There was no better time to be a Robin Williams fan than during the 90s. The actor starred in hit movies like The Fisher King, Mrs. Doubtfire, and Jumanji. All superb performances, but for me, the role Williams truly knocks out of the park is his role as Sean Maguire in the 1997 film Good Will Hunting.
It’s a predictable choice for my favorite role of his, sure, but it’s a choice I’m not alone in. Good Will Hunting won Williams his first Academy Award — one for Best Supporting Actor — and is, until now, considered by many to be one of his finest performances. In fact, the movie itself has aged remarkably well in its 25 years of existence, with a 94% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, a 4.2 average on Letterboxd, and an 8.3 average on IMDb.
It’s a little surprising when you consider how fairly simple the film’s story is. A young man named Will Hunting works as a janitor at MIT and manages to solve a graduate-level math problem, which catches the attention of a notable professor. However, due to trouble with the law, Will is required to regularly see a therapist named Sean Maguire while working with the professor.
That really is the movie in the nutshell — Will solving complex mathematical problems while regularly seeing a therapist. With any other cast and crew, this could’ve been just another feel-good but forgettable drama. Fortunately, with such perfect teams both in front of and behind the camera, Good Will Hunting offers a deeply rich and emotionally resonant cinematic experience, one even the most hardened souls will be moved by.
Good Will Hunting received nominations in nine different categories at the 70th Academy Awards and won in two — Best Supporting Actor for Williams and Best Original Screenplay for Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. The latter is the film’s most deserved award — no other film that year had writing that came close to Damon and Affleck’s excellent writing.
The storytelling is unhurried and quiet, knowing where it wants to go but never being in a rush to get there. Instead, the screenplay wants to spend as much time with its characters as it can, growing them, developing their relationships, and making them as three-dimensional as possible.
This is especially true for the titular character Will Hunting, who is far from a perfect human being. He’s impulsive, disagreeable, makes terrible decisions, and is even a straight-up jerk at times. Great opportunities get laid out in front of him and he has no idea how to respond to them because he’s never been taught how to.
However, no matter how frustrated you get at Will, you never stop rooting for him. A deeply empathetic character, Will Hunting is filled with fears all of us have experienced, fears that never really go away. The fears of failure, regret, not being enough, and being left by the ones we love add a great sense of verisimilitude to Will’s character, one that makes us want to see this gifted but troubled boy succeed.
Of course, Matt Damon’s performance plays a massive part in Will’s likability, and just like Williams, this is easily one of his best performances. Really, every main cast member shines in their role — Williams, Damon, Affleck, Stellan Skarsgård, and Minnie Driver all give superlative performances and dominate the screen whenever they’re on it. There are moments when the acting is so captivating that it feels impossible to look away.
The great writing and acting go perfectly hand-in-hand with the directing — Gus Van Sant directs this film with such impassioned prowess. His approach is sentimental but never cloying, peaceful but never listless, and sensitive but never sugar-coated. Even scenes of nothing but casual conversation are transfixing because of the deep understanding the writers, director, and actors have of these characters.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Good Will Hunting will continue to remain a beloved and celebrated film even many, many years from now. It’s filled with life, hope, and forgiveness, themes that we love and cherish no matter how old we become.
READ NEXT: 25 Best War Movies Of All Time
Some of the coverage you find on Cultured Vultures contains affiliate links, which provide us with small commissions based on purchases made from visiting our site. We cover gaming news, movie reviews, wrestling and much more.
