Definitely worth watching

Rating: 8/10 (11 May 2004)

I've noticed that this movie has received some harsh criticism. First of all, if you watch the movie and pay any attention, you can see that the story does make sense, and the casting works (I don't think they ever mentioned anything about an Irish gang). Is the story believable? Maybe. But the writing is good enough that it can get you to think, which is important. Also, any movie that can get such strong feelings from viewers, good or bad, has made an important statement.
The acting, particularly Robin Williams, is definitely top notch. If Ben Affleck could find half that level of integrity again, he might have a new lease on his career. This was the movie that (in my eyes at least) really established Matt Damon as an actor that could hold a movie almost singlehanded. And, while I'm not often a big Minnie Driver fan, her stark contrast to Matt Damon's character definitely livened up the movie. I can never really tell if the Academy picks them right. But I do know that this was a good movie. It doesn't weigh you down with anything especially sappy or depressing. It just tries to tell a story.