Blog Post #4: Good Will Hunting Review

Since a young age, we are all told to do the best we can and achieve our full potential in life.  The question is who would not want to accomplish as much as they can?  Who would want to slip through the cracks and be a no body for the rest of their lives?  The answer to all of these questions is: Will Hunting.  Will Hunting, played by Matt Damon, is a simple man who is gifted with a genius outlook on math, but has no inspiration to pursue it.  This lack of inspiration is felt by many college students, which is why this is such a relatable movie and one of the greatest college movies ever made. 

                What makes this a unique college movie is that it doesn’t focus so much on the stereotypical aspects of college that typical college movies do.  For example partying and drinking do not play much of a role in this movie.  The movie focus more on what college is really about: finding yourself and who you want to be for the rest of your life.  Will Hunting is unlike his other friends such as Chuckie Sullivan, played by Ben Affleck, and Billy McBride, played by Cole Hauser.  His other friends are not very bright and will most likely work construction for the rest of their lives, and they understand this.  Will, on the other hand, is an extremely bright math student who simply believes it is ok to work as a Janitor instead of realizing his full potential as an intellectual.  This role could not be played better by anyone else besides Matt Damon.  His performance throughout the whole movie is spectacular.  It is hard not to feel his emotion when he is dealing with his problems.  Some of his friends, such as Billy McBride, don’t have very unique characteristics throughout the movie.  While this makes his character seem undeveloped, it also can further emphasize how much brighter Will is compared to his friends.  Overall, however the acting was superb. 

                While I believe everyone would enjoy this movie, the most appropriate audience for it is college students and college faculty and professors.  Any college student can relate to Will’s situation of finding out what he wants to be, while college professors can relate to the adults in the movie trying to influence Will and make him a better and more successful person.  However with acting and a plot as good as this, it would be hard for anyone not to be intrigued with almost every scene.