Film & TV Writer Izzy Lee looks back on Good Will Hunting, exploring why it still resonates with university students 28 years later
Whilst at Harvard studying a playwriting class, a young Matt Damon submitted 40 pages of play for an assignment, which he later fleshed out and built upon with his childhood friend Ben Affleck. This play would later become Good Will Hunting, the 1997 drama starring both actors, along with the iconic Robin Williams, that taught a generation that ‘you’ll have bad times, but it’ll always wake you up to the good stuff you weren’t paying attention to.’
I’ve returned to Good Will Hunting many times, particularly whilst I’ve been at university…
The film follows Will Hunting (Matt Damon), a 20-something with a genius level IQ, who chooses to work as a Janitor at MIT, but who’s Mathematical talents are discovered by university professor Gerald Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgard). Following his arrest for attacking a police officer, Lambeau strikes a deal to take him under his supervision and seek him treatment from therapist Sean Maguire (Robin Williams). I’ve returned to Good Will Hunting many times, particularly whilst I’ve been at university, and I think there are a few reasons for this.
For one, I absolutely love Robin Williams – not only as a comedy genius, but also through his ability to deliver lines in a way that feels like it truly touches your soul (watch Dead Poets Society, his final lines in the Night at the Museum franchise, or his performance in Patch Adams, and you’ll see what I mean). It feels like when Maguire therapises Will, Williams is therapising us as an audience as well, but not in a condescending way, more like that of a friend; when he says to Will ‘You think I’m a failure. I know who I am. And I’m proud of what I do’. This quote really stuck with me, especially as someone who doesn’t have what they want to do with their life all figured out yet. It feels like someone looking you in the eyes and telling you “do what makes you happy, cause you only get one life and you might as well live it”, and that feels really powerful to me.
Good Will Hunting still holds its own, even 28 years after its release, and its message – to give yourself the respect and love you deserve – still resonates.
It also sticks with me in that it is a film about growth, change and learning to let things go in the pursuit of better things. Despite being practically brothers, Chuckie (Ben Affleck) tells Will,
‘Every day I come by your house and I pick you up. And we go out. We have a few drinks, and a few laughs and its great. But you know what the best part of my day is? For about ten seconds, from when I pull up to the curb and when I get to your door, ‘cause I think, maybe I’ll get up there and I’ll knock on the door and you won’t be there’.
This took me by surprise on first watch but it makes sense; we want what’s best for the people we love, even if that might cause us pain. I feel like this kind of resonates with the whole university experience – while we may wish we could stay with the people we know from home, the comfort and security of what we’re used to, there comes a time when you have to do what you need to grow and change.
Good Will Hunting touches on heavy topics such as traumatic childhoods, juvenile delinquency, and mental health issues, but it does so in a way that feels inherently hopeful. Over 10 years after Williams’ passing, he still lives on through his characters and performances, and Sean Maguire is a beautiful vessel for this. Good Will Hunting still holds its own, even 28 years after its release, and its message – to give yourself the respect and love you deserve – still resonates.
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