Good Will Hunting

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Template:Infobox Film Good Will Hunting is a 1997 film directed by Gus Van Sant, set in greater Boston, Massachusetts. It tells the story of Will Hunting, a troubled young prodigy who works as a janitor at MIT, despite the fact that his knowledge of and facility with higher mathematics far outstrips that of anyone in the school, if not the country. Will must learn to let go of the past in order to move on with his life. Good Will Hunting shows the story of a young man and his struggle with both himself and personal relationships, trying to work through his problems so that he can open up to others, and begin putting his immeasurable intellectual potential to work.

The movie was written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. The widely-spread rumor that Good Will Hunting was written by legendary screenwriter William Goldman was dismissed in Goldman's book Which Lie Did I Tell? as a joke that got out of hand.

It is often compared to J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye, and some claim that it was written with a certain amount of influence from the novel. The protagonist of the movie also has notable similarities to Srinivasa Ramanujan (mentioned in the movie), to George Dantzig, and arguably, William James Sidis.

The film is dedicated in memory of Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs (see movie credits).

1 Cast
2 Making the film
3 Synopsis
4 Themes
5 Box office
6 Reception
7 Trivia
8 Quotes
9 Soundtrack
10 Awards
- 10.1 Wins
- 10.2 Nominations
11 External links

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Cast

Matt Damon: Will Hunting
Robin Williams: Sean Maguire
Ben Affleck: Chuckie Sullivan
Stellan Skarsgård: Gerald Lambeau
Minnie Driver: Skylar
Casey Affleck: Morgan O'Mally
Cole Hauser: Billy McBride

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Making the film

Good Will Hunting was directed and produced by Gus Van Sant in 1996. The setting of the movie was shot in the Greater Boston Area, including bar scenes reflecting parts of South Boston ("Southie"). Some of the movie was actually filmed in Toronto, with the University of Toronto filling in for MIT. The classroom scenes take place in McLennan Physical Laboratories.

Originally, Mel Gibson had agreed to produce and direct this movie, but as Van Sant read the script, he became eager to direct it. Matt Damon loved Van Sant's direction in other movies, including Drugstore Cowboy, released in 1989. He especially liked Van Sant's dry direction in dealing with emotions of complex characters. The movie was shot in under five months and was released in 1997.

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Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Set in South Boston, Good Will Hunting is about Will Hunting (Matt Damon), a young man who immerses himself in books, drinking and friends to escape his anger and frustration stemming largely from his past experiences with abusive foster families. Will and his friend, Chuckie Sullivan (Ben Affleck) are drifters who hang out together with their friends, drinking and occasionally fighting in Southie. Will works as a janitor, construction worker, auto mechanic, and other such jobs, hiding his incredible genius, his talent for memorizing facts, solving complex math equations, and his incredible knowledge of a dizzying array of subjects including law, psychology, history, and even art.

One day, Will and his friends pick a fight with a group of men, one of whom "used to beat the shit out of [Will] in kindergarten". When the police arrive, everybody else scatters, but he is arrested because he can't resist staying to beat up his former nemesis; he also assaults one of the cops. While waiting for his trial, he meets Skylar (Minnie Driver) at a Harvard bar. He impresses her by humiliating a pompous jerk who was making fun of Chuckie and she gives him her phone number.

While Will is working as a janitor for MIT, he sees a theorem which had been left on a chalkboard. The math problem had been given to a graduate class as a challenge by Professor Gerald Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgård), a Fields Medalist and combinatorialist, who expected that it would take the entire semester for somebody to figure out. Will solves it overnight and posts the answer anonymously. Lambeau is taken aback, especially when nobody comes forward to take credit for it, so he puts up a much more difficult problem, one that had taken him and his colleagues two years to prove.

Lambeau and his assistant exit into the hallway a day or two later and find Will, with a split lip, bruised eye, and sporting his janitor's suit, writing on the chalkboard. As they begin walking towards him, he makes a few final marks, then starts to walk away, saying "sorry." Lambeau is incensed, telling him, "That's people's work!", to which Will replies, "Hey, fuck you." He turns the corner, and by the time Lambeau gets there, Will has vanished. He returns to the board to find his astonished colleague staring at the correct solution.

