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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Good Will Hunting
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 28 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 26 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by:
Matt Damon
Ben Affleck
Directed by: Gus Van Sant
Release Date:
Theatrical: December 5, 1997
DVD: January 5, 1999
Running Time: 126 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for strong language, including some sex-related dialogue
Starring Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Stellan Skarsgård, and Minnie Driver
Will Hunting (Damon) is a brilliant mathematician, but also an angry young man. To avoid jail time, he agrees to work with Sean (Williams) a therapist who comes from the same tough Boston neighborhood.
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Drugstore Cowboy Elephant Even Cowgirls Get the Blues Finding Forrester Gerry Last Days Milk My Own Private Idaho Paranoid Park Psycho To Die For
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack
Intimate, heartfelt and wickedly funny, it's a movie whose impact lingers.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Jay Carr
First and foremost, Good Will Hunting is a film riding young, exuberant energies.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
With its sweet soul and sharp mind, it's one of the most heartening films of the year.
Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard
Intelligently written, sharply directed, and beautifully played.
The New York Times Elvis Mitchell
The script's bare bones are familiar, yet the film also has fine acting, steady momentum, a sharp eye and a very warm heart.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
Director Van Sant, who made the lyrical "Mala Noche," "Drugstore Cowboy" and "My Own Private Idaho," returns to his favorite hunting ground -- the subworlds of grimy, poetic lost boys -- and pulls us right in
Read Full Review >USA Today Mike Clark
Damon convincingly matches Williams recrimination for recrimination in this portrayal of mutual tough love, even with the latter giving what may be the best performance of his career.
Read Full Review >Newsweek David Ansen
Gus Van Sant, working from the tangy, well-written script, gets so much humor, grit and emotional truth out of this tale that the familiar formulas behind it simply fall away.
Read Full Review >Variety Emanuel Levy
This beautifully realized tale is always engaging and often quite touching.
Read Full Review >Film.com John Hartl
The script also happens to be quite literate and laceratingly funny, and Damon -- no big surprise here -- turns out to be the perfect actor to deliver Will's zingers.
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Stuffed--indeed, overstuffed--with heart, soul, audacity, and blarney. You may not believe a minute of it, but you don't necessarily want to stop watching.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
Both smart and shrewd -- it wraps that same comforting message in a thoroughly entertaining package.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Ann Hornaday
Fairly bursts with the exuberance and youthful energy that must have attended its creation.
ReelViews James Berardinelli
An ordinary story told well. Taken as a whole, there's little that's special about this tale -- it follows a traditional narrative path, leaves the audience with a warm, fuzzy feeling, and never really challenges or surprises us.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
It's the individual moments, not the payoff, that make it so effective.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
You'd never guess this just-off-center movie was directed by indie hero Gus Van Sant. Maybe, like Will, he's casual about his gifts and feels no need to trot them out.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Mark Caro
Presents a few too many hugs and arguments over what's best for Will. But ultimately, the movie, like its protagonist, boasts an integrity and intelligence that are tough not to admire. [25 December 1997, Tempo, p.1]
Film.com Matthew Kohut
Thanks to solid performances by Damon, Williams, and Driver, the story glides by on charm.
Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
While the charismatic performances of Damon and Affleck make Good Will Hunting a difficult entertainment to resist, doing just that is not as hard as the film would like to think.
Read Full Review >TNT RoughCut Andy Jones
Damon benefits greatly from a director like Gus Van Sant ("My Own Private Idaho") who understands quiet, funny moments, intricate relationships and beautiful young actors.
Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
This is good, solid work that never achieves either the art or poignance of Van Sant's earlier and more personal projects.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
It isn't surprising that the film was originally based on actors' improvisations, since it creates a universe of tremendously enjoyable characters and allows them plenty of room to roam, but has only the most predictable notion of plot and nothing whatever to say beyond be-yourself pieties.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
Part character study, part redemptive drama, and all cheesy heart, it's Boston-baked melodrama, a little too gooey at times, but still pretty delicious.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Matt Damon and Robin Williams give touching performances, but Gus Van Sant's filmmaking is surprisingly ordinary.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Schickel
Hearts sinking, we are obliged to endure much pseudo-serious gabble as we head toward another painfully predictable triumph of the human spirit. There must be some better way of hunting our--and Oscar's--goodwill. [Dec. 1,1997]
TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
The acting is top-notch and some scenes are authentically well-observed.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps
Van Sant's direction is surprisingly static and conventional, which doesn't help this earnest, underwhelming misfire.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Peter Rainer
Damon--as actor, not as co-screenwriter--is the best thing about Good Will Hunting.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.1 (out of 10) based on 26 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Peter I. gave it a2:
What a bunch of pseudo-intellectual claptrap. This is a movie written from the perspective of a college undergrad who thinks he's impossibly clever, but is really just a big dummy full of stupid ideas (e.g. the Howard Zinn and Chomsky references -- are there two bigger moral imbeciles on the planet earth than those two twits?). Matt Damon's character is a witless jackass. Who could possibly care about this goon? The rest is so absurd that it's laughable. The film positively groans under the weight of its pretentions. There are few things worse than patently ignorant people showing off their "intelligence," such as it is. This is the sort of film that does serve a purpose, however. If anyone likes it, you know right away they really have no clue about what makes a good film. And they probably really enjoy congratulating themselves on how smart they are.
Jack S. gave it an8:
Great movie! Heart breaking, romantic, and had some good humor in it. Truely a great movie about a brillient kid who gets in a little to much trouble. It inspired me to reach for my goals. Overall a great movie.
Samantha gave it a10:
This is one of my all time favorite movies. The grit and grime of the kind of life that most wish to look away from. Matt Damon was truly inspiring in his performance and insight. I wish that more movies were as real as this one (with the exception of 'Will' being a genius).
Tom l. gave it a10:
A great movie. Matt damon did way more on the screenplay than Ben Affleck. It's clear they realized who was more talented some time ago.
Tyler C. gave it a0:
I waited a whole decade to finally see this movie. It was horrible. Why is it called "Good Will Hunting?" There is a scene where Will holds a man down and beats him until there is blood coming from not just the victims nose, but his mouth as well. If I were to do that to someone, would I be considered "good"? I sure hope not.
Vic gave it a10:
Solid performances all around, especially by Damon and Robin Williams. It's a touching and inspirational film that explores several issues in life.
Sam gave it a10:
This movie is one of the best movies I have seen. After seeing it a second time and seeing some of the unaccidental coincidences by the producer, the movie shows many different angles. This is one of the cleverest movies I have seen, very intriguing.
