A well-made rather than a well-filled head ...

Rating: 10/10 (13 June 2011)

Among the cinematic characters that I immediately identified with, there is « Good Will Hunting », though I'm not fortunate enough to be gifted with the same intelligence ... BUT I know how it feels not to exploit one's own talents for his personal life and constantly try to find excuses for that.
The story is probably one of the most inspiring and best written scripts from the last two decades, and to think that Matt Damon is the co-writer, with his childhood friend, Ben Affleck – they both played best buddies in the film- makes it even more realistic and inspiring. In fact, there is something that always works in the stories where the screenwriter and the lead actor are the same, take "Citizen Kane", "The Great Dictator", "Rocky", "Sling Blade" or the vast majority of Woody Allen's films, the character is written and played by the same actor, he's his own mind, and own body, there is an authentic feeling as if the man doesn't even play. The script is personal, and the film is only an excuse to transcend something personal into a biggest project that would create a wider appeal. And I would never say enough how "Good Will Hunting" appealed to me.
The story, is about a kid, a tough kid, an extremely intelligent tough kid who grew in South Boston and lived the kind of childhood that could have been laughably cliché had the movie been handled by a bad director or editor. But the revelations of his past go so smoothly that Will Hunting, despite his good intentions, appears more like an arrogant prick than a victim, and THIS is interesting. To depict him as a victim would have considerably changed the value of his gift, it would have been the solution of his problems while in fact, it works like a double-edged sword. Will has an extraordinary power of abstraction, or memorization, of understanding that he can solve the toughest Maths problems, can speak of History, Geography, Politics, Economics, Philosophy, like you'd speak about the one thing that passionate you the most, and he probably knows better than you even in that field. Basically, Will makes you feel dumb, or useless, or unable to use your own knowledge. Even the professor Gerald Lambeau, who'll try to find a future for Will, ends up like a Salieri recognizing his worthless value compared to Will, the Mozart of Mathematics.
But the key of the story is to understand the reasons of Will's behavior, which obviously would lead him to a dead-end. When you think about it, his intelligence saved him from jail, which allowed him to know his girlfriend. Speaking of her, let's get back to the scene where they meet. The scene is probably one of the most memorable cinematic "ownage" where Will avenges his best friend who was victim of a literally intellectual bullying by an arrogant Harvard prick. Will puts him in his place with the idea that it doesn't takes studies to be intelligent, it takes enough curiosity to learn more than what we're intended to and then try to put that knowledge into perspective. An excellent lesson about how to use our intelligence. But then something ambiguous happens, when Will meets his therapist, Sean Maguire, Robin Williams in a quite perfect performance. Will acts with him exactly the same way the Harvard boy did, using his knowledge to try to push him down. But instead of being upset, Sean feels the potential of Will and a nice retort for the next meeting. "Do you think I would understand how it feels to be an orphan because I read Oliver twist?" Will knows, but his knowledge is theoretical, there's the tragic feeling of emptiness governing his life. Life is about guts, heart, emotions, and Sean, animated by a growing fatherly love, will try to open Will's heart, so he can give his life a meaning as Sean obviously found something in Will, to get out from his self-pitied widow condition, a man lost in his memories with no better future.
Will Hunting is not a bad guy, as implies the title's adjective. But he fears rejection, and hangs out with the same group which work like an indirect carapace. He's certainly not incapable of being friendly, in love or having fun, but as soon as things go serious, he becomes defensive. The movie provides a fascinating character study in the real sense of the world, we are put in the shoes of a psychiatrist and try to understand Sean's motives, and why Will is such a hard nut to crack. It's an intelligent movie about intelligence, and that respects our intelligence, and more than that, the intelligence of the film is carried by an excellent script that brings so many moments of verbal delights. Will's speeches are priceless; it's like reciting a whole book, with coherence and inspiration. And the films question our visions of intelligence : for Lambeau, it's Excellence, for Maguire, it's Happiness. The inspiring message of the film, is that Will Hunting can reconcile between both. Inspiring is indeed a word that rhymes with "Good Will Hunting". And I think Minnie Driver deserves a mention as the one who drove the heart element of the film, as Skylar –why did they had to name her like that anyway-, who had such a genuine feeling, I thought her romance and break-up created another authentic dimension in Will's multi-layered personality.
"Good Will Hunting" is an exploration into the complexities of human relationships, and on a self-reflexive approach, the conclusion of the film is like a mathematical problem finally solved, but human relationships is not an exact science you know, so maybe, I say maybe, happiness is a little more important than excellence  as the French author, Michel de Montaigne, said once : "a well-made rather than a well-filled head."