Good Will Hunting

I absolutely loved 1997's Good Will Hunting. It was excellent! The fact that actors Ben Affleck and Matt Damon wrote this movie's screenplay while they were in college makes it even better! This movie made a person think. I tend to not follow movies very well, maybe because I'm sometimes not interested, but this movie intrigued me.

The article Holden Caulfield, Alex Portnoy and Good Will Hunting: Coming of Age in American Films and Novels by Lawrence E. Ziewacz discussed how this movie began. It read "Written by co-stars Matt Damon and Ben Affleck- actually begun as a 50 page script by Damon for a screen-writing class at Harvard- he had two semesters to go for his degree- it grippingly details the struggle of Will Hunting, a foster home orphan in South Boston, to discover how to orient himself into the adult world and how to maximize his immense intellectual talent- he is a genius- in the real world." I find it wonderful that this screenplay was done by two college students. It shows what a person can do if they put their mind to something. The article goes on to explain the type of life that Will Hunting (Matt Damon) has lived. I felt that his friends brought a lot of humor to this movie, especially Morgan (Casey Affleck) and Chuckie (Ben Affleck).

I felt this movie was about a very strong, intelligent young man trying to find his way in life. Will Hunting had an extremely difficult childhood. Will also was a genius mainly in mathematics but had an interest in everyone. Even with this amazing ability of his, Will was content with being a janitor and hanging out with his friends every night. I know if I was a genius, I'd be rich, that's for sure!

The article Too smart for their own good? by Patrick McCormick discussed a few different movies with "geniuses" including A Beautiful Mind, Rain Man, and Good Will Hunting. It read "Matt Damon's genius janitor in Good Will Hunting can humiliate MIT professors, but he's about as grown up as the average schoolyard bully." The article discussed how some genius's maybe didn't have the best childhood. The article also read "You get the sense that somebody stole their childhood, or at least all their recess periods. Maybe they could do algorithms at 4, but nobody ever taught them to color or play marbles." I believe these thoughts relate to Will in Good Will Hunting quite nicely. I think that Will became interested in books, math, and other things because of the type of childhood he had.

Will's unique adventure began when Professor Gerald Lambeau started his search for the "mystery math magician" (Will Hunting). I felt that the professor did a great thing by bailing Will out of jail. It was easy to tell that Professor Lambeau saw Will's potential. However, he also saw Will wouldn't be very easy to get through to.

It was humorous to see Will's great sense of sarcasm show in every single one of appointments with psychologists. Will was stubborn and knew he didn't need a shrink to help him. Professor Lambeau made the right move when he decided to invite his old college buddy, Sean Maguire (Robin Williams), into the situation.

I felt that Robin Williams played his part very, very well in this movie. It was easy to see that Sean's plan was to just get Will to talk. I don't think Sean even cared what Will talked about, he just wanted to listen and see what happened from there. It was easy to see that Will hit a nerve when he mentioned that maybe Sean married the wrong woman. I was very well convinced that Sean had been deeply in love with his wife who passed away a few years before. During Will and Sean's laughing session about how Sean's wife used to fart in her sleep made me smile so hard! Sean said that those are the things he is so glad he remembers about his wife. The way he talked about his wife made me want to have a husband like him someday!

I really enjoyed the music in this movie. I also really liked certain scenes that I felt the filming was excellent. The scene when Will was looking out the window on the bus especially impressed me. I also liked that even when one person was in a room, the whole room was scanned so we could get every detail.

I really liked the scene when Sean took Will to the park. Sean spoke about love, marriage, and life in general. I could see that Sean really got through to Will as he told him about experiencing life. He explained that Will reads books upon books about everything, but hasn't really experienced those things. You could see in Will's eyes that he was starting to understand. I was glad to hear Sean scold Will for thinking he knew Sean by looking at a picture.

It was nice to see that Will wanted to go to his sessions with Sean. During this time, Will had found a nice young lady, Skylar (Minnie Driver). Will had explained to Sean that he didn't want to ruin the idea of this "perfect" girl he has met by hanging out with her too much and taking things to the next level. I agreed with Sean when he said no one is perfect. Our imperfections are what make us special. Sean told Will that the question is whether Will and Skylar are perfect for each other, not if they are individually perfect.

I could tell that Will's childhood had a part in his inability to commit to Skylar. I imagine it is very hard for those with difficult childhood's to put there heart out there for someone else to take in. Will seemed so happy when he was with Skylar. When Will told Skylar about his scars and his childhood in their argument I could see how much Skylar really cared for him. She didn't act frightened while he was yelling, she emphasized how much she wanted to be a part of his future. I cried when Will told Skylar he didn't love her. I knew he was lying.

I believe that the professor really wanted Will to have a great future, but he pushed too hard. Will wasn't ready for those meetings that Professor Lambeau set up for him. He needed to figure out what he really wanted to do. That is why I felt Sean was so important in helping Will. He wanted Will to be ready before he made any big decisions.

What I loved most about Good Will Hunting was that Sean sought to help Will, and Will ended up helping Sean as well. Will wasn't just Sean's client, he became a friend. I noticed that Sean called Will "sport" throughout the whole movie. When Will left his last appointment with Sean, Sean called him "son". I could tell Will felt loved for once in his life.

In the end, Will decided on his own what he wanted to do for himself. He fooled both Sean and the audience by going to a job interview and telling Sean about his boss. I loved it when Will left Sean a note saying he had to go about to see a girl. I really didn't think he would go back to Skylar! But I'm glad he did.

I think my favorite part of the movie was when Chuckie went to Will's house and for once Will wasn't home. That is what Chuckie had been waiting for.

On the Waterfront

I really enjoyed Elia Kazan's On the Waterfront. This movie kept me at the tip of my chair it's whole length of 108 minutes.

