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The question that Gerard Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgård) would like to see answered is why Will's wasting his God-given talent. Having assigned the theoretical challenge and witnessed its unexpected solution, Lambeau's eager to take this misguided youth under his wing. Unfortunately Will's just rebounding from his latest scrape with the law, meaning that his parole terms will be violated unless he undergoes therapy. Thus, in the fullness of time, Sean McGuire (Robin Williams) gets yanked from his Bunker Hill College post and put in a room with Will. This is the central battleground of Good Will Hunting, the arena in which the callow and the experienced lock horns.
In this drawn-out confrontation the film transcends its origin, attaining a state where the unexpected becomes possible. Instead of taking the low road, the one that features a touching heart-to-heart session of confession and redemption, Good Will Hunting leaves Will and Sean with rough edges. They're both emotionally blocked and internally afraid, but that doesn't make them saps; they're also angry and imperfect. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, the writers of the piece, have the nous to push this central relationship just far enough in the script; the last laps of the relay race are left to the cast.
Fortunately Williams lays out possibly the greatest interpretation of his career, successfully reigning in every annoying mannerism. The beard helps but regardless Williams plumbs undisturbed depths, dragging up understanding, humanity and resourcefulness. What makes Sean different to everyone else is that he doesn't claim to know what's right for Will, merely what's wrong; thus Sean isn't so intellectually threatened by Will that he has to climb into his shell and stay there. What Damon brings to Good Will Hunting, apart from half a screenplay, is a finely judged complexity. By turns he is hostile, defensive, antagonistic and bone-searingly bright; all pieces that fit his jigsaw life. For Will everyone is stupid, wasting their time and money to no end. Yet, despite this lonely position, he isn't inclined to publicly show off; only if you thwart him will he rip into you, spinning a sticky web of argument and logic.
Beyond this inner circle, Good Will Hunting is blessed with generally decent supporting performances. Minnie Driver, as Skylar the love interest, puts across a blend of insecurity and self-belief. While her independently financed grad student role might be artificial, Driver puts her shoulder to the wheel. Affleck projects a certain verisimilitude, despite being fobbed off with only a handful of notable scenes. Chuckie and friends are sensibly blunt, foul-mouthed and predisposed to a "good" fight but at the end of the day they're just background for Will.
Gus Van Sant, amplifying the conflict that tears at Will's psyche, captures the halls of MIT in a somewhat more sterile light. Unfortunately Skarsgård doesn't add a great deal to the story, tending towards caricature. His best moment arrives when Lambeau, who'd previously considered himself to be at the pinnacle of his profession, realises that this is a false pretence; Will makes no effort to hide his own superiority.
The script of Good Will Hunting raises some powerful and interesting questions, dealing with the realms of personal responsibility, taking control and deciding what you want from life. What oils the movie's gears is that these themes arise naturally, popping up for discussion without being tidily packed away (except in the pleasant but rushed finale). Alongside, Danny Elfman's score sets an appropriately jaunty tone, without becoming invasive, while Jean-Yves Escoffier's photography welds the two worlds of Will together. As a package Good Will Hunting is enjoyable without going to extremes; it only approaches social boundaries with Will's intellect and that's fictional!
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