Good Will Hunting

     For all the acclamation "Good Will Hunting" has received from critics and viewers alike since its 1997 premiere, I had never bothered to watch it until last night. I find this fact particularly shocking considering the number of times I have seen "The Town" and "The Departed," or the fact that I attend school not far from MIT or Harvard; in fact Tufts is just two stops farther on the dearly beloved MBTA Red Line. Regardless, my recent viewing confirmed my suspicions; "Good Will Hunting" is, undoubtedly, one of the most riveting and intriguing movies ever made.
    Directed by Gus Van Sant, the film, written by Massachusetts natives Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, is sincere and deeply personal. As a result of their Boston-area upbringings and their familiarity with the mean streets of South Boston, Damon's and Affleck's acting performances are convincing and wholly realistic, providing an added dose of credibility and gravity to their roles and the film's storyline. "Good Will Hunting" delves into the life of Will Hunting (Matt Damon), a young Southie boy and unlikely genius, who works as a janitor at MIT. An award-laden, and rather self-assured professor begins to post challenging equations in the hallway outside his classroom, daring brave students to attempt the proofs. The equations are mysteriously solved overnight, and the professor soon realizes that it is not one of his students, but rather the unsuspecting janitor, who computes in just minutes the answers that took him years to develop.

     The professor, a Mr. Gerald Lambeau, encounters Hunting one evening and engages him in an unlikely and complicated partnership, one that all too often proves to satisfy Lambeau's own professional motivations. Meanwhile, Hunting, a rough and tough twenty year old from South Boston, faces legal troubles and struggles to balance his violent tendencies and abuse-filled past with his singular yet often burdensome cunning. Throughout the film, Hunting battles his ingenuity, and refuses to accept his intellectual giftedness. To help him accept this, Sean Maguire (Robin Williams), a psychiatrist and former roommate of professor Lambeau, counsels, but more importantly befriends Hunting. Maguire pushes hunting to leave behind the cold, impersonal world of books and academia that he has protectively and instinctively buried himself in. His tragic background is at once gripping, repulsive, and endearing, and viewers feel deep compassion for Will's unfortunate upbringing. This empathy strengthens our personal connection to Hunting, and to the film's other characters. As we witness Will's striking personal transformation, we see, conversely, that Hunting's appearance in Maguire's life is equally affecting.

     Affleck and Damon draw from a genuine Bostonian culture to produce a thought-provoking masterpiece refreshingly drenched with vulgarity and provocative comedic relief. Like "The Departed" and "The Town," "Good Will Hunting" is appropriately laced with profanities and crudities, particularly sexual references and the f-word. The writers capture the deep-seeded comradeship and loyalty among Hunting and his friends, which more often than not is manifested through choice dialogue and blatant violence. These touches, rather than add distaste, echo the writers' intentions to provide viewers with a painfully straightforward, intensely aggressive, and deeply realistic story. As Hunting discovers himself and confronts his past, his personal struggles endear viewers to him, and as his romance with a young Harvard student (Minnie Driver) progresses, we become personally invested, even trapped, in the throes of infatuation and love.

     Through their development of Hunting's friendships and romantic relationships, sexual and not, Damon and Affleck examine complex and incredibly sophisticated issues. The writers use a juxtaposition of "success" versus "failure" and "wealthy" versus "poor" to explore socioeconomic inequalities, social mobility, and social standards of decorum, inferiority, and superiority, while honing in on the ever-touchy and controversial subject of circumstance and opportunity. To do so, the writers craft the gifted Hunting, and juxtapose him with those academically, economically, and socially more and less privileged than he. Hunting's future hinges on his own decisions, his own impulses and actions, and the plot revolves around the nagging debate of whether to ignore or develop the unique potential he has been equipped with.

     "Good Will Hunting" is thought-provoking in a revolutionary manner - it begs viewers to consider their own potential and their own god-given talents, and to reflect on what they have done or might do with those gifts that, like Will's, might otherwise be rejected, overlooked, or even thrown away. We are forced to re-examine our own priorities, to challenge ourselves, and to ask if we have done all that we can do with the tools we have been given. "Good Will Hunting" demonstrates that to fully embrace one's potential, he must first confront and accept his past. As Dr. Maguire and Hunting's childhood friend Chuckie Sullivan (Ben Affleck) urge Will to really live and experience life, outside of his books and his Southie-centric world, by opening his eyes and heart to passion, and trust, and love, they unwittingly dare us to do the same.
     Against the backdrop of a shockingly realistic blue-collar Boston neighborhood, Will Hunting, Chuckie Sullivan, Skylar, and Sean Maguire dare us to face our own pasts, to embrace our talents, and live for the future. We are asked, like Will is, to live without the fear that love and trust will only one day disappoint us, and to anti-up, even after losing a hand, because pushing others away will really only ensure that we never really have to know anybody. And living life like that, that's not living; it's not anything you can't just read about in a book.