Film Review: GOOD WILL HUNTING (1997)

Director: Gus Van Sant
Writers: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck
Running Time: 126 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Drama
UK Release Date: 6^th March 1998

Watched on Sky+ Monday 16^th July 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

It’s odd to think that in all the years I’ve been watching movies I never saw this one before. I guess Robin Williams got a reputation for making some particularly schmaltzy films in the nineties and so I probably passed on it for that reason. Well it finally caught up with me today and I’m quite glad it did! Much better than I was expecting; it has one or two problems, but still worthy of a couple of hours of my time. Here’s a brief summary then I’ll tell you what I thought.

When a janitor working at MIT solves an equation left on a board by Professor Gerald Lambeau, he is sought out by the Professor. The janitor in question is a young man, Will Hunting, who has a bit of a rap sheet and is in trouble with the law yet again. The Professor has him released into his custody on the condition that he’ll work with him on some mathematical proofs and that he’ll attend a psychologist. At first Will just plays with the psychologists presented to him, that is until Professor Lambeau brings in his former roommate Sean Maguire. Sean is from the same district of Boston as Will and has an idea of how to handle him. Slowly, a trust is built up between them and Will begins to see what a great opportunity he has. There’s also a girl, Skylar, and his best friend, Chuckie Sullivan, who contribute to his awakening. But what will he do with it?... I’ll leave it there or the Spoiler Police (Boston Division) will have me polishing baseballs (again).

Well made with some nice musical numbers thrown into the mix. Nothing particularly different in the cinematography but still well put together. On the performance front, Matt Damon did an excellent job as Will Hunting, as did Robin Williams as Sean Maguire. I also thought Stellan Skarsgård did a very good job as Prof. Gerald Lambeau, also Ben Affleck as Chuckie Sullivan and Minnie Driver as Skylar. Also worthy of note were Casey Affleck and Cole Hauser as Will’s friends Morgan O'Mally and Billy McBride.

Although I thought the film was very good and the performances were all excellent I didn’t quite get the relationship between Will and Skylar. I didn’t feel enough time was spent with them for the relationship to become as strong as it was portrayed. Other than that I was with it one hundred percent; I believed in the characters and I found no problem in following their motivations. There’s also some great dialogue that gives this one an edge, I really enjoyed that aspect. Over all, a decent drama with maybe slight problem or two, but still… RECOMMENDED.

My Score 8.5/10

IMDb Score: 8.1/10 (based on 250,891 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0119217/

MetaScore: 70/100: (Based on 28 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 97/100 (based on 68 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 92/100 ‘Liked It’ (based on 318,354 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/good_will_hunting/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
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FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Sean: Do you have a soul mate?
Will: Define that.
Sean: Someone you can relate to, someone who opens things up for you.
Will: Sure, I got plenty.
Sean: Well, name them.
Will: Shakespeare, Nietzsche, Frost, O'Conner...
Sean: Well that's great. They're all dead.
Will: Not to me, they're not.
Sean: You can't have a lot of dialogue with them.
Will: Not without a heater and some serious smelling salts.

Billy: You're legally allowed to drink now, so we figured the best thing for you was a car.

Sean: Maybe *you're* perfect right now. Maybe you don't wanna ruin that. I think that's a super philosophy, Will; that way you can go through your entire life without ever having to really know anybody...
Will: ...You ever think about gettin' remarried?
Sean: My wife's dead.
Will: Hence the word: remarried.
Sean: She's dead.
Will: Yeah; well, I think that's a super philosophy, Sean. I mean, that way you could actually go through the rest of your life without ever really knowing anybody.
Sean: Time's up.

Will: What do I wanna way outta here for? I'm gonna live here the rest of my fuckin' life. We'll be neighbours, have little kids, take 'em to Little League up at Foley Field.
Chuckie: Look, you're my best friend, so don't take this the wrong way but, in 20 years if you're still livin' here, comin' over to my house, watchin' the Patriots games, workin' construction, I'll fuckin' kill ya. That's not a threat, that's a fact, I'll fuckin' kill ya.
Will: What the fuck you talkin' about?
Chuckie: You got somethin' none of us have...
Will: Oh, come on! What? Why is it always this? I mean, I fuckin' owe it to myself to do this or that. What if I don't want to?
Chuckie: No. No, no no no. Fuck you, you don't owe it to yourself man, you owe it to me. Cuz tomorrow I'm gonna wake up and I'll be 50, and I'll still be doin' this shit. And that's all right. That's fine. I mean, you're sittin' on a winnin' lottery ticket. And you're too much of a pussy to cash it in, and that's bullshit. 'Cause I'd do fuckin' anything to have what you got. So would any of these fuckin' guys. It'd be an insult to us if you're still here in 20 years. Hangin' around here is a fuckin' waste of your time.

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Trailer:

Film Review: CONVICTION (2010)

Director: Tony Goldwyn
Writer: Pamela Gray
Running time: 107 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Biography/Drama
UK Release date: 14^th January 2011

Watched on Sky+ Monday 2^nd January 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I knew very little about this film before seeing it, in fact I almost gave it a pass as I knew nothing of the case it’s about either. No surprise there really, I don’t think it even featured in news bulletins here in the UK. Needless to say, it’s based on a true story; a powerful drama about a sister who refuses to believe her brother is guilty of murder. I’ll give you my thoughts after this brief summary.

When Kenny Waters is charged with the brutal murder of a woman in 1982 the evidence, plus testimonies from the police and two of his former lovers, are enough to convict him. His sister, Betty Anne Waters, refuses to believe his guilt and sacrifices her marriage and a big chunk of her life to go to law school so she can prove it. There she is befriended by fellow student, Abra Rice, who supports her in her crusade. She eventually passes the bar exam and, as a qualified lawyer, is free to find the evidence that might clear her brother. By now many years have passed and DNA evidence is now permissible in court, but how to locate the original evidence and also get the witnesses to tell the truth? Well, I’ll leave you with that burning question or the Spoiler Police will be fabricating evidence against me (again).

