Masterfully develops complex relationships

Rating: 10/10 (5 February 2013)

The script for Good Will Hunting was written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck who both star in the movie. Damon plays the lead role of Will Hunting and Affleck plays his best friend, Chuckie Sullivan. The theme of the film is a focus on ideas, specifically the complexity of human relationships and social problems. It is surprisingly complex considering the age of the two young writers.
Will Hunting is a street-wise Boston kid whose childhood memories involve foster homes and abuse. His daily life involves cruising the streets, hanging out in the local bar and looking for fights. He is employed as a custodian at the prestigious M.I.T.
The audience is unaware of Will's photographic memory and genius status until he solves a mathematical problem on an M.I.T. hallway chalkboard that even the most respected M.I.T. professor cannot solve. Ultimately there are four people who try to save Will from his destructive life style. Professor Lambeau, played by Stellan Skarsgard, Sean McGuire, played by Robin Williams, Skylar, played by Minnie Driver, and Chuckie Sullivan.
Upon realizing that the custodian solved the elusive mathematical equation, Lambeau reaches out to help Hunting. He agrees to intervene on behalf of the youth, promising a judge he will provide guidance and counseling in exchange for keeping Hunting from jail. After exhausting numerous counselors, Lambeau turns to college friend, Sean McGuire, to counsel Hunting. McGuire and Lambeau have their own complicated relationship stemming from their college days which resurfaces with their rekindled acquaintance.
McGuire begins to reach Hunting and seems to be making some progress. Hunting begins a relationship with Harvard student, Skylar, who also challenges him to open up and be honest about his past. As these relationships develop, Hunting can no longer hide from the intimacy that up until now he has so craftily dodged. As a result, when Skylar encourages Hunting to come to California with her, he breaks off the relationship.
Hunting refuses to make a career decision after multiple interviews with think tanks set up by Professor Lambeau. McGuire pushes Hunting during their next counseling session about what he wants to do with his life. When Hunting reverts to his old methods of dodging questions, McGuire tells him to leave.
Having now removed the individuals who were encouraging him to change his destructive pattern, Hunting returns to work with Chuckie on a construction site. At this point Chuckie becomes the fourth person to tell Hunting he had to take advantage of his gift. The outcome is predictable. Hunting returns to McGuire to mend their falling out and then heads off to find Skylar.
The camera work in this film was very well done and assists Director, Gus Van Sant, capture the complexity of the characters' relationships. One particular scene worth noting is a scene of McGuire and Hunting on a park bench by a pond. McGuire is opening up to Hunting about the loss of his wife and the love he had for her. This was the first session in which McGuire appears to crack Hunting's hard shell. The camera remained on the face of McGuire as he told his story. The camera does not move to incorporate Will until McGuire is done with his intimate sharing. All attention, including Hunting's, was focused on McGuire during his testimony.
A second piece of camera work captured Hunting allowing his protective walls to break down is a scene where he and Skylar are at a street café. Their relationship has peaked at this point and one can clearly see they have fallen in love. The camera work completely focuses in on their faces, sharing an intimate moment with the audience.
This film gave both Williams and Damon the opportunity of a more challenging role. Each exceeded my expectation of their performance. Few films do this well in developing relationships although some might point to the film Beaches as another which successfully focuses on the complexity of relationships. This is a well written film only surpassed by its acting which is sure to please even the most critical movie-goer.