Incredible but authentic

Rating: 8/10 (10 February 2006)

This is the incredible story of Will a working class young boy who besides working as a janitor first and in the building construction afterwards, is also a genius in mathematics and several other scientific fields which he learned all by himself. But simultaneously he is a petty delinquent for which he has already got a criminal record mainly for assaulting other people in street fights with the likes of him. Despite being a real genius he is also an insecure boy fearing life and love due to the very unhappy childhood he had, which makes it very hard that he can take advantage of his intellectual ability. It also leads him to be rude to those who want to help him since he doesn't trust anybody. All through the movie we see the work of the two men who try to bring him to life and to take conscience of his own value: a maths professor and above all a psychiatrist who had his own problems in life too. This is shown in a brilliant way in terms of players' performances, images and dialogues with deep analysis of feelings and behaviours. All the players are excellent. A special reference to Minnie Driver as the boy's girlfriend with her spiritual and intelligent look and her moving reactions to some of Will's difficult to understand attitudes. This story is genuine indeed in terms of sentiments and actions and very well put on film. One of the best movies of its year.