How Do Ya Like Them Apples?

Good Will Hunting is a story about men and their ambitions, dreams, and emotions. I first saw the film in late January 1998 and was mesmerized by the story. I don’t know that I’ve seen another film that so eloquently touches on these issues. The film tells this wonderful story in a way that is emotionally honest yet still masculine. It’s like a “chick-flick” for men. I can’t describe it any other way.

I cannot say enough about the story itself. Matt Damon wrote an early draft of the screenplay for a university assignment and decided to finish it in 1997 along with longtime friend and roommate Ben Affleck, in order to take charge of their faltering movie careers. I’d seen Damon and Affleck in other films but I didn’t think they were anything special. I couldn’t believe that these two kids could write a story with insight far beyond their years. I left the theater certain they had nailed an academy award for the screenplay. The decision to finish the screenplay proved to be a genius move. The film indeed earned them Oscars and catapulted both of them to stardom.

In addition to a great story, the film features at least six solid acting performance. In my opinion, great acting can turn an average story into a excellent movie (see A Few Good Men
). The difference here is that the acting takes what might have been an average movie with an excellent story and transforms it into a classic film. Robin Williams and Ben Affleck deliver the best performances in my opinion. Damon, who is present for almost all of the important scenes in the movie, handles fast paced dialog and emotionally charged scenes like a veteran. Skarsgård and Casey Affleck turn in a performances that are much better than average and one could argue that Minnie Driver saved the movie with her performance.

To top it all off, the film contains some brilliant dialogue. In one memorable scene, Damon delivers his lines with perfect timing as Will takes on an arrogant Harvard student in an intellectual standoff that reminds me of a superhero standing up to an adolescent nemesis. In another, Damon does the same while turning down a very lucrative job offer. In yet another, Damon and Robin Williams work together and pull off one of the film’s best scenes and a turning point in the story. There are many scenes just as brilliantly done – several more with Damon and Williams, but others featuring all five of the major characters.

Many have given credit for the success of the film to fantastic direction by Gus Van Sant. I’m not an expert on such things but I’m guessing he deserves much credit for the solid performances from virtually the entire cast and perhaps some massaging of what some have said was actually only an average screenplay. I haven’t read the screenplay but if Van Sant accomplished what some have given him sole credit for then this was a work of genius on his part. I’ve seen only four of his films and I loved them all. I’m not sure that makes him a great director but I wouldn’t hesitate to see another of his films.

Finally, I should point out a couple of things. First, the title of my post comes from one of my favorite lines from the movie. I won’t share my favorite line which comes much later in the story because it is much more powerful in context. It drives home what is, for me, the point of the film. There are many lessons to learn from the film and at least seven of the men portrayed, but the ending, while not a major twist, left me satisfied in a way that I didn’t anticipate.

Second, this film explores the life of a young man from South Boston and some of his buddies. As a result, it features some very crude humor and whole lot of very foul language. I could have lived without the crude humor and I prefer less foul language but I can live with it when it seems in context. If you can’t handle the language you may want to skip this movie but I assure you that you will be missing something very special.