Finding Forrester

Columbia Pictures | Release Date: December 20, 2000

CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION

62	METASCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 27 Critics

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

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Critic Reviews

Critic score Publication By date

Portland OregonianKim Morgan

Finding Forrester achieves a distinct success few Hollywood movies can even dream of: It overwhelms and inspires with understatement.

Mr. ShowbizCody Clark

The execution is crisp and the fundamentals are solid. Like its protagonist, Finding Forrester got game.

New York Daily NewsJami Bernard

Written, acted and directed so intelligently that it stands out from the pack, and is guaranteed to give you the warm glow of holiday movies past -- the kind that celebrated faith in human potential and the value of hard work. Read full review

VarietyEmanuel Levy

Provides a platform for Sean Connery to deliver a definitive, career-summation performance. Read full review

Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan

Manages to take the cerebral act of literary creation and make it exciting, sexy even. Read full review

Rolling StonePeter Travers

The ending leans to soap opera, but Van Sant, revisiting the closet-genius theme of "Good Will Hunting" is too keen an observer of character to let this funny and touching film go soft. Read full review

Chicago TribuneMark Caro

It's rare to see a movie that takes such joy in the power of words, not to create lofty works of art but to effect the simple, necessary translation of what's in one's heart and mind.

Boston GlobeJay Carr

A juicy and gratifying teacher movie (a genre to which I'm partial). The joy in performance shared by Connery and Brown is the big reason.

Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez

The movie is not without its pleasures. Chief among them is Sean Connery's robust performance.

Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman

If it were 10 minutes shorter, it would've been just the right length and almost wholly honest. Read full review

USA TodayMike Clark

One can't underestimate the appeal of any movie constructed around Sean Connery's charm. Read full review

Baltimore SunCheryl Lu-Lien Tan

Connery and Brown absolutely shine in their roles.

Philadelphia InquirerDesmond Ryan

A rewarding exploration of the knotty and often contentious relationship between teacher and protege.

Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert

The scenes between the old man and the teenager are at the heart of the movie, and it's a pleasure to watch the rapport between Connery, in his 50th year of acting, and Brown, in his first role. Read full review

Film.comRobert Horton

One of those hybrid projects: a major studio film, big star, homely storyline, but tempered by an indie director working in his own idiosyncratic style. Read full review

Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones

A nice-looking, nice-feeling exercise in conventionalism that sure could use a couple of transvestites and maybe a house falling from the sky. Read full review

Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum

Highly unoriginal but nevertheless stirring drama. Read full review

New York PostJonathan Foreman

It feels less predictable and derivative than it is, thanks to Gus Van Sant's deft direction and two fine central performances.

Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan

Even fairy tales could use a bit more substance than this. Read full review

Village VoiceMichael Atkinson

At times you can feel Van Sant trying to loosen the movie's windpipe-folding collar, but he doesn't get far, except with Busta Rhymes, as Jamal's gone-nowhere big brother. Read full review

TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh

Well acted (notably by newcomer Brown), warm hearted and utterly predictable, this film is aimed squarely at everyone who loved "Good Will Hunting." Read full review

TimeRichard Schickel

Something more surprising might have been made of this odd couple, but Van Sant, emptily employing the realist manner of his early films, is goodwill hunting in all the wrong places. Read full review

The New York TimesStephen Holden

The screenplay by Mike Rich is so far-fetched and riddled with holes that Mr. Van Sant's urban realist touches only underscore the falseness of what's on the screen. Read full review

San Francisco ChronicleBob Graham

Rich supplies some eloquent grace notes, and Van Sant uses them to make understated music. Read full review

Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt

The premise is more interesting than the movie, which takes several wrong turns on its way to an unconvincing conclusion. Read full review

SalonLaura Miller

A farrago, with a few morsels of deft social observation and likable performances floating around in a conventional stew of overblown, bogus emotion and rigged catharsis. Read full review

Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum

Not even D.W. Griffith, Steven Spielberg, and Stanley Kubrick working together could succeed in making this pandering piece of nonsense work dramatically on any level except the most egregiously phony. Read full review