At this point, Lambeau tries to track Will down. After enduring sarcastic remarks from the janitors in charge, he finds out that Will isn't a student, but can be reached through his parole officer. Lambeau attends Will's hearing, and is impressed with his self-defense speech and citation of old laws. Lambeau meets with him, and lays out his options: either he goes to jail or he can be released under Lambeau's personal supervision if he agrees to work on advanced mathematics and see a therapist. After Will easily drives several away with his outrageous behavior, Lambeau, in desperation, turns to his old college roommate, psychologist Sean Maguire (Robin Williams), who now teaches at Bunker Hill Community College.

After a rough start (Will is still highly cynical and sarcastic), Sean concludes that Will's defensiveness is the result of years of physical and emotional abuse, and that his hostility and evasive behavior are a defense mechanism. The two work together to break through Will's considerable barriers. At the same time, Lambeau is driving Will to excel at math, not seeing that he is at a fragile stage and could snap if pushed too hard.

After he and Skylar have been involved for some time, she asks Will to move to California with her, as she is going to Stanford University. After giving her reasons why he shouldn't, he finally asks her how she knows it's the right thing to do. She tells him "I don't know... I just do." He explodes, and begins yelling, revealing a great many things about his life: that he has no brothers, he's an orphan, he had cigarettes put out on him as a little kid, and the large scar on his body wasn't surgery; a foster father had stabbed him.

After she moves to California without him, Will reverts back to his old habits, to a world where he feels safe and in control of his life. About a week later, he is working construction with his friend Chuckie. As the two split a six pack, Chuckie tells Will how he feels about the situation. He tells him that Will, with his unparalleled intellectual gifts, is basically "sittin' on a winnin' lottery ticket," and too afraid to cash it in. Chuckie also bluntly admits (not without a trace of bitterness) that he or any of their friends would do anything to have what Will has, and that he hates the fact that his friend is wasting his potential living the way he does. Chuckie says that his greatest dream is that one day, when he goes to pick Will up for work, he simply won't be there.

At the end, Will decides to take a risk. He decides to follow his heart and go to California to find Skylar. In doing so, he casts aside the lucrative job opportunities that Lambeau had offered him, and puts his heart on the line, leaving it up to "fate".

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Themes

There are multiple themes throughout Good Will Hunting. Love of oneself, societal and interpersonal expectations, and friendship all play a role in helping Will get over his past and eventually embrace his future. Will often completely defies the expectations society has on him, manifested in his complete rejection of a job at the NSA, based purely upon an impromptu theoretical outcome which he concocts on the spot, after asked the rather arrogantly-posed question, "So the way I see it, the question isn't why should you work for the NSA... it's why shouldn't you?" The support Sean, Skylar, and Chuckie give Will is what lets him break out of his mould, and change his life. The film accomplishes this by never introducing an actual human “villain” or power into the plot to act against Will. Instead, an intangible battle is fought within him, making the one thing he must overcome his very own abusive past. By suppressing his intellectual abilities and running away from relationships before they have the chance to “go bad,” it becomes obvious the struggle this young man faces is completely internal.

Another important theme in Good Will Hunting is re-learning to trust people as well as taking risks after a haunting past. As a result of Will's abusive father, he only trusts his closest friends who would fight for him no matter what. As the film progresses, new characters appear into Will's life that he immediately attempts to push away. Here, his fear and inability to trust are evident. Sean uses "tough love" as well as humor and philosophy to slowly break down Will's fear of abandonment and the defense-mechanisms he has so completely surrounded himself with. By allowing Will to face his past and let down his guard, Will can move forward and take the huge risk of moving from Boston to California to be with Skylar, unsure of what lies ahead. The last scene of the movie, in which Will drives off into the night, also symbolizes his newfound ability to take risks and step outside the safe world he had theretofore lived in.

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Box office

Released in US: December 5, 1997
Opening Weekend: $1,720,000
Studio: Miramax
Total US Gross: $138,433,435
Production Budget: $10,000,000
Rentals: $53,988,000
Worldwide Gross: $225,900,000

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Reception

The reviews for Good Will Hunting were, for the most part, very favorable. Many film critics loved the ideas the film explored, and the majority of them gave it a good review. Of those who gave the film negative reviews, many objected to its bad language and content. It has a 96% "Fresh" rating according to film review compilation website Rotten Tomatoes [1].

According to the box office reports, Good Will Hunting grossed an impressive $225 million internationally (twenty-two-and-a-half times higher than the film's budget). Although the opening weekend did not go particularly well, the film reviews and reception by the American public improved its performance at the box office, and the film received international praise, in part due to the acting of Robin Williams and Matt Damon, both of whom were nominated for Academy Awards for the film.

