Good Will Hunting Analysis

The drama and romance movie, Good Will Hunting, is about a young genius, Will, who instead of using his talent for the better, chooses to involve himself in gang violence and becomes a janitor at MIT. During his time as a janitor, he solves difficult math problems that are left unsolved. The question arises as to who is solving all of these nearly impossible questions. Once the professor at MIT finds out that it is Will solving all of these problems, the professor decides to help Will use his God-given talent to use. There comes a catch though. The professor tells Will he will need to go to therapy once a week. Will does not want the pity that the professor is giving him his helping hand and decides to reject the initial offer. After much discussion, Will later agrees to work with the professor. 

    As Will starts to work with the professor, he does everything the professor asks in his meetings, but as soon as the meeting is over, Will goes back to his life of violence. Will meets with therapists once a week, but he is able to belittle them. Will goes through many therapists until he meets Sean, a teacher at MIT who knows how to help Will. In the beginning, Will tries to belittle Sean, and at first, he is somewhat successful at doing so. After their first session, Sean starts to understand the person Will is and who he can become. Sean does not care how long it takes to help Will, but he is ready to put in the time to help Will. We see Will and Sean go through countless meetings of just sitting around silently, waiting for one to speak. Over time, Sean is able to be a comforting figure to Will, eventually becoming trustworthy friends. As time goes by Will begins to trust Sean and they each care about one another very much. During their time together, Sean teaches Will the value that love can hold and how far someone would go to maintain that love. At first, Will does not understand the value of love, but as the story goes on he finds that he has been in love with a girl and has been too scared to show it. The movie ends off with Will leaving a note to Sean saying he is going out to find a girl. Overall, the film is successful at converying the message that love can make someone do anything by the fact that Sean explains his experiences with love, and later Will follows. 

This shot is taken during Will and Sean's second meeting. He wants Will to focus on nature; listening to the surrounding sounds. Sean is a humble man with not much besides his stories and wisdom. He is able to show Will though, that although he is not the most wealthy man on the plannet, and that the love of his life is no longer with him, he is continuing to enjoy life and go about it. He helps Will with this because he sees someone similar to him in Will.

This shot also helps to furhter explain what Sean does to Will. Sean helps understand that with good comes bad and with the bad comes good. He eventaully becomes the closest friend Will has an is almost like a father figure to will, helping him with his guidance and wisdom. 

In terms of all the footage and shots in this movie, I think they were really able to potray Will's mysteriousness in the begining of the movie compared to the end. In the begining we see extreme long shots of Will writing his math out. In the end of the movie we see more extreme close up shots and the viewers now know who exactly Will is. The acting in this movie also plays a key role to the film. We really see both Sean and Will's emotions seep out throughout the movie.

In my opinion, this is by far the best films we have watched as a class this year, and an overall amazing film in general. The emotion shown in this movie really got to me. If it was in the begining of the movie where we see Will stick up for his buddies or to the part where he can't say I love you back. It is an overall masterpiece and a work of art. This is all good but I think the part that affected me the most is how the relationship between Will and Sean grows over time. I think it was really interesting to see the two of them have such hatred for each other in the begining and then later becoming absolute best friends. I could almost feel the emotion of the characters in my heart, putting myself in their shoes. Overall, I could watch this film over and over and over again and still probably have this same feeling.