“Good Will
Hunting”
Movie Review
Mark Mattson
Forms of Fiction
Mrs. Wesley Pd. 2
“Good Will Hunting” is a real-life fictional movie that occurs in the 1980s-1990s period in the
general area of Boston, Massachusetts and more specifically, the location is centered on the prestigious
Harvard University. The main character in the movie is Will Hunting, a genius janitor that has a serious
attachment disorder, and because he is so smart, he is approached by others in a way that does not suit
him at all. However, Will is not the only major player in this movie. Sean Maguire is another central
character. He is assigned to be Will’s therapist to try and help him remove his attachment disorder, even
though he is dealing with much turmoil in his life as well after having lost his wife. Another important
character is Professor Gerald Lambeau, and he is the greatest mathematician at Harvard. He sees Will’s
genius, is jealous of it, and wants Sean to fix Will so that Will may give him more knowledge. Skylar is
another important one, because she is Will’s girlfriend and she also brings out the worst in Will’s
disorder. The plot involves Will having his genius discovered and exploited by Lambeau (for his own
personal gain), getting therapy for his disorder from Sean, and most importantly trying to figure out who
he is and what he wants in his life.
There were many roles in the film, and many actors and actresses had to come together to
make “Good Will Hunting” the absolute masterpiece that it is. Will Hunting was played by the famous
actor and celebrity, Matt Damon. Damon’s role was the most significant of all the actors and actresses in
this movie, obviously because he had to play as Will, and Will was the focal point of the story that the
movie told. He had to act exactly like Will, in which he had to insult everybody he ran into with the most
selfish attitude, he had to show Will’s emotions to an absolute perfection, where he had to really take
on Will’s personality and really “become” Will. His dress also personified Will very well, as I saw Will as a
street guy with nothing better to do, and it really showed through his dress and his attitude around
others. I personally thought he did a tremendous job of doing this, because whenever I see any picture
of Matt Damon, I think of him as Will Hunting now. He really stepped up and fantastically displayed Will,
so much to a point where he literally became Will. Sean Maguire was also played by a really famous
actor. Sean was played by Robin Williams, and because Williams was given this role, he too had to play
the role to the point where he literally became Sean. Williams’ appearance really depicted Sean the
best, as Sean was suffering through turmoil like Will was, and his ragged hair and clothing gave me a
sense that something was troubling him. He played the part very well also, as he thoroughly showed
how Sean’s demeanor was kind-hearted and friendly, but how he could quickly snap out when his
emotions were poked at. The best example is when Sean choked Will for insulting his wife. Overall, I
thought Robin Williams did a solid job of playing as well as “becoming” Sean. Professor Lambeau was
played by Swedish actor John Stellan Skarsgård. His role was to be the most successful and overall best
person around. He did a good job of really depicting what Will despised, trying to get him and make him
like Lambeau, who was rich and famous. The story really depicts Lambeau as being an obstacle to Will,
and I think that is just what he did. He really fit the description of Lambeau with his acting.
Like any other movie I have ever seen, there are many things that I did like about the movie and
other things that I did not like about the movie. One thing that I really did like about the movie is that
after having gone through the therapy and being encouraged by his friends, Will finally gains the
confidence in himself to step outside the box and become more social. The two scenes that really stand
out to me about this are the ones where Will and his friend Chuckie are standing next to a construction
site and Chuckie is telling Will that he has a gift and what he is currently doing is hiding it and making it
worthless; he is trying to encourage Will to break out of his shell. He says to Will that he wishes that
every day he (Chuckie) comes to Will’s home, that Will would not be there and instead be making
something more useful with his life. The other scene is where Chuckie arrives at Will’s house, discovers
that he is not home, and smiles knowing that Will has finally learned his lesson. The note Will leaves
behind tells Chuckie that he is off to California to find his ex-girlfriend, Skylar. Skylar asked Will to come
with her earlier, but he couldn’t because of his attachment disorder. Now that he is seeing the light, he
decides to try and find her and he finally comes out of his shell. I really like seeing in movies when the
main character is able to overcome his problem and find a good solution. One thing that I didn’t like
about the movie is also in the ending. The final scene shows Will driving out west to find Skylar. It
depicts a happy ending, but I was disappointed because I felt as though the scene (and the movie) was
cut short. I really would have liked to see a few more scenes with one including Will in California trying
to make amends with Skylar, one showing Sean in a resolved state as though proud of Will for
overcoming his “condition”, and one showing what would become of Professor Lambeau because I felt
that his persona was cut a bit short in the movie. Another thing I didn’t really like was where Lambeau
and Sean got into a huge fight, because I didn’t like to see that two lifelong friends were arguing over
one person and how to help him. It makes me feel like myself when I was younger and my parents
fought because they didn’t know how best to help me.