According to many critics, Good Will Hunting provides key elements for the success of a movie: a heartfelt protagonist, a beautiful love interest, and comedic and philosophic one-liners that can apply to all types of audiences all across the world.

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Trivia

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon originally sold their spec script to Castle Rock productions for $675,000 against $775,000 (another $100,000 when the film gets made if they remain the sole credited writers) pitched as: Young man in the rough and tumble streets of South Boston, who possesses a superior intelligence, is targeted by the FBI to become a G-Man. Castle Rock president Rob Reiner urged them to drop the thriller aspect and concentrate on Will's relationship with his psychiatrist. Reiner showed the script to screenwriter William Goldman who agreed with this assessment, and further suggested that Will's decision to follow Skylar to California could form the film's climax. However, the studios didn't want Affleck and Damon to play the leads, so the script was put into turnaround and bought by Miramax.

The scene in which Will is in Sean's office, and Sean starts talking about his dead wife and how she used to fart in her sleep, was Ad libbed by Robin Williams, which is probably why Matt Damon is laughing so hard. If looked at closely, it is apparent that the camera is shaking slightly, likely due to the cameraman laughing as well.

When Will is mopping the floor in MIT at the beginning of the movie, his name tag says "Bob."

The subway car Will rides in is a model that was retired in 1994; the MBTA took one out of mothballs and cleaned it up for the production.

The job interview Will sends his "chief negotiator" (Chuckie) on is for a company called Holden & McNeil. Ben Affleck's character in Chasing Amy was Holden McNeil, and his character in a later film, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is also Holden McNeil.

The word "fuck" is said 129 times throughout the movie.

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Quotes

Chuckie: "So this is - this is a Harvard bar, huh? I thought there'd be like equations an' shit on the walls."

Will: "Do you like apples?"

Clark [nonplussed]: "...Yeah."

Will: "Yeah? Well, I got her number. How do you like them apples!"

Sean: "See you Monday. We'll be talking about Freud, and why he did enough cocaine to kill a small horse."

Sean: "But you've never looked at a woman and been totally vulnerable— known someone that could level you with her eyes. Feeling like God put an angel on Earth just for you. And you wouldn't know how it felt to be her angel. To have the love be there for her forever. Through anything, through cancer. You wouldn't know about sleeping sitting up in a hospital room for two months holding her hand and not leaving because the doctors could see in your eyes that the term 'visiting hours' don't apply to you. And you wouldn't know about real loss, because that only occurs when you lose something you love more than yourself. I doubt you've ever dared to love anything that much. I look at you— I don't see an intelligent, confident man. I see a cocky, scared-shitless kid. But you're a genius Will, no one denies that. No one could possibly understand the depths of you. But you presume to know everything about me, because you saw a painting of mine, and you ripped my fuckin' life apart."

Sean: "You're not perfect, sport, and let me save you the suspense: this girl you've met, she isn't perfect either. But the question is whether or not you're perfect for each other. That's the whole deal. That's what intimacy is all about. Now, you can know everything in the world, sport, but the only way you're finding that one out is by giving it a shot."

[Rain pounds South Boston. Chuckie sits in the Cadillac idling. Morgan and Billy sit in the back, sharing a case of beer. Will is at a pay phone, and dials a number.]

Skylar: "Hello? [pause] Hello? Professor Lent are you calling me again?" [Skylar hangs up the phone] "Freak."

[Will hangs up and walks back to the car, soaked.]

Chuckie: "Christ, who'd you call?"

Will: "No one. I forgot the numba’."

Morgan: "Fuckin’ retarded? You went all the way out there in the rain and you didn't bring the numba’?"

Will: "No, it was your mother's 900 number. I just ran outta quarters."

[Laughter. Chuckie pulls away from the curb.]

Morgan: "Why don't we get offa' mothas, I just got offa' yours."

[Will laughs.]

Billy [Laughing]: "That’s pretty funny, Morgan. Here’s a fuckin’ nickel, bitch." [Billy whips his empty can at Morgan's head.]

Morgan: "Keep antagonizing me, watch what happens."

Billy: "Oh all right, then, Morgan."

Morgan: "Watch what happens."

Billy: "All right then, Morgan."

Morgan: "Keep fuckin' with me!"

