A touching tale of a wayward young man who struggles to find his identity, living in a world where he can solve any problem, except the one brewing deep within himself, until one day he meets his soul mate who opens his mind and his heart.Written by
Dima & Danielle
Wildly charismatic. Impossibly brilliant. Totally rebellious. For the first 20 years of his life, Will Hunting has called the shots. Now he's about to meet his match. See more »
At a WGA seminar in 2003, William Goldman denied the persistent rumor that he was the actual writer of Good Will Hunting: "I would love to say that I wrote it. Here is the truth. In my obit it will say that I wrote it. People don't want to think those two cute guys wrote it. What happened was, they had the script. It was their script. They gave it to Rob (Reiner) to read, and there was a great deal of stuff in the script dealing with the F.B.I. trying to use Matt Damon for spy work because he was so brilliant in math. Rob said, "Get rid of it." They then sent them in to see me for a day. I met with them in New York, and all I said to them was, "Rob's right. Get rid of the F.B.I. stuff. Go with the family, go with Boston, go with all that wonderful stuff.", and they did. I think people refuse to admit it because their careers have been so far from writing, and I think it's too bad. I'll tell you who wrote a marvelous script once, Sylvester Stallone. Rocky's a marvelous script. God, read it, it's wonderful. It's just got marvelous stuff, and then he stopped suddenly, because it's easier being a movie star and making all that money, than going in your pit and writing a script. But I did not write Good Will Hunting, alas. I would not have written the "It's not your fault" scene. I'm going to assume that 148 percent of the people in this room have seen a therapist. I certainly have, for a long time. Hollywood always has this idea that it's this shrink with only one patient. I mean, that scene with Robin Williams gushing and Matt Damon and they're hugging, "It's not your fault, it's not your fault." I thought, Oh God, Freud is so agonized over this scene. But Hollywood tends to do that with therapists." When Goldman died, his November 16, 2018, New York Times obituary did mention the rumor, but also debunked it, using Goldman's own words from the same WGA seminar: "Mr. Goldman was also a sought-after script doctor, well known for his uncredited work. He was widely believed to have written the script for "Good Will Hunting," the 1997 film that won Matt Damon and Ben Affleck the Oscar for best original screenplay. He denied it. 'I would love to say that I wrote "Good Will Hunting,"' Mr. Goldman said at a Writers Guild of America seminar in 2003. 'But I did not write it, alas.'" See more »
Goofs
When Professor Lambeau is interrupted at the alumni cocktail reception, the alumni in the red jackets are all too young to wear the "Artillery" red jacket, which is the MIT 50-year alumnus jacket. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Lambeau:
Mod fx... squared... dx. So please finish Parceval, by next time. I know many of you had this as undergraduates, but it won't hurt to brush up.
See more »
Crazy Credits
Throughout the end credits, Will's car is driving down the highway until the very end, when the car drives around a bend and disappears. See more »
Alternate Versions
In the television version, Skylar tells a different joke in the bar scene with Will and his "brothers." Instead of the "kiss me" joke, she tells one about a man who is falling from a cliff. See more »
A lot of things have been said about this fantastic movie, and I only hope to add a few more praises.
The fact that it was written by Ben and Matt was a shock to me, I did not expect any strong writing and a solid script, but boy was I wrong. The movie lasts for 2 hours, and every minute of it I couldn't even focus on anything beside the incredible world of Will Hunting.
Matt plays Will Hunting, who is a brilliant young man who denies his unreal intellect. Will has had a very abusive childhood which hurt him mentally to a point where he can no longer let anyone close to him aside from his best friend who is played by Ben. That is until a professor at one of the top colleges finds Will's talent and helps him out of trouble with the law. Robin Williams later comes in as a therapist to Will, he is the only one who can really stand up to Will's intellect and manages to break the layer of distrust that Will has developed over years of solitude, and the two develop a bond beyond friendship.
Yes there is a girl, but this is not a romantic movie. There is more to life then what we are taught and what we have to show for it.
The writing is witty, brilliant and hilarious at times, both Matt and Robin Williams preform wonderfully from both a comedic and theatrical prospective. Matt's best work since Dogma and Williams best along side Dead Poet's Society.
If your looking for a typical Hollywood movie with a Hollywood ending, then do not bother spending two hours on this movie. This movie is ahead of it's time, and lands an easy 10 out of 10.
This one is a keeper in my movie library.
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A lot of things have been said about this fantastic movie, and I only hope to add a few more praises.
The fact that it was written by Ben and Matt was a shock to me, I did not expect any strong writing and a solid script, but boy was I wrong. The movie lasts for 2 hours, and every minute of it I couldn't even focus on anything beside the incredible world of Will Hunting.
Matt plays Will Hunting, who is a brilliant young man who denies his unreal intellect. Will has had a very abusive childhood which hurt him mentally to a point where he can no longer let anyone close to him aside from his best friend who is played by Ben. That is until a professor at one of the top colleges finds Will's talent and helps him out of trouble with the law. Robin Williams later comes in as a therapist to Will, he is the only one who can really stand up to Will's intellect and manages to break the layer of distrust that Will has developed over years of solitude, and the two develop a bond beyond friendship.
Yes there is a girl, but this is not a romantic movie. There is more to life then what we are taught and what we have to show for it.
The writing is witty, brilliant and hilarious at times, both Matt and Robin Williams preform wonderfully from both a comedic and theatrical prospective. Matt's best work since Dogma and Williams best along side Dead Poet's Society.
If your looking for a typical Hollywood movie with a Hollywood ending, then do not bother spending two hours on this movie. This movie is ahead of it's time, and lands an easy 10 out of 10.
This one is a keeper in my movie library.