The praise about Good Will Hunting does not make sense!

Rating: Null/10 (18 March 1999)

If I had to summarize this film in a sentence, I'd say that it's an overrated, predictable `self discovery drama set on the East Cost with a bit of romance and the dialogue of a Quentin Tarantino movie.' Surprisingly enough, an affiliate of the big Q himself (Lawrence Bender) co-produced it.
There's nothing to really `give away,' so I'll just say this: If this guy was a `repressed genius,' then why did he wait to show it when he got the job as a janitor? How did this person become a genius in the first place? Why didn't they just send the guy to a mathematician, so his name would go into the history books next to Galileo and he might know the secret behind the universe? More importantly, why should we care about this person in the first place? Personally, I'd rather see a movie about a street flasher who targets the elderly. That is saying very, very little.
The `self discovery'....`midlife crisis'....'I need to get my life back together' genre has been used so many times it's about as cliched as the standard Hollywood action film. That is the case with `Good Will Hunting,' a movie whose only sole purpose is to keep the halfway intelligent person alert. If you thought this movie was excellent, well, I don't know what else to say, except a recommendation to over 50 other cliched movies that also got an excellent review for no reason.
Robin Williams' performance was increasingly mediocre to have won an Oscar, he did so much much better in `The Fisher King' and `Dead Poets Society.' The screenplay was just OK, and it also did not deserve an Oscar. Who picked Danny Elfman for the musical score? I thought I was listening to Yanni after his orchestra members consumed a box of laxatives. And the love interest with Minnie Driver just did not work. In fact, it ruined the movie. A little trivia for you, Damon and Driver did not get along with each other in real life during filming.
Don't see it if you want something new. I would have spanked myself with a frozen drumstick if this film won a best picture Oscar.