The article Arthur Miller's Proletariat: The True Stories of On the Waterfront, Pietro Panto, and Vicenzo Longhi by Stephen Schwartz read "On the Waterfront is very possibly the greatest labor film ever made in America." I would have to agree. I felt that it was a very good black and white movie. It had action, romance, comedic value, and suspense. This movie's screenplay was by Budd Schulberg. The article included that this movie seemed more like a documentary than a dramatic motion picture. It also read that Schulberg had spent two years with the real labor priest, Father Corridan. Schulberg wrote an article for The New York Times in 1952 that discussed the life on the West Side docks. The article also compared On the Waterfront with The Hook. It read "On the Waterfront draws a sharp line between good people and evil people, while The Hook confuses the difference." I agree. On the Waterfront showed how a person can go from not having very much to a lot from doing the right thing. This movie had some very bad people in it. I'm glad Terry didn't get stuck in the mob.

I liked the action of the movie but I especially enjoyed the romance between Edie Doyle (Eva Marie Saint) and Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando). Edie and Terry's relationship reminded me of the 1978 movie Grease with Danny Zuko (John Travolta) and Sandy Olsson (Olivia Newton-John). Terry and Danny are the bad boys who get a hold of the sweet and innocent girls. Both boys act really tough around their buddies, but when they are with their ladies, they can't help but to show their sensitive sides. The article On the Waterfront by Phillip Lopate described Terry as "the sensitive, inarticulate, darkly frowning star" and Edie as "translucent, powder-white, like a Kabuki lioness." Terry once stated in the movie that Edie was the best thing that has happened to him.

The fact that Terry met Edie during the time period of her brother's death was nice so that she had someone to keep her going, however unfortunate once Edie found out that Terry had a part in the murder. The scene when Terry told Edie about what really happened when her brother died was very hard to watch, but I knew he was doing the right thing. I felt that the sound of the waterfront drowning the dialogue of Edie and Terry was very suspenseful and made the situation even more sad to watch.

The article On the Waterfront spoke about this movie and read "it hasn't a moment of relaxed breathing." I agree. I was interested the whole movie.

I had to giggle when Terry busted down Edie's door to speak with her. It was quite humorous when Terry "shut Edie up" with a kiss. However, it showed she had a true passion for him. I enjoyed the scene early in the movie when Terry asked Edie "Will I ever see you again?" Edie replied with "What for?" It was easy to see that Edie was hesitant to spend time with a boy who had such a reputation.

I felt that the music in the movie was very good. It was fairly easy to tell when something bad or sad was going to happen because of the music approaching the scene. Music adds a lot to a movie and it was very noticeable to me in On the Waterfront.

I thought that the priest (Karl Malden) played a very important role in this movie. Every time someone was killed he got very upset and wanted to find justice. He emphasized the whole movie on how ridiculous it was for everyone to be covering for those who were killing. The priest was the one who convinced Terry to do the right thing with Edie and with the public so that Johnny Friendly (Lee. J Cobb) would be punished for what he had done.

The scene when Terry found his brother, Charlie, was very emotional. At that point I think Terry had realized that the whole situation had gone too far and he needed to do something about it. It scared me when he left and told Edie to stay where she was. I really didn't want him to hurt anyone. I was rooting for him to tell the truth in court. I was thrilled when he did!

I was very upset to see that the young boy on the rooftop had killed all of the pigeons. I could tell it broke Terry's heart. The pigeons were very important to Terry and Edie's brother before he died.

Of course the best part of the movie was the ending. I felt the end was magnificent. After Terry had been beaten, he got up with the help of his friends and showed how strong he was. The priest helped him do it on his own by yelling "Take your hands off!" and "Leave him alone!" as he was walking.

"All right, let's go to work!" was said by the boss when Terry finished his walk and everyone cheered.

Casablanca

The article Playing It Again and Again by Kathy Merlock Jackson reads "Casablanca has captured the popular imagination in a way that no other movie--with the possible exception of Gone with the Wind or The Wizard of Oz--ever has." I am going to have to agree with the exception of The Wizard of Oz, which happens to be at the top of my list. Nevertheless, Casablanca seemed to be a pretty good movie for it's time. 

I felt the actors and actresses chosen were perfect for their parts in this movie. Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa Lund was a beauty. I saw loneliness in her eyes during a few scenes. I'm guessing that loneliness was Rick Blain (Humphrey Bogart). It was so sad to see Ilsa married to a man that she could never completely give her heart to, because of Rick. My favorite character was Sam (Dooley Wilson). He seemed to be so nervous, especially around Ilsa. You could definitely tell he was quite protective over his buddy Rick. 

The line "We'll always have Paris", said by Rick to Ilsa, put a smile to my face. He knew he had to let Ilsa go, but wanted her to know they shared something special. This is a line I have heard in a few different movies. There were other lines in the movie that I recognized from other movies and every day conversations.

The article Playing It Again and Again talked about why this movie was so important to the American people after the start of World War II. The article read "Released a year after the United States entered World War II, it was one of the approximately 500 films appearing between 1942 and 1945 that addressed war subjects. It was designed to strengthen support for the Allies and, particularly, America's involvement in the war." I can't imagine what it would be like living in America during World War II. This love story must have been a refreshing change from the typical war movies at the time.

Most of the movie was pretty clear to me, however, it took me a while to catch on to the flash back to Ilsa and Rick's romantic time in Paris. I really liked the scenes in Rick's Cafe, with Sam playing the piano and everyone having a good time. I also enjoyed the scene with Rick helping the young couple win some money. Even though Rick came across as a tough guy, this showed his caring side.

It was my first time seeing Casablanca. I think if I saw it again I would find more good and bad things within the movie. Overall, I enjoyed watching it.