Sean: "My wife used to fart when she was nervous. She had all sorts of wonderful little idiosyncrasies. She used to fart in her sleep. One night it was so loud she woke herself up. Ah, but Will... she's been dead for two years, and that's the shit I remember. Those are the things I miss the most. The little idiosyncrasies that only I know about. That's what made her my wife. People call these things imperfections, but they're not. That's the good stuff."

Skylar: "What if I said I would not sleep with you again until you let me meet your friends?"

Will: [A pause] "Mmm... I'd say it's like four-thirty in the morning, they're prob'ly up."

[Picks up Skylar's phone and begins dialing.]

Skylar: [Laughing] "Oh my God... men are shameless. If you're not thinking with your weiner, then you're acting directly on its behalf."

Will: "You bet. And on behalf of my wiener, can I get like, an advanced payment?" [The phone picks up]

Chuckie: "Eh! What the fuck?"

Will: "Nothing, Chuckie, go back to sleep." [Hangs up the phone]

Gerald Lambeau [After Will burns the proof to a very tough problem]: "You're right, Will. I can't do this proof. But you can, and when it comes to that, it's only about - it's just a handful of people in the world that can tell the difference between you and me. But I'm one of them."

Chuckie: "Look, you're my best friend, so don't take this the wrong way. In twenty years, if you're still livin' here, comin' over to my house to watch the Patriots games, still workin' construction, I'll fuckin' kill you. That's not a threat, that's a fact. I'll fuckin' kill you."

Will: "What the fuck are you talkin' about?"

Chuckie: "Look, you got somethin' that none of us—"

Will: "Oh, come on, why is it always this? I mean, I fuckin' owe it to myself to do this? What if I don't want to?"

Chuckie: "No. No, no. Fuck you. You don't owe it to yourself. You owe it to me. 'Cause tomorrow I'm gonna wake up and I'll be fifty and I'll still be doing this shit. And that's all right, that's fine. I mean, you're sittin' on a winning lottery ticket and you're too much of a pussy to cash it in. And that's bullshit. `Cause I'd do anything to fuckin' have what you got. So would any of these fuckin' guys. It'd be an insult to us if you're still here in twenty years. Hanging around here is a fuckin' waste of your time."

Will: "You don't know that."

Chuckie: "I don't?"

Will: "No. You don't know that."

Chuckie: "Oh, I don't know that. Let me tell you what I do know. Every day I come by to pick you up. And we go out we have a few drinks and a few laughs, and it's great. But you know what the best part of my day is? It's for about ten seconds from when I pull up to the curb to when I get to your door. Because I think maybe I'll get up there and I'll knock on the door and you won't be there. No goodbye, no see you later, no nothin'. Just left. I don't know much, but I know that."

[Chuckie finishes the beer and turns his head to spit, looking away. Will stares at him in shocked silence.]

Chuckie: "Morgan wanted to get you a T-Pass"

Morgan: "That's not what I was sayin'!"

Chuckie: "But, uh... you're twenty-one now, so—"

Billy: "You're legally allowed to drink, so we figured the best thing for ya, kid, was a car. How do you like?"

Will: "This is like... it's the ugliest fuckin' car I've ever seen my life. How'd you guys do this?"

Will [In a note to Sean]: Sean, if the professor calls about that job, just tell him, sorry— I had to go see about a girl. — Will.

Sean: "Son of a bitch. Stole my line."

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Soundtrack

"Between the Bars" (Orchestral) - by Elliott Smith
"As the Rain" - by Jeb Loy Nichols
"Angeles" - by Elliott Smith
"No Name #3" - by Elliott Smith
"Fisherman's Blues" - by The Waterboys
"Why Do I Lie?" - by Luscious Jackson
"Will Hunting (Main Titles)" - by Danny Elfman
"Between the Bars" - by Elliott Smith
"Say Yes" - by Elliott Smith
"Baker Street" - by Gerry Rafferty
"Somebody's Baby" - by Andru Donalds
"Boys Better" - by The Dandy Warhols
"How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" - by Al Green
"Miss Misery" - by Elliott Smith
"Weepy Donuts" - by Danny Elfman

The soundtrack for Good Will Hunting provides a simple and tuneful sound to the atmosphere of white, working-class Bostonians. The soundtrack mirrors the have-lived lives of many of the characters and depicts messages of doubt and unrequited love through a solemn, sensitive music style. The late Elliott Smith contributes the most to this soundtrack. He was nominated for Best Song for "Miss Misery", but lost out to Celine Dion's Titanic theme, "My Heart Will Go On".

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