By Brandi Shuler
Good Will Hunting is the perfect fall-time movie to watch to get into the rebellious academic mood. Gus Van Sant directed a story about a young man who finds himself helping a mathematics professor, but is also required to see a therapist. It explores people’s desires in life and what they truly want to do with their time, while also delving into their fears and how they overcome them.
First, with what Will wants with his life: this is the cutest love story I have ever seen, despite the plot not being centered around it. The love story was a side plot for Will, and yet it shaped the movie’s ending and several of his decisions leading up to it. The same could be said about Sean Maguire and his late wife. Even though she’s not in the movie, it is very evident that he loved her with all his heart. He expresses this through how he talks about her, defends her, and remembers her.
Stellan Skarsgard is such a versatile actor! He was in Mamma Mia, Pirates of the Caribbean, and this movie! His character, Professor Lambeau, begins the movie as an ignorant math professor standing on a pedestal due to his reward, but by the end of the movie, he starts to break down. He becomes more desperate for Will’s help and confesses that he really does need him for the project he’s working on. I also like to think that the movie included the other therapists because it wanted to tell its audience that maybe the simpler your methods are, the better your results will be. The other therapists were big professors at universities and tried different, perhaps crazier methods like hypnosis with no avail. This could also apply to the whole academic setting of the movie. Will didn’t go to college, and yet he was being begged by Professor Lambeau to work with him and get job opportunities across the country because he taught himself those methods from books at the library.
A good portion of this film is of Will going to therapy with Sean and slowly revealing more about himself, not necessarily by what he tells Sean, but through his actions and behavior. He’s gone through the foster care system, has anger issues, and has gone to court several times. Will has a lot of baggage, and Sean is the only therapist who has the patience for him. This has to be one of the most heartbreaking yet touching stories about therapy, and it needs to be talked about along with the prominent use of therapy today. Our generation is becoming more aware of what therapy is and how helpful it can be, which is why I’m giving this movie a five-star review. Good Will Hunting has helped me come out of my comfort zone and talk about my problems with the people who are close to me. It also gave me hope for my future and inspired me to do the things that I consider important, not necessarily what is important to the rest of the world.
Leave a Reply