By Marc S. Sanders
I went to a prestigious private high school. I was never a genius but I primarily got As and Bs. However, when I reflect on my four years there, I believe I always had to bust my ass for those grades simply to keep up with the rest of the class, comprised of sixty students. The majority of my classmates never looked like they overexerted themselves. With my dad hammering at me to turn a 96 into a 100, disguised as sarcasm that painfully bit me every time, I was a very insecure kid among this community of students primed for Ivy League. One student could look at the page of a book for seven seconds and absorb all of the information in print. There’s a quick transitional moment where Will Hunting, Good Will Hunting, exponentially accomplishes such a feat. Only difference is he reads a renowned therapist’s best selling book from cover to cover in minutes. Thereafter, he’s able to conclude that the author likely conceals his homosexuality due to shame. Will Hunting has one of the most gifted minds in history, but hides it beneath what he says with his fists in the Southie schoolyards of Boston accompanied with a brutal vernacular, telling anyone who challenges him to “f’ack off.”
The title character is magnificently played by Matt Damon, who co-wrote this script with his childhood best friend and Harvard classmate, Ben Affleck. The film was directed by Gus Van Sant and went on to earn Oscars for the original screenplay, and for Robin Williams in a supporting role. Seven other nominations were also applauded for the film.
In the year that Titanic ruled the box office, it was Damon and Affleck’s little project that stayed afloat with $220 million in worldwide revenues on a $10 million dollar budget. I consider their achievements as great as what Sylvester Stallone accomplished when he sold his script for Rocky. Collectively, they have at least inspired me to follow through with writing my own original plays.
Will is an orphaned twenty-year-old janitor who mops the floors of the mathematics building at M.I.T. The esteemed and self-confident Professor Gerald “Gerry” Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgård) posts an extremely complex math problem on the hallway blackboard allowing his students the opportunity for “greatness” if any of them can solve it before the end of the semester. Overnight, it has been solved but no one takes credit for it. It’s only later when Gerry and his faithful assistant Tom (Tom & Jerry! HA!) realize that Will, the foul-mouthed janitor, is the kid with all the answers. Amazingly though, he’s serving time for assaulting a police officer while starting a neighborhood gang brawl.
Gerry has to groom this kid and shape him so that he can take credit for sharing Will’s brilliance with the world. A judge agrees to release Will under the condition that he routinely meets with a therapist to deal with his anger issues. Gerry eventually turns to his estranged friend and college roommate Sean (Robin Williams) who grew up in the same neighborhood as Will. Will might discover that he has more in common with Sean than he realizes.
No matter how many times I watch Good Will Hunting, I visualize a strong structure to its character make up, and that gives enforcement to the story. In the center of this nucleus is Will. Lines are connected to people who have a concern for him and his future.
First, there is his pal Chuckie (Affleck). With their buddies Morgan and Billy (Casey Affleck, Cole Hauser), the guys routinely drive around all day into the night drinking, smoking, and hanging around batting cages and bars. Eventually, Chuckie will not be able to hold his tongue anymore and will have to lay out what Will should be doing beyond the nowhere life he leads now.
Next is Skylar played by Minnie Driver in a career turning portrayal as a sweet, sensitive and fun Harvard medical student. She shares a love story with Damon’s character that stands apart from so many other movies. Their relationship builds as Skylar tries to understand all that Will is capable of while he hides behind the biggest of lies, like expecting her to believe that he has twelve older brothers, three of whom he currently lives with. He’s not proud of his super intelligence. So, he resorts to making up what she might find impressive and unique about him.
Gerry is proudly pompous as he carries his award-winning mathematical accolades with his designer scarves and sports coats, ensuring that Tom is always his follower, literally pacing a step behind. Gerry may have Will’s best interests at heart, but it’s only because of his fascination with grooming the next Albert Einstein located within his own town. As long as he can lay claim to the success of Will, then Gerry wants what is best for his discovery. The question is whether Will wants what Gerry pursues.
Lastly, maybe the most important connection belongs to Sean. A therapist and professor at Bunker Hill Community College who still mourns the death of his wife following an agonizing eight-year illness. Following an introduction where Will completely disarms Sean by examining a watercolor painting, Sean realizes that he must find a way to taper the patient’s super powered aptitude. Will knows everything. However, Sean must remind Will that he hasn’t experienced anything. Namely, love, responsibility and purpose. Will’s weakness though is his “what-if” response to any opportunity that comes his way. That weakness stems from his ability to foreshadow possibilities that he’d rather not face and overcome. His nature is to see thirty steps ahead where everything derails for him and therefore undoes Will with opportunities for success and love.
Affleck and Damon carved a fully realized subject in their title character. Their script runs episodically for Will with a different person in nearly every scene. If Will is physically not in a scene, at the very least the moment still has something specifically to do with him. In the second half of the movie, Gerry and Sean share moments where they debate and insist upon what they think is best for the prodigy. Yet, the argument stems from their personal history together long before this kid entered their lives. There’s a lot of deep thought and sensitivity written for Stellan Skarsgård and Robin Williams to rely upon for their performances.
