Good Will Hunting

Good Will Hunting is a 1997 drama starring Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Robin Williams. The film was written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck themselves and directed by Gus Van Sant.

Plot
Will Hunting (Damon), a self-aught Boston math student visits a psychologist named Sean Maguire (Williams) after getting into difficulties. When Will visits Sean, he tells him about his child abuse and finds out from Sean that he too is a victim of child abuse.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) The story was well written by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.
 * 2) Matt Damon and Ben Affleck give good performances.
 * 3) This is arguably Robin Williams’ best dramatic performance after doing Dead Poets Society and considered to be his best dramatic role of the late 1990s.
 * 4) The “It’s not your fault.” statement by psychologist Sean Maguire was perfectly appropriate to comfort Will Hunting and it’s one of the most memorable statements from a Robin Williams character.
 * 5) Sean and Will have superb chemistry.
 * 6) The film has some similarities to Rain Man.
 * 7) The film was dedicated to the memory of famed poet Allen Ginsberg and writer William S. Burroughs who both died before the film came out that year.
 * 8) Amazing score by Danny Elfman.
 * 9) The following cast members such as Matt Damon (Will Hunting who also co-wrote the screenplay), Casey Affleck (Morgan O'Mally), Jimmy Flynn (Judge George H. Malone), and Alison Folland (MIT Student) are Massachusetts natives (with the former and latter hailing from Boston as well as the second growing up there) while Ben Affleck (Chuckie Sullivan who also co-wrote the screenplay) grew up there. Also, Minnie Driver is English like her character (Skylar).

Reception
Good Will Hunting was released on December 5, 1997 and currently holds a 97% “Certified Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 8.1 out of 10 and critic consensus that reads “It follows a predictable narrative arc, but Good Will Hunting adds enough quirks to the journey -- and is loaded with enough powerful performances -- that it remains an entertaining, emotionally rich drama.” Roger Ebert gave the film a 3 out of 4 stars and stated in his review “The outcome of the movie is fairly predictable; so is the whole story, really. It's the individual moments, not the payoff, that make it so effective.” ''

Box Office
The film had a budget of $10 million and grossed $225.9 million making it a box office success.

Awards and nominations
Good Will Hunting was nominated for 9 Academy Awards including Best Picture and winner for Best Supporting Actor for Robin Williams and Best Screenplay for Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.