Good Will Hunting (1997)

VERDICT:
8/10 Bad Apples

Not too shabby for a first go at screenwriting.

Good Will Hunting is about a 20-year-old orphan from the rough end of Boston with a big brain and an even bigger rap sheet who gets the book thrown at him after punching a cop (smooth) and is given an ultimatum by a math professor at MIT where the kid works as a janitor: go to jail or work on math problems and go see a shrink. Surprise, surprise, the kid picks option B but fights the psychiatry gig tooth and nail until he’s introduced to the professor’s old college roommate who refuses to give up on him no matter how much the kid pushes his most sensitive of buttons.

This is one of those movies that I thought was out of sight the first time I saw it way back when, but that was also before I really started listening to movies instead of just marveling at the whole “How do you like them apples?” scene and declaring it as being most awesome from that point forward. Didn’t take much to throw me for a loop back then, but after recently revisiting this one the other day, it’s still pretty darn good even if certain aspects haven’t aged as well as others.

Now, here’s the thing with Ben & Matt’s script: it’s well-written, it’s got a solid premise and it has a ton of great character development, but for every choice one-liner or subtle insight, there’s always a long, drawn-out, unrealistic monologue from one of the characters waiting right around the corner. For instance, Will getting into a textbook-reciting battle of wits at the Hahvahd bar, the shrink at the park going over every single real-life example of how Will doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about, Will reciting the Constitution verbatim to the prosecution while defending himself in court, yada, yada, yada.

Not to say that these parts aren’t good, but it just gets to be grating after a while. I’m of the mindset that less is more when it comes to dialogue and that you can usually say things far more effectively in a few choice or without saying anything at all. It eventually gets to the point where I was waiting for someone to pull out the Wrap It Up Box and move onto the next scene about whether certain individuals do or do not like apples. If it were shorter and sweeter, it could have been a 9, but verbal diarrhea and all, these two crazy kids still put together one swell story for the cast to work with.

It’s also another glaring reason why Robin Williams should stick to serious roles, as if the whole Oscar win wasn’t a tip-off to being with. He’s the clear dramatic heavyweight here as Will’s shrink, Sean Maguire, and he totally drives it home as usual. And Matt Damon with his quasi-mushroom cut is alright as Will, but like I said, too much ranting and raving. Stellan Skarsgard ain’t bad either as Will’s math professor at MIT and the same goes for Ben Affleck as Will’s best friend, Chuckie. Ben seriously needs to take more roles like these, the dude can be pretty cool when he’s just being himself.

Unfortunately, listening to Minnie Driver and her evil male clown laugh is like nails on a chalkboard and it doesn’t do any favors for her already irritating performance. Seriously, I would run for the effing hills if my girlfriend started laughing like that. Yikes.

But this movie does feature a stellar soundtrack riddled with Elliott Smith tunes that perfectly complement Gus Van Sant’s directing style along with all the visuals of Boston in leaf season. I’m a huge Smith fan to begin with, but either way, this serves as a great introduction if you’ve never heard him before.

Freakin’ Celine Dion stealing Elliott’s Oscar. I’ll take “Miss Misery” over that lovey dovey shit any day.

So Good Will Hunting could have used some toning down here and there, but the one thing I keep coming back to when I think about why I like this movie is that the characters really are incredibly fleshed out and watching them gradually unravel as they play off each other’s insecurities makes for some great viewing over the course of two hours. Might have been better the first time around, but whatever, it’s still a mighty good debut that’s topped off with a great supporting performance and a mighty good ending to boot.

And any movie that gives me a chance to post the best clip from Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is a-okay in my book.