Drugstore Cowboy

Rating: Null/10 (11 December 2014)

Towering performance by Matt Damon in the lead, and a superlative ensemble headed by a terrific Robin Williams, elevate "Good Will Hunting," Gus Van Sant's emotionally involving psychological drama, a notch or two above the mainstream therapeutic sensibility of its story. Centering on a brilliant working-class youngster who's forced to come to terms with his creative genius and true feelings. Miramax could score big with extremely enjoyable pic whose old-fashioned virtues should play well in big cities as well as in Middle American shopping malls.
Emanuel Levy A towering performance by Matt Damon in the lead, and a superlative ensemble headed by a terrific Robin Williams, elevate "Good Will Hunting," Gus Van Sant's emotionally involving psychological drama, a notch or two above the mainstream therapeutic sensibility of its story. Centering on a brilliant working-class youngster who's forced to come to terms with his creative genius and true feelings, this beautifully realized tale is always engaging and often quite touching. With the right marketing, Miramax could score big with an extremely enjoyable picture whose old-fashioned virtues should play well in big cities as well as in Middle American shopping malls.
Fans of Van Sant's earlier, offbeat films may be disappointed by the more conventional attributes of "Good Will Hunting," a "problem" drama dealing with the complex relationship between a rough, extraordinarily gifted kid and his equally troubled and bruised therapist. Thematically, film recalls Robert Redford's "Ordinary People" and especially Jodie Foster's "Little Man Tate," which also revolved around a child genius of the working class.
Nonetheless, it's a testament to Van Sant's idiosyncratic talent that he endows the narrative, particularly its first chapters, with the nihilistic humor and deceptively casual style that have marked his best work, "Drugstore Cowboy" and the more eccentric "My Own Private Idaho."
Co-written by thesps Damon and Ben Affleck, who have known each other since childhood in Boston, protagonist is Will Hunting (Damon), a 20-year-old lad who works as a janitor at MIT and spends most of his time with his coarse friends at the neighborhood bar. Blessed with a certain genius, Will, who has never attended college, can summon obscure historical references based on his exceptional photographic memory. He can also solve difficult mathematical problems with an ease that makes MIT's richer and more educated students envious of him.