A brilliant script. A genius.

Rating: 8/10 (20 November 2003)

The movie is a brilliant script that I hear Matt Damon wrote for a English class when he was in college.
Mysteriously I always missed the movie when it was on television, and it was played several times. I would watch just the start and miss the rest each time due to some or the other reason. Finally I watched it in whole now on 21st Nov 2003.
Will Hunting (Matt Damon) is a genius for whom most of mumbo-jumbo math and O-chem is "just a joke". He works as a janitor in MIT and solves a problem written on the board in the passage he mops. He is discovered by Prof. Gerry who gets him out of jail (assault charges) on two conditions 1) Will Hunting works with Prof. Gerry 2) He sees a therapist.
Will has a tough shell around him which he doesn't let anyone crack open and trespass. He is cocky, abusive and least bit considerate towards Prof. Gerry's attempts at polishing him into a Genius who can be of use than a Genius who just ends up being a construction worker all his life. Enter Robin Williams and the rest is for you to watch. Must watch.
Robin Williams plays his role so well that you forget you are watching a movie, you forget he is an actor and not a professor or a psychologist. This happens to me each time I watch a Robin Williams film. The sessions that Robin Williams and Matt Damon have are some of the best parts of the movie and the last session where Sean McGuire (Robin Williams) finally succeeds in opening up Will Hunting is the best scene of the movie.
The character of Will hunting seems to be complex but it is not really. Why would a genius not want to work for some big company or the US Defence and make millions or billions? Why does he just wanna be what he is? And it frustrates you as the viewer, while ur trying to find the key that would open him up. Ur frustrated waiting for him to stop being so arrogant, why the hell can't he be a bit 'nice' to these guys? Ur trying to be a detective, and trying to find the great reasons. And that is how the script brings a mild suspense and tension to itself, mild.
Minnie Driver, the English girl is an amazing actress. She is such a normal girl, who laughs loud and can still be gentle and she is very smart too, and vulnerable. U think why is Ben Affleck doing whatever he is doing in the movie. Ben Affleck answers this question brilliantly in a scene that works as a catalyst in the transformation of Will Hunting's character. Stellan Skarsgård (Prof. Gerald Lambeau) who takes up the challenge of refining the Gold ore that he mined shows great patience. One would really feel for him and his passion for math, especially if ur a lover of math.
This is one of the best stories and a very well sketched script. Go get a DVD.