Taglines: Some people can never believe in themselves, until someone believes in them.
Good Will Hunting movie storyline. Twenty-year-old Will Hunting of South Boston is a self-taught, genius-level intellect, though he works as a janitor at MIT and spends his free time drinking with his friends, Chuckie, Billy, and Morgan.
When Professor Gerald Lambeau posts a difficult math problem as a challenge for his graduate students, Will solves the problem anonymously, stunning both the students and Lambeau. As a challenge to the unknown genius, Lambeau posts an even more difficult problem. Will solves the problem, but then flees the scene when Lambeau catches him. At a bar, Will meets Skylar, a British student about to graduate from Harvard, who plans on attending medical school at Stanford.
The next day, as Will and his friends fight a gang at the basketball court, police arrive and arrest Will. Lambeau visits his court appearance and notices Will’s intellect in defending himself. He arranges for him to forgo jail time if he agrees to study mathematics under Lambeau’s supervision and participate in therapy sessions. Will tentatively agrees, but treats his first few therapists with mockery. In desperation, Lambeau calls on Dr. Sean Maguire, his estranged college roommate, who now teaches psychology at Bunker Hill Community College. Unlike other therapists, Sean actually challenges Will’s defense mechanisms, and after a few unproductive sessions, Will begins to open up.
Will is particularly struck by Sean’s story of how he met his wife by giving up his ticket to the historic game six of the 1975 World Series, after falling in love at first sight. Sean neither regrets his decision, nor does he regret the final years of his marriage, after which his wife died of cancer. This encourages Will to build a relationship with Skylar, though he lies to her about his past and is reluctant to introduce her to his friends or show her his rundown neighborhood. Will also challenges Sean to take an objective look at his own life, since Sean cannot move on from his wife’s death.
Lambeau sets up a number of job interviews for Will, but Will scorns them by sending Chuckie as his “chief negotiator,” and by turning down a position at the NSA with a scathing critique of the agency’s moral position. Skylar asks Will to move to California with her, but he refuses and tells her he is an orphan, and that his foster father physically abused him. Will breaks up with Skylar and later storms out on Lambeau, dismissing the mathematical research he has been doing. Sean points out that Will is so adept at anticipating future failure in his interpersonal relationships that he deliberately sabotages them in order to avoid emotional pain.
Good Will Hunting is a 1997 American drama film, directed by Gus Van Sant, and starring Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Minnie Driver and Stellan Skarsgård. Written by Affleck and Damon (and with Damon in the title role), the film follows 20-year-old South Boston laborer Will Hunting, an unrecognized genius who, as part of a deferred prosecution agreement after assaulting a police officer, becomes a client of a therapist and studies advanced mathematics with a renowned professor. Through his therapy sessions, Will re-evaluates his relationships with his best friend, his girlfriend and himself, facing the significant task of confronting his past and thinking about his future.
The film received positive reviews and was a financial success. It grossed over US$225 million during its theatrical run with only a modest $10 million budget. It was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including the Academy Award for Best Picture, and won two: Best Supporting Actor for Williams and Best Original Screenplay for Affleck and Damon.
In the film’s opening weekend in limited release, it earned $272,912. In its January 1998 wide-release opening weekend, it earned $10,261,471. It went on to gross $138,433,435 in North America for a total worldwide gross of $225,900,000.
Awards and Nominations
70th Academy Awards
Won: Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor – Robin Williams
Won: Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay – Ben Affleck & Matt Damon
Nominated: Academy Award for Best Picture
Nominated: Academy Award for Best Director – Gus Van Sant
Nominated: Academy Award for Best Actor – Matt Damon
Nominated: Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress – Minnie Driver
Nominated: Academy Award for Film Editing – Pietro Scalia
Nominated: Academy Award for Original Music Score – Danny Elfman
Nominated: Academy Award for Best Song – Elliott Smith (song “Miss Misery”)
55th Golden Globe Awards
Won: Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay – Ben Affleck & Matt Damon
Nominated: Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama
Nominated: Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama – Matt Damon
Nominated: Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture – Robin Williams
4th Screen Actors Guild Awards
Won: Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role – Robin Williams
Nominated: Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Nominated: Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role – Matt Damon
Nominated: Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role – Minnie Driver
Other Major Awards / Nominations
Won: Silver Bear for Outstanding Single Achievement – Matt Damon
Nominated: Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures – Gus Van Sant
Nominated: Writers Guild of America Award for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen – Ben Affleck & Matt Damon
Good Will Hunting movie trailer.
Good Will Hunting (1997)
Directed by: Gus Van Sant
Starring: Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, John Mighton, Stellan Skarsgård, Rachel Majorowski, Casey Affleck, Colleen McCauley, Cole Hauser, Matt Mercier
Screenplay by: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck
Production Design by: Missy Stewart
Cinematography by: Jean-Yves Escoffier
Film Editing by: Pietro Scalia
Costume Design by: Beatrix Aruna Pasztor
Set Decoration by: Jaro Dick
Art Direction by: James McAteer
Music by: Danny Elfman
MPAA Rating: R for strong language, including some sex-related dialogue.
Distributed by: Miramax Films
Release Date: December 5, 1997
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