As an afterthought, the parody in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back was far more enjoyable.
It was a moderately entertaining way to spend a couple of hours. Nothing more.
The scenes I remember as most bullshit were when he says he chose the wrench, and the scene where he embarrasses the student in the bar.
Wow, I’m surprised at the vitriol expressed toward GWH, which I thought was a decent film. Maybe I’m biased, having grown up near Boston. I liked it.
However,
Are you serious? What about:
Awakenings
The Fisher King
Aladdin
Good Will Hunting
Insomnia
One Hour Photo
He was great in all of those. You have to ignore Death to Smoochy, Jakob the Liar and Patch Adams. Okay, he’s had a lot of other stinkers as well, but he’s done some really good stuff too.
This was yet another smarmy “humanistic” Robin Williams performance, better than Bicentennial Man but hardly worth an Oscar. And yes, Matt & Ben won because they were actors, young & likable, and had a great backstory (aka “My Best Friend and I…”) played to the hilt by Harvey W at Miramax.
I did like the scenes that had Damon play off his friends–forget the genius stuff, the rough-around-the-edges Boston business felt the most authentic. But there has to be a hook, and the Genius-Finds-Love/Makes-Good bit was too irresistable. Also, Ben Affleck, normally a terrible actor, isn’t bad in this.
Highly overrated and thoroughly pedestrian (though nice music by Danny Elfman and Elliott Smith).
I thought the movie was okay. Not one of my favorites, but worth the price of admission.
However, if you’re going to pan a movie, please do so for something of more substance than the name. Sheesh!
I enjoyed the movie, and the Oscars were well deserved.
As for the title, I can think of a hundred worse titles without even trying. “The Empire Strikes Back”??
Wendell, I loved your review, and agree that GWH is total crap. You know what? Mathematical geniuses don’t spend their time hanging out with their buddies, beating up cops, and impressing chicks with their knowledge of history. You know what they spend their time doing? Mathematics. I simply could NOT buy the character of Will Hunting for one minute. Totally false in every note.
I don’t know how old the Will Hunting character was supposed to be in the film, but in real life Matt Damon had just turned 5 when Carlton Fisk hit his famous home run.
A 5-year old Bostonian would not have been awake to watch that game as it finished very late. If you were a baseball fan, you would be interested in hearing the comments of someone who was there at the time (or could have been there).
Right, Lemur866, everyone knows that it’s only physics genii who do all that stuff. Mathematicians, never! :rolleyes:
I mean, why not? There are some pretty… Let’s just say “eccentric” genii out there. OK, so there isn’t a math genius with those exact eccentricities, but that’s what makes it fiction. But it was plausible fiction: I’d much rather see a movie about a mathematician where they get the math (mostly) right than one where they just put random scribblings on the board.
What I want to know is when the sequel (Good Will Hunting II?) that they were filming during the production of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is coming out? Loved that shotgun scene.
GWH had one of the most unoriginal, predictable, cliched scripts ever. I was disgusted when it won.
Cite? Perhaps 99% of the traditional math genii out there don’t. But they didn’t exactly present him as a “traditional” math genius, did they? Rather the total opposite.
Math geeks obviously should not be allowed to be movie reviewers, and probably they’re not.
I thought the movie was above average entertainment.
Hell, if you thought Good Will Hunting was unoriginal pablum, what did you think of that godawful Sean Connery vehicle, Finding Forrester? I mean, really. It was Good Will Hunting warmed over plot all over again (Oooo! He’s not only a poor inner-city genius, he’s a poor, black inner city genius! They’ll never figure it out!)
Finding Forrester was directed by the same guy (Gus Van Sant) who did GWH and the recent Gerry. Matt Damon even has that cameo at the end.
Consider it a director’s conscious return to previously explored territory, not unlike Scorcese with Goodfellas/Casino.
Thanks, Vorae, I wasn’t aware of that. That makes it worse.
To be honest I enjoyed both Good Will Hunting and Finding Forrester.
Fairblue is right about the Billy Madison moment, it is now invoked at any stupid schmaltzy moment of a drama.
After watching Finding Forrester my thought was that it was like a script writing class project. Take one element each from the plots of Field of Dreams, Good Will Hunting and Scent of a Woman, combine these to create a “new” story.
Hey! I mentioned Finding Forrester way before Ogre but nobody said a word. What are you scared of Ogre or something? 
I am still waiting for the prior screenplay that was like GWH? If it should not have gotten the Original Screenplay Oscar (reason for the OP) I need a movie that it directly ripped-off.
Disclaimer: The OP doesn’t say it is not an original screenplay but that the script/dialogue was crap. However, the movie won for Original Sceenplay not Best Picture. BobT makes a valid point about why that spoiler scene was written that way.
Just saying it was predictable, cliche and had Robin Williams is not enough.
Good analogy on FF don’t ask. I always say Casino is Goodfellas in Vegas and A Bronx Tale is Jungle Fever meets Goodfellas.
shrug
I loved the movie. Thought it should have won Best Picture that year.
Well, NYR407, I always thought GWL was two parts Ordinary People (emotionally distant youth learns to connect thanks to compassionate frumpy psychologist) and one part every inspirational movie where a teacher shows tough love because he believes in his rougneck students (From Blackboard Jungle to Stand and Deliver). Oh, and Robin Williams’ role is merely him doing his Dead Poets Society character as a bit older and more disillusioned.
Whoops, that should be GWH