Wicked good movie for all to enjoy

Rating: 8/10 (16 January 2019)

Good Will Hunting is a timeless classic, that won countless awards, including an Oscar, a Golden Globe and multiple nominees. This movie relays on the acting and bad boy personality of Matt Damon. Throughout the movie the audience follows the life and what his actions do to others. While this movie was released in the 90's, I still enjoyed and understood the film. The themes and underlying messages also still transfer over to today's day and age. I was thoroughly surprised by how much I enjoyed this movie. The film captured my attention as I felt many different real emotions, because of the angles/shots, soundtrack and script.
In the opening scene you get a look at how rickety Will's (Matt Damon) life is in the south side of Boston. Along with this you get aerial views and pan shots of Boston to set the scene. I enjoyed the setting because it showed the rich high life society of Cambridge but also the desolate housing and college pubs.
With having it set at MIT is a bit of a cliche, in the sense that of course Will should belong at MIT because of his intelligence. A positive to being set at MIT is that the writers were able to compare Will to the smartest students and professors in the nation.
One of my favorite scenes was the one in which Will met Skylar (Minnie Driver). Will showed off his wicked smarts, and by the end of the night he got her phone number. Matt Damon has a comedic line about apples. By adding this joke I believe it helps to captivate the audience before the movie shifts to being more serious.
Skylar's has some personality quirks. She always seems give the excuse that she needs to study and work hard, on the other hand Matt Damon has the natural talent to read something and memorize it. She believes in Matt and wants him to succeed in life and have a chance. Everyone but Will believes in his potential. With his rough childhood background he has never been rewarded of his accomplishments.
Will has many struggles in his life and doesn't know how to balance his math intelligence with his social life. As a result Will seems to get in trouble continuously but has become a manipulating and is able to get him out of many situations. But on the judges last straw he sends Will to jail, and the only reason he got out was because of the MIT professor. One of the conditions that Will has to agree to though is to go to therapy. After the Professor sends Will to therapy will opens up about his past and his trust issues.
One important theme that I took away from Good Will Hunting was that child abuse and a rough childhood can lead to trust issues. Much like Will's childhood with abuse and multiple homes, Matilda (Mara Wilson) grew up with child abuse and until she was finally able to trust her teacher and create a lasting bond. Another aspect that connects both movies is that both Will and Matilda are brilliant as a result of reading hundreds of books.
It's easy to relate to how heartbroken Robin Williams is with his wife dying. I feel that by put his time into therapy he is able to escape his grief. I really enjoyed his eccentric storytelling of the day he met his wife. This scene added to how Robin Williams was able to balance his grief with remembering the joyous memories.
The shots and angles in this film were also well put together. During most of Will's therapy sessions the director uses eye level and medium shots. By using this effect the director is able to have the audience feel like they are in the room. Along with this the readers are forced to read the facial expressions to get a sense of emotion. During every therapy session but the last both Sean and Will are not in the same shot together. By creating this composition it creates the effect of a real conversation that goes back and forth. Another example of how the director used angles/shots was when he strategically used a high angle shot to show power and dominance. This scene occurred while Will burned the proofs and Professor (Stellan Skarsgard) was on his knees and the camera angle was above him. Will's power over his own life shows true here because of the element of a high shot.
The fight scene is a notable scene because of the sounds and music in the background. The music is very subtle, and there is multiple layers of other peoples voices, but overall the directors were able to edit it together to make it feel like the audience was in the right scene. and finally there is a cop car that skids to a start and arrests Matt Damon. The soundtrack for the remainder of the film is very well thought and adds to either the suspense, happiness of craziness going on in Matt Damon's life.
The script includes dialect that is noticeably a Boston accent. There was the use of wicked which is a famous Boston stereotype. The accents were also very strong on Matt Damon and his Southie friends like Ben Affleck. I think it was a wise decision to cast Matt Damon and Ben Affleck because of their natural Boston accents.
The ending to me was a bit predictable, in scenes earlier you were foreshadowed by what was ahead. Also in most movies there is a happy ending and this movie does just that. The director also left with a bit of a cliffhanger which in today's movies is expected to have the audience create their own ending.
By the end of the movie I felt attached to Will's character and Sean's grief, and the romance between Skylar and Will. Good Will Hunting was a classic movie that will be enjoyed by many in the coming years. I would definitely recommend putting in the time to watch and enjoy Good Will Hunting.