Good Will Hunting (1997)

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 Rated Movies #89 | Won 2 Oscars. Another 22 wins & 61 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matt Damon	...	Will
Ben Affleck	...	Chuckie
Stellan Skarsgård	...	Lambeau
John Mighton	...	Tom
Rachel Majorowski	...	Krystyn
Colleen McCauley	...	Cathy
Casey Affleck	...	Morgan
Cole Hauser	...	Billy
Matt Mercier	...	Barbershop Quartet #1
Ralph St. George	...	Barbershop Quartet #2
Rob Lynds	...	Barbershop Quartet #3
Dan Washington	...	Barbershop Quartet #4
Alison Folland	...	M.I.T. Student
Derrick Bridgeman	...	M.I.T. Student
Vik Sahay	...	M.I.T. Student (as Vic Sahay)

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

professor | genius | mathematical genius | friend | loss of wife | 

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Taglines:

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.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong language, including some sex-related dialogue

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Will is mopping the floor at the beginning of the movie, his name tag identifies him as "Bob" rather than "Will".

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Goofs

In an early scene Will states that he works as a janitor at MIT because it was part of his probation work placement program. In a later scene Lambeau questions Will accusingly about why he would ever seek out a job at MIT in the first place. This may be a misunderstanding between the characters to demonstrate Lambeau's ignorance towards Will, however it also leaves a lot of open ended questions about whether or not this was a deliberate path that Will chose or a circumstance of fate.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Connections

Referenced in Family Guy: Family Gay (2009)

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Soundtracks

We Still Need More Than Anyone Can Give
Written by Danny Goffey, Gaz Coombes (as Gareth Coombes) and Michael Quinn
Performed by Supergrass
Courtesy of Capitol Records
Under license from EMI-Capitol Music Special Markets

User Reviews

This movie has a brilliant script...

It appears the jury is hung... many people either loved or hated this movie. I can tell you why I loved it. First of all the script. I think it had a real slice of life, and brilliance in it. Sorry, but some people do use 4 letter words to express themselves. And no, it doesn't mean that's because they lack intelligence to use anything else. I can rise to the occasion any time I need w/out profanity. But it is how I think & speak in my day to day life. The language shouldn't even be an issue. If that's all you heard, you weren't listening! The brilliance in it is everywhere. For example, William's character putting Damon's character in place by noting that he sneers at things that he has no real life experience with. I know people like that. Then moments when he (William's character) says gems like, "I'll save you the suspense sport- she isn't perfect & neither are you- the question is whether you are perfect for each other." I'm paraphrasing of course. The question of relationships, and life career decisions- the courage to risk and overcoming whatever your background is, are all a part of real life. This isn't supposed to be about genius or some "white trash" as someone else said (some people might say the kids in this movie aren't trash, just normal hard working, middle class guys) - it's about love, life and courage- courage to ante up & try again, no matter how many times life knocks us around. The acting, direction and script are wonderful. They definitely deserved the Oscar for this. It has soul. It has meaning & I am sad for the people that didn't get it. As the movie "American Beauty" said... LOOK CLOSER.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 January 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Good Will Hunting

Filming Locations:

Massachusetts Turnpike, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$272,912, 7 December 1997

Gross USA:

$138,433,435

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$225,933,435

Company Credits

Production Co:

Be Gentlemen Limited Partnership, Lawrence Bender Productions, Miramax

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1