Apparently, the role of Skylar was not supposed to be British. Yet, Minnie Driver delivers an Oscar nominated role by using her native tongue. I like it because it shows Will encountering someone right for him who originates from outside of Boston, which is all he truly knows beyond the books he quickly skims through. Skylar is an instinctual person. She’d have to be to attend Harvard, but unlike Will with the untrained genius capabilities, she wants to learn about people who enter her life. Afar of therapy, mathematics and getting drunk with his buddies, Skylar is a pure, non-judgmental person for Will to share in his life. He must figure out if he’s ready to take the gamble that she’s up for. More importantly, as Sean will remind him, Skylar is not perfect and neither is Will.
Chuckie may just be who Will has to sacrifice for any means of a promising future. I never thought Affleck was given much to do with his role until a concluding scene arrives in the third act. He and Damon share a magnificent moment that seals the success of their script when the partnered screenwriters finally have to deliver an epiphany to their genius creation who carries a wealth of faults and personal demons. I like to think the context of this scene relies upon the real-life history of the two actors. Harvey Weinstein, the producer, wanted Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio in these roles. Tell me, do you think that would have worked as effectively?
Good Will Hunting allows for so much to think about. Will is portrayed more of a curse to himself and the world than anything else. The role of Tom played by a real mathematician, John Mighton, has at best ten to fifteen lines in the whole picture, but it’s his presence and disapproving response to Will’s behavior that say so much about the overachievers who attend schools like M.I.T. and Harvard.
One of my favorite parts occurs when an accomplished professor insists to Gerry that a problem cannot be resolved. Will bellows the answer as easy as breathing and the middle-aged professor is destroyed instantly. Tom tries to console the poor man before he storms out of the room in unnerving frustration. As well, Stellan Skarsgård’s character operates with earned conceit but gradually crumbles as his newfound apprentice minimizes all that he’s acquired over his lifetime.
The only one who can overcome Will’s involuntary penchant for personal destruction is Robin Williams’ Sean who knows that academia and knowledge must not be what truly defines Will Hunting. Compared to Will’s background, Sean has experienced similar childhood trauma. Chuckie stems from a similar environment. So, it’s just as well that both Sean and Chuckie are likely the most appropriate to guide Will in the best, most appropriate direction.
Wait!!!! Look at me!!!!
I’m dissecting the characters of Good Will Hunting and I’ve hardly critiqued the picture. I’m sorry. I guess the film does not invite much criticism when it covers so many dimensions related to mentality and environment, strengths and talents, and the side effects which spawn weakness.
Good Will Hunting is not a perfect movie. One particular moment irritates me to no end. If you’ve seen the film, then maybe you feel the same as I do with the “Retainer!” scene. Chuckie dons a ridiculous three-piece suit and goes as Will to a prestigious job interview where he capably corners the interviewers into a bribe. I cannot fathom why this part made the final cut. It comes off entirely silly and unrealistic and it pulls me out of the movie every time I watch it. What interviewers for a prestigious firm would literally take cash out of their wallets and lay it dumbfounded on the table for a kid to collect? I passionately hate this scene because, by comparison, I love the rest of the movie so much.
Anyway…
Robin Williams demonstrates how effective he is with drama and pain. Perhaps his own personal hurt lent to his performance. Watch the first scene when Sean meets Will. The conversation moves from small talk sarcasm to unexpected anger that gets physical. Watch how seamlessly Williams diverts from broad range describing a World Series game and then into something that his character treasures personally a watercolor painting. Most importantly, take in his nearly five-minute monologue where Sean evaluates Will on a park bench and deflates the ego that comes with the boy’s natural talent. He talks about the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and being in love and later mourning a loss. Williams, with Affleck and Damon’s words, paints one picture after another to demonstrate what Will has no business discussing at all. Not yet at least. (My wife and I sat on that bench in Boston. Just to be there in that spot was exhilarating for us.)
Matt Damon delivered the third of a trifecta of super talented young characters who had to mold their best traits. See Rounders and The Rainmaker. This leading performance sealed the success of his outstanding career. Think about it though. Matt Damon is such a wise, studious actor. He learns the unique languages and behaviors of his characters. Look at these movies, but also look back on his portrayal of super spy Jason Bourne, another kind of savant with extraordinary talents that get beyond his personal control. Parts like these seemed catered for Damon, not fellow actors like DiCaprio, Wahlberg, or Affleck. Damon’s characters go through similar arcs, but each is entirely unique.
Good Will Hunting was a new kind of coming-of-age film, far ahead of the James Dean and John Hughes fare from prior decades. For the film to effectively work, its script had to speak as smart as its characters. Gus Van Sant recognized the insight and internal conflicts of guys like Sean, Gerry and Will. All three men are incredibly smart, but they never found a way to live with each other nor had they yet to uncover inner peace. By the end of this movie, perhaps you’ll agree they all have, especially good Will Hunting.
2 UNPAID MOVIE CRITICS!!!! 