Good Will Hunting

Nearer the end of the film, Will Hunting talks about childhood domestic abuse. He talks dispassionately about how his foster father would keep a wrench, a belt and a stick and ask him to choose. His psychiatrist says he’d choose the belt. Will replies he’d rather take the wrench. When asked why, he says “Cause F*** him, that’s why”. It sums up his resentment and desire to not care for authority and more importantly indicates the damage that a disjointed childhood can do, even to geniuses and savants.

Genius is well, genius. There's a reason they call it that. It's because us common folk can't make head or tail of it. However, despite knowing or being able to figure it all out, genius could do with a hard look at reality for once. Good Will Hunting attempts to cut past the trappings of extraordinary intelligence and come up with a story that is refreshingly relevant, even 15 years down the line. Written by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, directed by the enigmatic Gus Van Sant, the film won two Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor for Robin Williams and Best Original Screenplay for Affleck and Damon.

The story kicks off with Professor Lambeau(Stellan Skarsgard) at MIT,scribbling down a difficult problem for his students to solve on a blackboard in the hallway. The question is solved by an unknown student, leading Lambeau to put up an even harder one. This time, the solver Will Hunting(Matt Damon) is caught and the professor takes note of Will's gift of mathematics.

Will, however has numerous problems of his own. Orphaned and disciplined cruelly by his foster parents, there is the classic mental block that causes him not to trust in anything for fear of abandonment. His only solace are his friends Chuckie(Ben Affleck),Morgan(Casey Affleck),Billy McBride(Cole Hauser) who are as close he any one can be to him. His excitable character gets him into trouble with the law; Lambeau saves him recognising his immense potential with the only stipulation being that he must see a shrink regularly. Will plays with the official shrink and thus the professor brings in one of his old classmates, Dr. Sean Maguire(Robin Williams) to deal with this troublesome yet incredibly gifted young man.

Along the way, Will finds time for a relationship with Skylar(Minnie Driver),a British student at Harvard. Being the reticent genius that he is, Will finds it hard to accept his feelings for her and pushes her away so that she cannot do it to him, a fear born of his orphan childhood. This makes for a scene so intense; you can feel it gnawing at you. It is said that they fell in love during the making of the film and it is almost visible in their scene. Either that, or it's some of the best acting I’ve ever seen.

Robin Williams is brilliant as the neighbourhood kid who grew up amidst violence and strife, working to remove the demons of his patients. His concern for Will is in stark contrast to Lambeau's attitude of forcing him to make the best of his abilities, rather than resolve the issues that prevent him from doing so. There is a particular scene when he tells Will that "It's not your fault", backing him into a corner from where acceptance is forthcoming .In a way, it is a scene that is so ironic it is almost funny and we'd be laughing if well, we weren't crying already. The man with a high IQ and incredible talent needs a broken down shrink to see sense, there’s irony in that.And while we're at the irony part,I might as well remark on how a janitor at MIT is better at mathematics then well,the students at probably the finest technical institute in the world.

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are fantastic and do more than just justice to their roles. Initially when the film was being floated, studio executives wanted Brad Pitt and Di Caprio in the lead roles. While that may still have been a formidable cast, this one feels just right and in making Damon and Affleck’s careers in Hollywood, it’s  given us two great actors who despite all their excellent work since ,have probably never made a film this good. Matt Damon in particular is incredible as the savant kid who is smarter than everyone else, but yet can’t be bothered to prove it

On a personal note, I saw this film with a friend of mine who despite being more of a film buff than even me, opted to put it this way. She said "Any director worth his salt can make his audience shed tears of sorrow, but a director that can make you cry at redemption has truly transcended his art"

I simply couldn't agree more.