Good Will Hunting
Will Hunting, a janitor at MIT, has a gift for math with potential that can take him years past the professors that work at the school. When a complex math problem is put out for the class to try and solve, Will decides to complete it in the late hours of the night. This left unanswered questions all over the class, and when no one steps forward to claim the prize, the teacher puts a much harder one out. Once again, Will is there to get the answer, except this time the teacher sees him and assumes he is vandalizing the work. The teacher takes the time to try and help him realize his true potential in the field of mathematics, but Will’s past made this a hard reality to grasp. After 5 different psychologists, Sean Maguire, a friend of Prof. Gerald Lambeau, takes him under his wing to try and help him realize that his potential is great, but ultimately what really matters in life is the pursuit of happiness. And with the help of Skylar, a Pre-Med student at Harvard, he is able to finally realize the idea of commitment, happiness, and love, which he ultimately acts upon when he decides to move to San Francisco to be with Skylar.
A few of the shots that really stood out to me were the different shots used for cuts. Such as the high shots over the river, or the different angles of different parts of Boston. I also liked how whenever Will’s friends pulled up to his house, they used a similar shot to try and emphasize the point that they have a very similar daily routine. Also, during the shots of the scene in the park when they have their very first heart to heart conversation. They frame each close up very well by using a part of the other person’s head and putting it out of focus. And the really low sunlight adds a visually pleasing, yet dramatic effect to the dialogue.
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I really liked the film and I would definitely recommend it to somebody else. I felt like all the different parts of the film were tied together really well with the idea that Will needed to find something to do with his life, either in math or with Skylar. I also really like the role that Robin Williams played in the film. Because he had such a tough job, yet he was able to get through and help Will realize that he had so much potential and could do anything he wanted instead of getting drunk and fighting people. He also learned that he can find true happiness with other people despite his abusive background. I think the reason Sean was able to connect with Will on such a high level, was because he had been through very similar experiences himself, and understood the pain that Will felt. I really wish I decided to finish this movie last semester when I started it, because it is such an emotional journey, with a very strong story line.