Quite well made with some flashback sequences that (for me) didn’t really work. They seemed to be thrown in at random and only served to break up the flow of the storyline rather than enhance it I’m afraid. Very powerful performances from both Hilary Swank as Betty Anne Waters and Sam Rockwell as Kenny Waters. Honourable mentions must also go to; Minnie Driver as Abra Rice, Melissa Leo as Nancy Taylor, Juliette Lewis as Roseanna Perry and Peter Gallagher as Barry Scheck.

Although it’s quite an inspirational story I’m afraid I found it hard to warm to any of the characters, particularly that of Kenny Waters. I agree that he did not deserve to go to jail, but I didn’t find much sympathy for him; particularly when he’s shown beating a guy up for suggesting that a bar is maybe not the best place to bring his baby daughter. Of course it’s alright in the end because he offers to buy the guy a drink! There is obviously a very strong bond between brother and sister forged from them being brought up in foster homes. I know some will draw great inspiration from this film, but for me, sadly, I didn’t enjoy it all that much. I will still deem it recommend though, but mainly for the performances.

My score: 6.6/10

IMDb Score: 7.1/10 (based on 14,849 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1244754/

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 68/100 (based on 174 reviews counted at the time of going to press).
Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 71/100 (based on 30,138 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/conviction_2010/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Kenny Waters: [after seeing the media people and the police surrounding him] What the fuck?
Nancy Taylor: Kenneth Waters? You're under arrest for the murder of Katharina Brow.
Kenny Waters: Are you out of your fucking mind? You let me off two years ago!
Nancy Taylor: We've got you now.

Betty Anne Waters: I don't deserve a friend like you.
Abra Rice: You damn right, you don't!

Nancy Taylor: I'm sorry you wasted your life on this. Your brother killed that woman.

Betty Anne Waters: You are innocent!
Kenny Waters: Are you sure about that?
Betty Anne Waters: [crying] How can you ask me that? How can you ask me that?

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press).
Official Site: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/conviction/
Trailer:

Film Review: BARNEY’S VERSION (2010)

Director: Richard J. Lewis
Running time: 129 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Drama
UK Release date: 28^th January 2011

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 26^th November 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This film came out to a lot of critical acclaim. It was obviously positioned for the Oscars, for which it only received a nomination for ‘Best Achievement in Make-up’. Still, I thought I’d give it a look when it landed on my TV screen a few days ago. Well, it’s a pretty good film with a great rambling love story central to the plot, but no, it’s not a great film. It tries very hard to be, with some great performances, but fails to hit the mark (for me anyway). I will give you more of my thoughts after this brief summary.

The story of Barney is mostly told in flashback, as he looks back over his life. The story starts in the mid 1970’s in Rome where Barney and a rather Bohemian group of friends hang out, write, paint and drink themselves insensible. Having made one of his friends pregnant, Barney decides to do the right thing and marry her. This does not end well and Barney is left without a wife or a child (can’t say why; spoilers). Moving back home, his father, retired cop Izzy, introduces him to the daughter of a rich couple. She eventually becomes the second Mrs. P and it is at their wedding that Barney meets the woman of his dreams, Miriam Grant. Despite being married, Barney pursues her although she insists she will have nothing to do with a married man. A weekend at their home by the lake with Barney’s old friend Boogie brings about an opportunity to end the marriage and free him to capture the woman he loves. The film goes on to show the trials and tribulations of what occurs next to Barney. I will leave it there or the Spoiler Police will be taking me for a swim in the lake.

It’s all beautifully shot with some great tunes thrown in, but the thing central to this film is the performance of Paul Giamatti as Barney Panofsky, he is really great in the role! Also worthy of note is Rosamund Pike; she holds things together beautifully as Miriam. I must also give honourable mentions to; Dustin Hoffman as Izzy Panofsky, Scott Speedman as Boogie, Minnie Driver as The 2^nd Mrs. P and Mark Addy as Detective O'Hearne.

Although there are some great performances here, I felt the film didn’t quite hit the mark. There were a couple of reasons for this; one was that Barney, for all his charm, I didn’t find a particularly likable character. He’s far too selfish and doesn’t seem to understand the consequences of his actions sometimes. The second reason is that the film is just too long, it really starts to drag towards the end and, if, as me, you’re finding it hard to sympathise with the main character, it really doesn’t help. Having said that though, it’s still worth a look, if only for Giamatti’s performance, I thought he was quite excellent in this. And so, if only for Giamatti (and Hoffman’s one-liners)… Recommended.

My score: 7.3/10.

IMDb Score: 7.3/10 (based on 7,799 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1423894/

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 80/100 (based on 129 reviews counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/barneys-version/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Clara 'Chambers' Charnofsky: Oh Barney, you really do wear your heart on your sleeve. Now put it away, it's disgusting to look at.

2nd Mrs. P's Father: Are you saying you were gratuitously violent with suspected felons?
Izzy: Gratuitously? I always got paid, I ain't gonna work for free.

Barney Panofsky: ...and I'm just gonna keep talking here, 'cause I'm afraid that if I stop there's gonna be a pause or a break and you're gonna say 'It's getting late' or 'I should get going', and I'm not ready for that to happen. I don't want that to happen. Ever.
[they pause]
Miriam: There it was. The pause.
Barney Panofsky: Yeah.
Miriam: I'm still here.

LINKS:
Official Site: http://www.sonyclassics.com/barneysversion/
Trailer: