Plot: What’s it about?
The movie which literally made Matt Damon and Ben Affleck overnight stars, “Good Will Hunting” is a very entertaining and moving character study which the duo also wrote. The film gave them Oscars« for Best Original Screenplay, while Robin Williams won for Best Supporting Actor (in a very good and dramatic performance). It was also nominated for seven other awards, which included Best Picture and Best Director for Gus Van Sant.
Will Hunting is a tempermental janitor, scrubbing and washing the floors of M.I.T. He hangs out with his pals, gets drunk, and gets in one too many run-ins with the law. Yet one thing makes Will different from everything around him. He can solve any math problem with ease that frusturate many and he can use his photographic memories to recall just about anything. Simply, Will is a genius.
An M.I.T. professor (an outstanding Stellan Skarsgard) leaves a very complex on the board outside his room, hoping a student can solve it. Will solves it, and keeps solving more and more of them, and no one knows who is getting them correct. Until the professor catches will, accusing him of ruining someone else’s work. Yet the professor soon realizes that Will solved them all. Will is also in trouble with the law for a big fight, among other things. The professor offers Will a deal, instead of a jail sentence (which the judge said was okay). He works with him and sees a psychologist. Will, at first, is reluctant, but soon joins in this deal. However, he seems to be scaring away every psychologist who meets with him. Yet he soon meets his match with Sean, an old friend of the professor. As Sean and Will talk about anything and everything, Will is soon deconstructed and must realize what he has, and what he can do, while conquering his inner demons of the past.
“Good Will Hunting” is one of my favorite films ever, all because it’s an incredibly strong movie. The script by Damon and Affleck is very impressive and solid, the direction from Gus Van Sant is lean and remarkable, and every performance makes this all believable. Williams is incredibly strong as the widowed psychologist, and Damon is perfectly tense and angry as young Will Hunting. The supporting cast, which includes Skarsgard, Affleck and Minnie Driver all hold their own. This is a movie which I could watch again and again. It has a lot of depth, and there are many lessons which can be learned from this movie.
Video: How does it look?
Though it is not anamorphic [Editor’s Note: There is an almost identical version, called the “Alliance” version, which was sold in Canada. It has the same features and has an anamorphic transfer.], Good Will Hunting is presented in 1.85:1 widescreen, and looks quite nice. Colors are unsaturated now and then, and dirt, grain and artifacts are visible. Still, detail is good and colors are strong. A good, though flawed, transfer.
Audio: How does it sound?
The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is well done. Though the movie is really dialogue driven, when music plays it brings a lot more life to the film, and there are some action packed moments which make good use of rear channels and the subwoofer.
Supplements: What are the extras?
They don’t call this “Collector’s Series” for nothing! This disc is packed with some very nice supplements, sure to please everyone who buys this disc. First off, there is a very interesting and engaging commentary from Gus Van Sant, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. They explain about making the film, and I found this to be a very nice track. Next up, there are eleven deleted scenes from the film, with optional commentary from the trio. Most of these scenes are actually very good, and could fit well back into the film, but the commentary explains why they were cut. These scenes are a nice addition, and do give more into the movie. There is a production featurette which is mostly fluff, the theatrical trailer, and dozens of TV commercials. The commercials are all organized in great menus, and not just played in a row. This is a nice touch, and if you’re looking for a specific commercial, they are divided up into sections and have titles. In addition to all of this, there is the “Miss Misery” music video (a very good song, which was also nominated for an Oscar«), some behind the scenes footage and the Academy Award Best Picture montage (you know, where they introduce one of the films being nominated for Best Picture and string together a bunch of clips).
This disc is worth it, for a retial price of nearly forty dollars. There is a standard version with just the trailer and music video, for about fifteen dollars cheaper. However, I can’t say that you should buy this version. There is a Canadian version by Alliance (it’s Region 1) which has all of the features above, plus an extra deleted scene and an anamorphic transfer. Unless you can’t find the Alliance version anywhere (try looking through some retail websites), this version is a great substitute.
