This was a very enjoyable movie. It had many elements of a good story, including a unified plot. The story had an over-riding theme of friendship woven throughout. It actually told several stories of friendship, between Will, Chuckie and their friends, Sean and Will, Sean and Professor Lambeau, and his assistant, Tom. It also had a romantic friendship between Will and Skylar and an implied but not observed romantic friendship between Sean and his wife.
The story remained credible and told of life in South Boston – a rough, working class part of town where hard work, drinking with friends and fighting were the norm. It portrayed life as it really is in the old neighborhoods of South Boston. I knew a young man from this area personally. He became romantically involved with my cousin. He had never been out of his “area” let alone out of Boston until he cam to visit in Montana. He was very entrenched in his life there, much like Will. The story also held my interest with enough suspense and action sprinkled in to keep me engaged. I was never sure what Will’s reaction would be and the story kept moving. The action was there, just more subtle and humorous than in some stories. I especially liked Will’s avoidance tactics in action when he sent Chuckie to the job interview. Very funny.
I found this to be a very simple movie, that told a fairly simple story, with one great twist – Will’s gift of genius, which added a bit of complexity. The story was further enhanced by adding the emotional elements of Will learning to trust and confide in Sean and his blooming love of Skylar.
The title of this film grew in significance as I watched the movie. Will Hunting was on a journey to discover the “good” in himself, and to finally realize the all the bad things that happened to him were not his fault. He was good. Those around him already knew that truth, but he had to search it out to truly believe it, too.
There was plenty of conflict throughout the movie; perhaps the most significant was the conflict Will had within himself. He seemed to try to stifle his gift, to remain “one of the guys” even though he was clearly different. Another significant conflict was between Sean and Professor Lambeau. This was a complex love/hate conflict, where Sean never felt like he measured up to his friend’s high standard. He felt very judged and insignificant by Lambeau. Although Lambeau had a high opinion of himself, I felt that Sean believed that about himself , rather than Lambeau asserting that as truth.
The characterization through appearance and dialogue were used very effectively in this film. The Boston accents were spot on, and their use of words such as “wicked” and much of the profanity helped to make Will and his friends very believable. Their appearance and the appearance of their vehicles, neighborhoods and homes helped paint a picture of real life in a rough neighborhood. Sean was one of the old neighborhood, but also a class mate of Lambeau. His characterization took place through dialogue, first by Lambeau mentioning that he was from South Boston and then in Sean’s explanations to Will. The story of the Red Sox game really made me believe he was “one of them”.
Similarly, Lambeau’s accent made him seem more upper crust, as did his manner of dress. He wore a scarf, expensive clothing and many references were made to his math award. The ever-present assistant gave him an air of conceit, especially when he sent him to fetch coffee. Tim the assistant was a stock character. The offices of both men also helped with their characterization. Sean’s was small, messy and cluttered with mismatched furniture and books and papers scattered everywhere. Lambeau’s office was large, upscale, organized and had room for his assistant, further characterizing the difference between the two men.
Chuckie’s characterization was through appearance, dialogue and leitmotif. The action of driving to Will’s house every morning with coffee, getting out to walk up to the door, characterized Chuckie as a true and loyal friend to Will.
The characterization of Skylar was similar to Lambeau. Her appearance, slender and taller than Will, helped to characterize her as a different class. The way she dressed and her English accent, in direct contrast to his Boston accent helped portray her as a woman of privilege. Even her name, Skyler, is very modern and new, helping to further characterize her as out of Will’s league. Her character was very stereotypical.
This film used lots of symbolism. Even though we never heard that Will was catholic, the gold crucifix necklace that he wore made the assumption. The cigarette smoking was a symbol of the tough nature and lives of the young men. The fighting, although not necessary for the plot of the story, symbolized the stereotypical street culture in South Boston. Near the end of the film, when Chuckie drives to Will’s house and discovers he is gone, he returns to the car and Morgan jumps into the front seat. This symbolized a new era for the friendship, with Morgan taking the place as Chuckie’s new best buddy.
The irony of situation in this film was that Will was a genius and could probably have his choice of a number of great careers, yet he held himself back because he did not believe he was good enough and he was afraid to venture out. More irony is present when he falls in love with a girl who is fearless and pursues her dreams without apology. He appears to blame his past, while she has made peace with her past (father dying when she was 13).
The ending of this film was satisfying. Will finally made peace within himself, Sean was off to start living his life again, the boys from Boston had a new pecking order, Sean and Lambeau resolved their friendship and Will is driving to California to reconcile with Skylar. Conficts were resolved and new beginnings were springing up everywhere. I give this movie a thumbs up!
Works Cited
Boggs, J. M., & Petrie, D. W. (2008). The Art of Watching Films (7th Edition ed.). Ashford University: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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