Good Will Hunting (1997)

Will Hunting (Matt Damon) is an average guy living in South Boston. He has a long train commute every day, working as a janitor at MIT. He lives in a pretty run down neighborhood in a small apartment. He has three buddies that he hangs out with, his best friend Chuckie Sullivan (Ben Affleck), Billy McBride, and Morgan O'Mally. They go out and get drunk regularly, often getting into trouble and picking fights. One particular night, they get into a fight with a group of guys Will went to school with. Will really beats his kindergarten rival "Carmine" to a pulp and he is arrested for the violence and faces jail time.

We're next introduced to professor Gerald Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgard), a highly skilled mathematician (he's won the Fields medal) teaching advanced mathematical theory at MIT. He poses a very difficult theoretical proof to his students which he writes on the blackboard in the hall and asks his students to try to solve the proof by the end of the semester. Within a day or two a flawless answer to the proof is written on the blackboard (done by Will the janitor, who happens to be a mathematical genius). Everyone is very anxious to discover who solved the proof, including professor Lambeau himself. When Lambeau asks the class who did it, no one steps forward. Lambeau and the rest of the math department pose a new theory to the class, again written on the blackboard in the hall, stating that this question is significantly more difficult than the first.

Will and his buddies decide to go to a "Harvard bar". Chuckie starts hitting on a pretty girl, Skylar (Minnie Driver), saying that his thinks he remembers her from a Harvard history class. A snobbish Harvard prep boy calls out Chuckie and makes him look like a fool in front of Skylar. Will comes to the rescue and puts the Harvard boy's history knowledge to shame. In the end Will gets Skylar's phone number.

When the second theory is posted, Will is writing down the answer on the blackboard in the hall as professor Lambeau comes around the corner. Lambeau yells at Will for scribbling graffiti on the blackboard and chases him off. Meanwhile, Lambeau's assistant stares dumbfounded at the perfect answer. Lambeau is amazed at Will's gifted mind and seeks him out during his jail trial. Lambeau arranges for Will to be released under his guardianship providing that Will meets with him every week, does public service, and sees a psychologist. Lambeau and Will have a great time doing theory together and Lambeau compares Will to the greatest mathematicians of all time.

Will calls Skylar and she agrees to go out with him. She can also see that he's a genius and they hit it off immediately. Skylar falls in love with Will and tries to become a part of his life (she wants to know why they can't go over to his apartment or why she can't meet the 12 bothers he supposedly has). Will tries to hide the fact that he was abused as a child and leads a pretty miserable life. Skylar is about to graduate and is moving to California for medical school, she asks Will to come with her. Will says he doesn't love her (even though he obviously does) and they break up because he won't let her into his trust/won't allow himself to be vulnerable to her.

Unfortunately, Will does not want to see a psychologist (part of his jail release agreement). Lambeau runs through all of his psychologist friends and no one is able to outsmart Will. As a last resort, Lambeau turns to his old college roommate and psychologist Sean Maguire (Robin Williams). It's a rough start, but Sean finally cracks Will's shell and they end up helping each other. Sean helps Will overcome his guilt/fear of being abused as a child and orphaned, Will helps Sean move on with life after the death of his beloved wife.

Lambeau pushes Will to excel. He sets him up for interviews at very prestigious institutions. Sean thinks Will just needs to get his life straight and doesn't think he's ready for the stress of a high-powered job. In the end, Will decides against taking the jobs and goes off to California to win Skylar back. Sean sets off for a trip around the world and the start to his life without his wife.

I really liked the movie. Of course I'm pretty jealous of Will's amazing mind... I often feel limited by my own brain power. I think the movie points out that we're all given a special set of gifts/talents, but we have to overcome our own fears/reservations in order to excel. I really liked the ending of the movie because you just knew that Will was going to win Skylar back and become a famous mathematician while he's at it.