Good Will Hunting

Until today I had never seen the film Good Will Hunting in its entirety.  I find this hard to believe when actually it is a very good film.  This movie focused strongly on symbolism and telling a story in more than one way.  The process of using different visual effects and indirect aspects to depict a story or symbolize and emotion are vast and shown throughout the film.  The significance of the title, the unique characters, the elements of a good story, and conflict involved made this movie a one of a kind hit.

As stated in our text it says,”In many cases, the title of a film has one meaning to a viewer before seeing it and a completely different, richer, and deeper meaning afterward.” So in analyzing the significance of the title Good Will Hunting I think that it needs to be broken down into pieces.  Good Will as we all know is the nature of doing a thoughtful act towards someone or something.  Now in this film many people attempted and for the most part succeeded in doing this.  For example in the end of the film all of Will’s closest friends came together and put forth their hard earned money and bought him a car.  They did this as an act of good will and I believe also to give him the ability to get out of Boston and pursue the life they all wished they could have.   If you add hunting into the equation I don’t think that it pertains to Will going out and hunting for someone’s good will, but rather the act of good will hunting down people who deserve it.

When looking into this film's unique characters and what effects they play on the movie you have to figure out what characterization the director is trying to depict.  Whether it is characterization through dialog, appearance, contrast, or through choice of name, all of these play a significant part in what makes a movie grab your attention.  In the case of Good Will Hunting I believe the director is attempting to draw a character through choice of name.  Like I had stated earlier the name and word “Will” tie together many different meanings in this film.  Will’s will to push through all the hardships in his life and show supreme intellect when coming off the streets of southern Boston speak for themselves.

This film definitely had all the elements of a good story involved.  Using a unified plot tying in both externally observable truths and internal truths of human nature, and keeping the plot both simple and complex all helped to make this movie a true classic.  The theme of this movie was simple; a lost and abused man who had been through a rough childhood wanted nothing more than to stay around all of the true friends he had made.  But after his friends and a professor from Harvard discovered his true intellect he needed someone to show him that there was more to life than what was presented in the streets of Boston.  And in the end love (which he had never truly felt before) guided him to follow the girl of his dreams, or as Sean put it his “soul mate”.  Putting both a love story and a story about overcoming adversity into play definitely pushed this film in becoming a box office hit.

The final part of this film I would like to discuss is the conflict that presented itself in this movie.  From the beginning to the end conflict always seemed to find Will.  Weather it was trouble with the law, or trouble holding a job.  As stated in the book conflict is the mainspring of every story, whether it be told on the printed page, on the stage, or on the screen.  The many conflicts that arose made you keep hoping to see each on resolved.  The main two that I saw in the film were keeping Will out of trouble, and leading Will to follow the love of his life.  Each of these kept resonating throughout the movie and tied the film together.  All in all this movie is great film about the lessons learned in life and a true testament to overcoming adversity.