It’s a movie that tries to bring geniuses down to the ordinary people’s level, so the ordinary. It’s a movie for critics who know next to nothing about math, science or art who wants to feel good about watching a geniusessomething they can never behaving mundane problems. Even though Good Will Hunting does see its protagonist head off to greener pastures, Will's journey to that great fate does wade through some sad and cathartic waters. Overall, Good Will Hunting is an overrated, amateur movie. Which is a total shame, considering just how much Good Will Hunting's fans and supporters have gone to bat for the film, even after all of the sorrow that's seemed to surround it. However, if that hadn't scared Matt Damon from watching his accomplished film for the foreseeable future, the recent tide of allegations leveled against former Miramax head Harvey Weinstein have seemed to have sealed the deal. But combining that with the fact that Robin Williams would then later go on to pass in a similarly surprising manner was another huge blow to Damon's want or need to see the film ever again, as Williams' performance alongside Damon's titular character is an intense and sorrowful experience in and of itself. It all started with the untimely death of singer/songwriter Elliot Smith, who contributed several pivotal cues to the film's soundtrack, including the original song "Miss Misery". Over the course of 14 years, Matt Damon's desire to revisit Good Will Hunting has been soured by an understanding cloud of sorrow. When he solves a difficult graduate-level math problem, his talents are discovered by Professor Gerald. Then, now, finally with these revelations about Harvey. Will Hunting (Matt Damon) has a genius-level IQ but chooses to work as a janitor at MIT.
I mean, I can't imagine watching it right now. And in 2003 Elliot Smith died, and I haven't watched it since then, just because I always thought it would be hard to hear this music along without thinking of that, and then to have Robin end up getting this horrific, degenerative brain disease, that obviously. All of this creative energy we had wrapped up in it, and it became this incredibly positive experience, it completely changed the trajectory of our careers. Like, half a decade we spent just obsessing over bringing that movie to the screen. Also stars Robin Williams (who won the Best Supporting Acting Oscar) and Minnie Driver. Follows a mathematically gifted janitor at MIT who lacks the proper direction to escape his blue-collar life. I mean, we started writing it, Ben was 20 and I was 22, and it came out when he was 25 and I was 27. Academy Award-winning drama written by and starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, directed by Gus Van Sant.
Update: Netflix has added several Robin Williams movies to instant streaming including Good Will Hunting and Patch Adams on Netflix Instant Streaming. Will Hunting, a janitor at M.I.T., has a gift for mathematics, but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life. With Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Stellan Skarsgård, John Mighton.
Oh, man, it's pretty full and fertile territory. Unfortunately, those movies were not available on Netflix streaming until now. Good Will Hunting: Directed by Gus Van Sant.