“Good Will Hunting” Review

Good Will Hunting, a very popular film directed by Gus Van Sant and written by its actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, is centered around Will, a genius young adult. Will Hunting is from a poor area in Boston and is discovered accidentally by a mathematics professor at MIT, Gerald Lambeau. After Will gets arrested for assault, Professor Lambeau cuts a deal with the court and Will is released into Lambeau’s care. He tends to Will and fosters his mathematics capabilities. Will is required by the court to see a psychologist and after a long search for the right match, he sees Lambeau’s college friend, Sean Maguire. The film continues with Will’s search for the right path to take, obstacles arising and portions of his past reappearing.

A major theme in this film is knowledge versus experience. Throughout the movie, this theme appears in Will’s life but also as a symbolic conflict for the two people guiding him, the professor and psychologist. Professor Lambeau represents the information and education seeking side of Will, the side that encourages Will to attempt to gain infinite knowledge, viewing it as his most important endeavor. Lambeau himself represents this as an award winning mathematician who the viewers don’t learn much about besides for his academic achievements. On the other hand, Sean Maguire, the psychologist guiding Will, is all about experience. The way he breaks through to Will unlike the other psychologists is by explaining to Will how in fact, he does not know everything. Sean says, “So, if I asked you about art, you’d probably give me the skinny on every art book ever written. Michelangelo. You know a lot about him. Life’s work, political aspirations, him and the pope, sexual orientation, the whole works, right? But I bet you can’t tell me what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel. You’ve never actually stood there and looked up at that beautiful ceiling. Seen that…” Will can read about something in depth, but that will not fully encapsulate its essence. Sean shows Will that experience is just as important as informational learning and reading. The viewers learn much about Sean’s personal life, his deceased wife, and stories of his past. The viewers see Sean’s actual home whereas with the professor they only see his office. Professor Lambeau and Sean fight often about what is best for Will, a clear metaphor for Will’s internal debate of what to prioritize, learning life or experiencing it. Will is originally not balanced in his decision between the two, primarily because of how his past experiences have let him down. He was abused, an orphan, and was overall dealt difficult situations. As a result, he used his intrinsic learning capabilities as an outlet and neglected experiencing life; he guarded himself. Through incredible character development, Will learns to put experiences first with the help of his friends and his psychologist- mostly indicated by his decision to drive to Skylar, a woman he falls in love with. When he does this, he balances experiential learning and academic learning. At the end of the film, Professor Lambeau and Sean go out together, laughing and putting differences aside- their relationship shift coinciding with Will’s now balanced learning.

Another major theme in the film is educational stereotypes. Will comes from poverty, he is not enrolled in college, and yet has a very special gift that gives him the tools he needs to escape his restricting environment. Many times throughout the film, he combats stereotypes of poor people, particularly the night he meets Skylar in the bar. He proves to others that he is not just a poor kid, he has learned just as much and beyond that of college students who pay enormous amounts for the same information. Utilizing resources is key, and even with his background, Will manages to do this and break common misconceptions. Language and accents play into this theme of stereotypes. The college students speak formally, and Skylar has a British accent, commonly associated with privilege. Will and his friends have a thick Bostonian accents and converse in slang. Will with his natural dialogue is put into formal and professional settings, merging the two seemingly separate worlds.

The film and its entire plot contains literary and cinematographic devices such as foreshadowing, and consistent symbols. Will’s future actions are foreshadowed often, for example, when Sean tells him about missing a baseball game because he chose to spend time with his future wife. Will responds questioning him, and does the same with a job offer by the end of the movie. Another detail to acknowledge are the consistent symbols. Most times before Will made personal progress he would be looking at light fixtures or in nature an indication of new understanding, a natural epiphany awaiting.

Good Will Hunting was a pleasure to watch, it’s themes consistent and clear, symbols and devices carefully placed throughout the movie, and beautiful character development throughout the entire film enjoyable to witness. The movie absorbs the viewer into the world of Will, the cinematic experience proving to be very pleasant. The film surpasses the year it was produced (1997) and poses itself as relevant and worthwhile watching today.