An over-rated drama for popular culture

Rating: 3/10 (7 January 1999)

It's very predictable that a movie like this would soon be placed into that undefined category of "good" recent movies, which includes any film having the smallest bit of sincerity and meaning. The fact that the popular trend is toward the visual and that special effects are replacing plots and subtle nuances tends to lead the average viewer to the opinion that any film that attempts these is a grand effort. This is not true. "Good Will Hunting" does not even have a well-defined plot, but that fits into the movie acceptably: it's an extraordinary man's search for himself through love, psychoanalysis, and philosophy. The premier problem is that the movie overplays it's best card: Matt Damon's(character's) incredible brain. There is a certain point at which the audience should halt its fascination at his mental profencies and sigh in boredom. It's unfortunate that this was not the case for most theaters. Though the meaning of life and gifted individuals are good themes for movies, they are not original, and this "tear-jerker" makes no unique contributions to either idea. In fact, if you want to see real meaning in a popular movie, rent "Rocky", a title which many supposed "film experts" would probably not want to admit conveys deeper human meaning than most "good" movies, like (appropriately) Good Will Hunting. Shame on you, movie fans, for falling in love with such a butchered attempt at profundity.