Basic drama writing at its very best

Rating: 8/10 (6 October 2007)

Will Hunting is a troubled young man who spends his free time hanging around bars and cleaning the floors of a university. However, Will isn't a typical youngster as he has unbelievable mathematic abilities and an outstanding photographic memory. Will soon gets into trouble but a professor who's seen what he's capable of makes a proposition which includes Will to see a psychiatrist. A psychiatrist after another refuses to see Will anymore as he's so uncooperative. Will eventually meets his match, a psychiatrist Sean McGuire, who finally makes Will to open up his mind and think about what he wants to do with his life.
"Good Will Hunting" is a feel good movie. Though it is kind of a basic drama, it is still drama at its best. This is really what the drama -genre should be, as the film doesn't really go into other genres at all, it follows the pattern of a great drama, but it somehow manages to be surprisingly good. The story's interesting, though it isn't that unique after all, but it captures your attention right from the start. It's just something that's easy for your eyes and it's a real pleasure to watch. You don't feel stressed at any part of the film, every scene matters and there isn't anything unnecessary anywhere. Screenplay's written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck and it is indeed very well written and you can really see where they were heading at with it. It hasn't really got any amazing twists and turns, it's just brilliant on its own. I'd like to see Damon and Affleck collaborate some more in the future, as this is what a true drama is really, and after all, about.
The film also includes great role performances, so that may be one of the reasons why it's also so surprisingly good. Matt Damon is great as Will Hunting, the main character. Stellan Skarsgård is perfect for the role of the professor Gerald Lambeau and his role performance is solid. Ben Affleck also does his job flawlessly, and I really think he is in fact a good actor but people just don't seem to get it because of what movies he's been in in the past. He doesn't get the chance of a perfect role for him, but hopefully that will also change in the near future. Just stop slaying the guy and let's see how far can he really go. Minnie Driver fits for the role of Skylar, the girlfriend of Will Hunting, and she has an incredible chemistry with Damon. All of the scenes where they are with each other are really strong and powerful, you can really see or sense these sincere emotions between them. Those scenes really speak for themselves and what is true drama acting at its best, as there happens the unquestionable and respected tearing away the actor from the character itself, which makes it seem like there is no acting involved at all. That's just how real it feels and looks like.
Despite that, that is not the best thing the film has to offer, as there is one actor above everyone else and that is Robin Williams, who's in the supporting role of the psychiatrist Sean McGuire. Williams is pure excellence, he's just absolute perfection and without a doubt the best thing you see in the entire film. McGuire is also a man with a troubled past, so the characters of Sean McGuire and Will Hunting find something in common, which firstly leads to an odd friendship, but then transforms itself into a true beauty where the word "friendship" gets a whole new meaning. The dialog between Williams and Damon is fantastic, being sometimes hilarious yet being smart and clever all of the time. Robin Williams even won an Academy Award from this devotion to the character, IE the best actor in the supporting role, which is a more than a deserved win. Overall I must say that the film shines with magnificent actors in the right roles, so the casting did pretty much a flawless job.
Although "Good Will Hunting" is also, as mentioned, hilarious at some points it's also very dramatic, so it slightly mixes up drama with comedy, although maintaining the main perspective in the drama -genre. It's definitely worth a watch after all. Movies like these with this kind of a special flow, which means you don't want it to end but you want it move along as well as it is just so entertaining all the time, don't come out too often. You just can't wait what will happen next. Directing is done by Gus Van Sant, who I think hasn't really done anything that amazing before or after "Good Will Hunting". Yes, the directing is great, but you can't really direct a bad movie if the screenplay's this good. Damon and Affleck even won an Academy Award from it, so question is why not write something together in the near future? The Academy Award really speaks for itself, ensuring the fact that writing together again would be a good idea. It would probably be worthwhile.