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    Good Will Hunting

    • 19971997
    • RR
    • 2h 6min
    IMDb RATING
    8.3/10
    884K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    381
    5
    • Cast & crew
    • User reviews
    • Trivia
    • IMDbPro
    Robin Williams and Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting (1997)
    Official Trailer
    Trailer2:21
    6 Videos
    99+ Photos
    DramaRomance

    Will Hunting, a janitor at M.I.T., has a gift for mathematics, but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life.Will Hunting, a janitor at M.I.T., has a gift for mathematics, but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life.Will Hunting, a janitor at M.I.T., has a gift for mathematics, but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life.Will Hunting, a janitor at M.I.T., has a gift for mathematics, but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life.Will Hunting, a janitor at M.I.T., has a gift for mathematics, but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life.

    • Director
      • Gus Van Sant
    • Writers
      • Matt Damon
      • Ben Affleck
    • Stars
      • Robin Williams
      • Matt Damon
      • Ben Affleck
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Gus Van Sant
    • Writers
      • Matt Damon
      • Ben Affleck
    • Stars
      • Robin Williams
      • Matt Damon
      • Ben Affleck
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 944User reviews
    • 166Critic reviews
    • 70Metascore
  • See production, box office & company info
  • Top rated movie #87
    • Won 2 Oscars
      • 24 wins & 61 nominations total

    Videos6

    Good Will Hunting
    Trailer 2:21
    Good Will Hunting
    Good Will Hunting
    Trailer 0:33
    Good Will Hunting
    Good Will Hunting: Blu-Ray
    Trailer 2:24
    Good Will Hunting: Blu-Ray
    Alphabet of Movies | A to Z
    Clip 1:33
    Alphabet of Movies | A to Z
    What Roles Was Ben Affleck Considered For?
    Video 4:10
    What Roles Was Ben Affleck Considered For?
    What Roles Has Matt Damon Turned Down?
    Video 3:27
    What Roles Has Matt Damon Turned Down?

    Photos157

    Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, and Cole Hauser in Good Will Hunting (1997)
    Robin Williams and Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting (1997)
    Ben Affleck and Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting (1997)
    Matt Damon and Minnie Driver in Good Will Hunting (1997)
    Ben Affleck and Cole Hauser in Good Will Hunting (1997)
    Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting (1997)
    Matt Damon and Minnie Driver in Good Will Hunting (1997)
    Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting (1997)
    Matt Damon and Minnie Driver in Good Will Hunting (1997)
    Robin Williams and Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting (1997)
    Ben Affleck and Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting (1997)
    Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, and Cole Hauser in Good Will Hunting (1997)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Robin Williams
    Robin Williams
    • Seanas Sean
    Matt Damon
    Matt Damon
    • Willas Will
    Ben Affleck
    Ben Affleck
    • Chuckieas Chuckie
    Stellan Skarsgård
    Stellan Skarsgård
    • Lambeauas Lambeau
    John Mighton
    • Tomas Tom
    Rachel Majorowski
    • Krystynas Krystyn
    Colleen McCauley
    • Cathyas Cathy
    Casey Affleck
    Casey Affleck
    • Morganas Morgan
    Cole Hauser
    Cole Hauser
    • Billyas Billy
    Matt Mercier
    Matt Mercier
    • Barbershop Quartet #1as Barbershop Quartet #1
    Ralph St. George
    • Barbershop Quartet #2as Barbershop Quartet #2
    Rob Lynds
    • Barbershop Quartet #3as Barbershop Quartet #3
    Dan Washington
    • Barbershop Quartet #4as Barbershop Quartet #4
    Alison Folland
    Alison Folland
    • M.I.T. Studentas M.I.T. Student
    Derrick Bridgeman
    • M.I.T. Studentas M.I.T. Student
    Vik Sahay
    Vik Sahay
    • M.I.T. Studentas M.I.T. Student
    • (as Vic Sahay)
    Shannon Egleson
    • Girl on Streetas Girl on Street
    Rob Lyons
    • Carmine Scarpagliaas Carmine Scarpaglia
    • Director
      • Gus Van Sant
    • Writers
      • Matt Damon
      • Ben Affleck
    • All cast & crew
    See production, box office, & company info

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    Storyline

    Edit
    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. —Dima & Danielle
    professorgeniusmathematical geniusloss of wifefriend118 more
    • Plot summary
    • Plot synopsis
    • Taglines
      • Some people can never believe in themselves, until someone believes in them.
    • Genres
      • Drama
      • Romance
    • Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
      • Rated R for strong language, including some sex-related dialogue
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The very first day of the shooting, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck started crying out of happiness, because it was a scene between Robin Williams and Stellan Skarsgård, accomplished actors, doing Damon's and Affleck's scene verbatim, and they had waited so long (five years) for this to happen.
    • Goofs
      When Sean tells Will his wife used to fart all the time, even in her sleep, everybody laughs. The camera starts bobbing up and down twice during that dialogue. Apparently, the camera operator was laughing, too.
    • Quotes

      Sean: [sitting on a bench in in front of a pond in park] Thought about what you said to me the other day, about my painting. Stayed up half the night thinking about it. Something occurred to me... fell into a deep peaceful sleep, and haven't thought about you since. Do you know what occurred to me?

