My Review of "Good Will Hunting"

Good Will Hunting is a drama that came out back in 1997. All of the settings, vernacular and social expectations are of its time but the messages still hold true today. I remember liking this movie back when it first came out but watching it today I have a better appreciation for it. Now I can see why people consider this their favorite movie and go back to it so often.

The movie starts off with a brilliant mathematics teacher named Lambeau. He's an award winning professor at one of the most prestigious schools in the United States. In a way he's a little bit of a celebrity within his campus. To add some fun to the curriculum he's adds a very difficult math question on the board for anyone on campus to complete. It's extremely difficult, so it's very shocking to all of them when they discover that a mysterious person had solved it so quickly.

Little do they know but there's a math genius of a janitor by the name of Will that had solved it. Even more astonishing is that he did it for fun and doesn't really want any credit for it. We then dive into the story of Will. He's a blue collared worker that likes to hang out with his buddies in the seedier side of town. As a product of his environment, Will often gets into trouble.

Will again gets himself arrested for assault but this time Lambeau discovers that Will is the genius that solved his math problem. This kind of genius is very rare so he decides to help Will out of his situation. To get Will out of prison he makes a deal with the judge. He gets to have Will help him out with math problems and promises to send Will to a psychological therapist for his anger issues.

Finding will the proper psychologist is going to be tough because Will is a tough nut to crack. Out of desperation Lambeau pleads to his old friend Sean to take Will on. Sean agrees because he has a history much like Will's and he's excited by the challenge.

This movie then becomes a psychological back and forth between Will and Sean. They talk about life, love and personal endeavors. This movie builds even more when Will gains a love interest by the name of Skylar. She's actually the key to unlocking Will's unbreakable defiance.

This movie has so much to say and it does it in such an entertaining manner. The characters are crude and relatable so it's even easier to dive into the troubling subject matter. One of the biggest discussions is Will's inability to open up to people. They build on this with his backstory. We understand his point of view very well. Back in the day we never learned about trauma and how we can institutionalize our psyche from doing things. Will has an incredible abilities but he stunts himself because of the trauma he's experienced from the past.

I love the fight between Sean and Lambeau. It's interesting how Lambeau somehow makes everything about helping out society when it's really about himself. We then get caught into discussions of what are our true ambitions in life. Just because you have a gift to do something, it doesn't mean you want to do it. There are probably plenty of people great at sports but they're just not interested in playing them. To regular people like myself it's hard to believe but we're all built differently. Everyone's path is different and we have to understand that and let them choose their own paths.

Will's relationship with his friends also becomes a discussion as well. When do you outgrow your friends? Does your loyalty to them force you to stunt yourself? Will's friend's are great but they're very understanding as well. This isn't always the case. We have people out there that are very loyal friends but sometimes even that loyalty has some negative effects to some of the members of the party.

Overall, this was a great watch and I had some internal dialogue in the back of my head while watching it. There's so many different discussions and I think this is probably a great movie to watch with people. This way you can have those conversations and see everyone's different perspective on things. This is definitely a classic and that's why I give it an 8.5 out of 10.