40s: He's crafted an intelligent, unabashedly emotional male weepie about men trying to find inner-wisdom.

Matt Damon stars as Will Hunting, a closet math genius who ignores his gift in favor of nightly boozing and fighting with South Boston buddies (co-writer Ben Affleck among them). While working as a university janitor, he solves an impossible calculus problem scribbled on a hallway blackboard and reluctantly becomes the prodigy of an arrogant MIT professor (Stellan Skarsg?rd). Damon only avoids prison by agreeing to see psychiatrists, all of whom he mocks or psychologically destroys until he meets his match in the professor's former childhood friend, played by Williams. Both doctor and patient are haunted by the past, and as mutual respect develops, the healing process begins. The film's beauty lies not with grand climaxes, but with small, quiet moments. Scenes such as Affleck's clumsy pep talk to Damon while they drink beer after work, or any number of therapy session between Williams and Damon offer poignant looks at the awkward ways men show affection and feeling for one another. --Dave McCoy

One of the best films of the 1990s, this is one of those rare box office mega-hits that deserved all the adulation and awards it earned. Youthful stars Matt Damon and Ben Affleck earned an Academy Award for their incisive, witty script. Damon plays a janitor at MIT who is an enormously gifted mathematician. Salivating professors bring the angry and troubled young man to psychiatrist Robin Williams, hoping Damon will conform enough to further his education. (Williams garnered an Academy Award for his heartfelt performance.) Director Gus Van Sant put away his more invasive camera tricks and let the story tell itself. Good thing, because this is one involving and well-acted tale. Several plot tangents, including a sweet little romance between Damon and Minnie Driver, are carefully woven into the fabric of this multilayered drama. Friendship, societal expectations, and the long reach of a damaged childhood are all portrayed with such finesse that the story never feels heavy-handed. Extraordinarily optimistic, Good Will Hunting is exceptional because it causes elation and forces you to think. --Rochelle O'Gorman

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