I watched Good Will Hunting a few years after its theatrical release. It was recommended by a friend at school and at first I had some interest since the setting in the film is somewhere I am very familiar with, Cambridge, Mass. Local superstars Matt Damon and Ben Affleck I think were still up and comers back then but the movie I would say was one of their best pair together acting I have ever seen. Even to this day I don't feel there was any one movie either one of these actors did that was as good as what they did in Good Will Hunting.
Ambitionless
If I could focus on one word for the movie it would be "ambitionless". The whole movie has in-dept build up of multiple characters but Matt's portrayal of Will Hunting is the main character as all others flow right back to him. Will is a gifted human and he appears to appreciate his gift very much by being a good listener and always taking into consideration of what others opinions are whether good or bad. Yet he had a dark childhood and lived in a poor neighborhood all his life making him feel he was not worth the gifts that people kept saying that he has.
I think the whole point of the movie was to not let your own self doubts stop you from chasing your dreams and passions. Instead move forward with courage and take every step as it comes without having to expect what might unfold in the future. Worrying and dwelling on the pass was what made Will stuck where he was, a janitor at MIT. Living in the poor neighborhood is due to him being comfortable of where he was at rather than seeking what more he could have. The friendships he had and the people who protected him were things he did not want to risk losing because he knew how difficult it was to come by.
Will would rather give up doing more with his life than to lose his friends and life in Boston, but the reality was as many close to him knew he needed to go somewhere else so that he could thrive. Boston was not the place to stay. The movie ends with him supposedly chasing the girl of his dream, Skylar, who was to go back home to California. Will started off ambitionless but left home chasing for his dreams.
Relateable
As I mentioned earlier the movie had many characters where each had a story build up within the main character. Whether it was Will's best friend Chuckie Sullivan played by Ben, Dr. Sean Maguire played by Robin Williams, or the Professor Gerald Lambeau played by Stellan Skarsgård they each had their own stories to tell and the movie broke through each one of those characters very well. This is because the material was not spoon feed but flowed well and made viewers think through all of what was said and done as each character made their encounters with Will Hunting.
Will and Chuckie struggles in living in a poor neighborhood can be relatable to many since majority of people in this world are not rich. Not necessarily a bad thing. The fact was they made due with what they have and try to live life day by day. Yet this took away a lot from potential and opportunities anyone of the two could have had if they try to do something more with their lives. It is the same with many other people. The idea to give up your only home and the friends you have in order to chase your dreams. Many of us may have once in our lifetimes thought or contemplated on making life changing decisions. This is very relatable to what Will had to do.
Conclusions
The movie has a lot of corny jokes that I liked a lot. The best one was when Will was able to get Skyler's number and he showed it off against another Harvard student who wanted to score with Skyler. "How do you like them apples." The small little successes we each have in our lives will build up the courage and decision making we need further on in life. The whole movie was based on Will building up all his experiences up to the point where he knew he had to grow up and move on. He had much bigger plans that he wanted to accomplished and in order to do so he needed to let go of the past and take on risk of the unknown even if he feared of losing or suffering. This is because what else is there to live for if you can not live the life that you dream of.
Thanks for reading and let me know what you think of Good Will Hunting.