      Will: No.

      Sean: You're just a kid, you don't have the faintest idea what you're talkin' about.

      Will: Why thank you.

      Sean: It's all right. You've never been out of Boston.

      Will: Nope.

      Sean: So if I asked you about art, you'd probably give me the skinny on every art book ever written. Michelangelo, you know a lot about him. Life's work, political aspirations, him and the pope, sexual orientations, the whole works, right? But I'll bet you can't tell me what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel. You've never actually stood there and looked up at that beautiful ceiling; seen that. If I ask you about women, you'd probably give me a syllabus about your personal favorites. You may have even been laid a few times. But you can't tell me what it feels like to wake up next to a woman and feel truly happy. You're a tough kid. And I'd ask you about war, you'd probably throw Shakespeare at me, right, "once more unto the breach dear friends." But you've never been near one. You've never held your best friend's head in your lap, watch him gasp his last breath looking to you for help. I'd ask you about love, you'd probably quote me a sonnet. But you've never looked at a woman and been totally vulnerable. Known someone that could level you with her eyes, feeling like God put an angel on earth just for you. Who could rescue you from the depths of hell. And you wouldn't know what it's like to be her angel, to have that love for her, be there forever, through anything, through cancer. And you wouldn't know about sleeping sitting up in the hospital room for two months, holding her hand, because the doctors could see in your eyes, that the terms "visiting hours" don't apply to you. You don't know about real loss, 'cause it only occurs when you've loved something more than you love yourself. And I doubt you've ever dared to love anybody that much. And look at you... I don't see an intelligent, confident man... I see a cocky, scared shitless kid. But you're a genius Will. No one denies that. No one could possibly understand the depths of you. But you presume to know everything about me because you saw a painting of mine, and you ripped my fucking life apart. You're an orphan right?

      [Will nods]

      Sean: You think I know the first thing about how hard your life has been, how you feel, who you are, because I read Oliver Twist? Does that encapsulate you? Personally... I don't give a shit about all that, because you know what, I can't learn anything from you, I can't read in some fuckin' book. Unless you want to talk about you, who you are. Then I'm fascinated. I'm in. But you don't want to do that do you sport? You're terrified of what you might say. Your move, chief.

    • 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.
    • Alternate versions
      In the theatrical release, Chuckie gets angry with Morgan for using his little league baseball glove as "clean up." However in the TV version, Chuckie ends the scene with a curt "Why don't you do what you're doin' at your house." Also, when Will is with the first psychiatrist, the mention of "putting from the rough" is deleted.
    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: Amistad/Titanic/Good Will Hunting/The Apostle (1997)
    • Soundtracks
      Big Strong Man
      Arranged by Brian Warfield

      Performed by The Wolfetones (as Wolfe Tones)

      Courtesy of Shanachie Entertainment Corp.

    User reviews944

    Review
    Top review
    The Real Best Picture of 1997
    While everyone took sides with L.A. Confidential (for it's Old Hollywood flair and tight-as-a-girdle plot arc) or Titanic (for it's generally inescapable, juggernaut-like aura) as the Best Picture of 1997, it seems that too many people overlook Good Will Hunting for what it was: a timeless little opus that managed to make South Boston look romantic and happened to make Ben Affleck and Matt Damon some of the most deserving superstars in recent memory.

    Because before they were anybody, they were just the writers of this tale of a reluctant human being named Will Hunting, a mathematical genius who wore the guise of a hoodlum, and all of the sudden obstacles he had to take on to truly step in to manhood. Among these obstacles were a straight-forward shrink who outright dared Will to bulls*** him (played by Robin Williams, who got his overdue Oscar for it), a brilliant M.I.T. professor who felt it his own personal redemption to put Will's mind to great use somehow (Stellan Skarsgård, who never fails to steal nearly every scene he's in), and a girl who doesn't understand why the boy she loves so much cannot love her.

    It was these obstacles that made Will Hunting such a complex character: while he was a genius at the definite (math), he was a bit of a moron at the indefinite (human relationships). His rough-edged exterior was simply a cry for help, and the process of which the obstacles in his life realized that and attempted *to* help him was nothing short of extraordinarily touching.
    helpful•154
    41
    • Eight Two
    • Jun 18, 2000

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 9, 1998 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official site
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Zakovatli Uill Xanting
    • Filming locations
      • Central Tech. High School, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    • Production companies
      • Miramax
      • Be Gentlemen Limited Partnership
      • Lawrence Bender Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $10,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $138,433,435
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $272,912
      • Dec 7, 1997
    • Gross worldwide
      • $225,933,435
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 2h 6min
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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