Good Will Hunting

                             By:

                    Heather Greene

Star Rating:****(out of five)

MPAA Rating: R (strong language)

Staring:

Will...Matt Damon

Sean...Robin Williams

Chuckie...Ben Affleck

Skylar...Minnie Driver

Lambeau...Stellan Skarsgard

This brilliantly written script by the talents of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck earned the honor of Best Screenplay at the Golden Globe Awards.    It combined drama, wittiness, humor, and warmth in a very skillful way.

Will Hunting is a janitor at one of America's most elite universities, MIT. Will has grown up moving from foster home to foster home being abused and neglected. Now at twenty-years-old his life basically revolves around his friends and their drinking. Then one day a professor challenges his student's to figure out one of the toughest math problems ever. Will passes the chalk board one day and is able to solve the problem almost effortlessly.

No one knows who the mysterious problem solver is until Professor Lambeau finds Will at the chalk board trying to solve the next problem. After some sleuthing Lambeau discovers that Will has been arrested for assault. The police say that Will can get out only if he studies with Lambeau and attends therapy sessions.

Will finally agrees and the movie picks up the pace a bit. Will goes to psychologist after psychologist none of them can handle Will except Sean MaGuire played perfectly by Robin Williams. Through the series of meetings we learn about Will's past, his present, his fears, and his aspirations are handled sensitively.

Along the way Will begins seeing a woman named, Skylar who he falls in love with but is not able to get intimate with. He thinks she's perfect and is afraid if there relationship goes on that they will find out that neither one of them is perfect. This sideline story fits in perfectly with the movie.

An outstanding movie about the bonds and relationships people share and the opposites of life. Matt Damon proves to be one of the best new actors and writers of the year and I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of him.

About the Author: Heather Greene is the editor of Kid Ink.  She is thirteen-years-old and in the seventh grade at Wilbraham Middle School.  You can find this review and many more of hers at Hollywood Heather's Movie Madness.  Her story Stupid Jerry also appears in this issue.