While it can be argued whether or not there were more themes that one could pull out of the
movie “Good Will Hunting”, I still only saw one major theme presented by the director and his film. The
theme that I was able to pull out of “Good Will Hunting” is that completely isolating yourself from your
problems and the rest of the world is not healthy and will create bigger problems down the road. Here’s
how the director, and for “Good Will Hunting” it is Gus Van Sant, is able to convey this message (which is
the omnipresent theme that I personally see in this film; others may agree or disagree with me on this).
At the beginning of the movie, the director has Will as a janitor for Harvard University and a total genius.
He then has Lambeau discover Will’s genius, and then try to approach him. As he does this, Will tries to
ignore him until it is no longer possible. Will continues to try and hide away from his problems (and
Lambeau is definitely one of them) until he’s forced to give in, which makes for even bigger problems.
The director has him do the same thing with his girlfriend, Skylar, and his therapist, Sean. He tries for the
majority of the movie to only work with them on his terms and avoid them at all other times. It is the
reason that he initially cannot tell Skylar he loves her and to accompany her on her journey to California.
The director then has the emotional toll really strike Will afterwards, especially in the scene where he
breaks down right in front of Sean, because the grief the attachment disorder is giving him seems like it
is trying to destroy him. It takes his friends and Sean to help him overcome this, and at the end of the
movie, the director “rewards” him by having him go to California to see Skylar again. Through all the
sufferings and pain of Will, the director clearly presents the theme of how social attachment disorders
like Will’s can destroy people, as it nearly did with Will. That is why I determined this to be the main
theme of the movie.
There are many techniques that the director, Gus Van Sant, uses to make “Good Will Hunting”
such an epic and inspiring movie. One technique that really stood out to me was in the use of certain
soundtracks found in the film. It seemed to me that for every emotion that Will felt at any given time,
there was an appropriate soundtrack to match it. It really enhanced the film this way. It gave the
audience the same sense of feeling that Will would have at any given point in the movie and it really
helped the audience to connect with Will and feel the same kind of pain or other emotion that he would
be feeling. This is a common technique used in filmmaking, but the job with soundtrack done by Gus Van
Sant to create “Good Will Hunting” was absolutely exceptional. Every single piece of music (soundtrack)
used in this film helped to establish the mood conveyed by Will. One example of this was the use of the
sad, dramatic music used in the scene when Sean says to Will, “It’s not your fault,” over and over and
Will breaks down, showing the dramatic moment when his attachment disorder makes him so miserable
and how he finally has been reached. The song heavily inflicts Will’s feelings into the audience.
In my opinion, this movie would appeal to anyone needing to see the light if they needed a
source of inspiration or if they wanted to see for the sole purpose of entertainment, it would appeal to
them as well, because the whole plot of the movie is really interesting, with Will trying to find who he is
and with others being a major interference with Will because of his attachment disorder. The plot and
some the humor would appeal to those seeking to be entertained by the film. I also believe that if
someone wanted to see a lot of action and adventure, I would not recommend this movie to them
because the only major action scene is where Will and his friends beat up the kid who would always
beat up Will when they were in kindergarten. There is no more real action in the movie besides that.
People into those kinds of movies would find this one to be boring. I find this movie interesting because
of the intriguing plot and Will finding a way to get around his issues and start to enjoy life. I would give
this movie a 4-star rating because the plot and the emotion were absolutely fantastic but I felt as though
there was just some gaps at the end that needed to be filled.