Guest Review: Good Will Hunting
“Real loss is only possible when you love something more than you love yourself.”
Good Will Hunting is a story about Will, a janitor at MIT who has a gift in mathematics but have a behavior issue. Troubled but also naïve, Will is discovered by a professor. The professor then asked his friend the psychiatrist, Sean (Robin Williams) to help him sort things out. Between the session, Will’s problems and personality discovered layers by layers until it showed his true problems is how he sees the world. Not only get to know Will’s problems and identity, the story also led us to know Sean’s past with his wife.
Even when I was little, I remember that this movie was written by the two stars in the movie, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. I read that they originally wanted to make it into a thriller but the production thought it was better to focus on the relationship between Will and his psychiatrist. I don’t know about the thriller, but I thought the movie fits the criteria where it would win Oscars. Good Will Hunting happened to win two Oscars that year, Best Actor in Supporting Role and Best Screenplay. It also received many award nominations.
It is interesting to see how young man still struggles with his identity but have a true talent, yet can’t manage himself. Often these types are fallen in another person’s purpose, to be used in a corporate where he does not know if he is doing it for the right thing or not. Luckily for Will to be gifted such brain that he can see these types of people. The funny thing is he shut himself from the world and not strive to challenge himself. There are moments when I failed to understand Will as a person, whether he knows what he’s doing or he is a stubborn man.
The script was a winner, but the one that made it alive was Robin Williams. When he expressed his lines, he did not only say it but also sounded real and genuine. He brings so much character of a lonely psychiatrist after he lost his wife from cancer and a man who figured it all out on Will’s challenging behavior. He also said many wisdom words that spoken with comforting but honest way. I love that scene where he talks with Will in the park, where he correctly guessed Will’s personality, after Will offended him. If you love him in here, you probably love him more in Dead Poets Society, like I do.
As for Matt Damon, I’ve seen him doing roles as a good guy many times. When I saw him doing Will, a cynical and troubled man, I did not believe him. I think I like him more being a nice decent guy who helps everyone even when he have his own problems. I love Minnie Driver in here, where she is a smart and independent girl from Harvard. But I find her in the crying scene a bit too dramatic for her character. Thought she seems to be the type of girl who cries when no one is around.
If you’ve seen Black Swan, you would notice the quote “The only person standing in your way, is you.” I think it has the same message for Good Will Hunting. Why crawl if you can run?-that sort of thing. It also implies to which each person has its own wants and desires, one shouldn’t interfere.
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