Good Will Hunting Movie Review: Character Development and Influence

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Running Head: MOVIE REVIEW: GOOD WILL HUNTING

2MOVIE REVIEW: GOOD WILL HUNTING
Introduction
The movie “Good Will Hunting” is about a 20 years old man, who is actually a math
genius, but he fails to recognize it until late in the movie. The reason behind it is found out by his
therapist which unfolds slowly with the progress of the movie. In this particular essay there will
be a discussion of how Will changed due to interactions with other characters- Lambeau, Skylar,
Chuckie and most important of them all, Sean.
Cause and Effect
The main character of the movie is Will Hunting, based on which the movie has been
named. Each of the above-mentioned characters influenced him to be the person he becomes at
the end of the movie.
Professor Lambeau is the professor of the university where Will worked as a janitor.
Once, the professor wrote a math problem on the board for the students to solve it from home.
On that night while cleaning the corridors, he noticed the math problem and solved it then and
there. Next morning, on entering the professor was amazed to see the problem solved, which
took the professor two years to solve himself. He searched for the student who did it and finally
succeeded in finding Will. He got to know that he is a self-taught genius and learned everything
by learning from library books late at night. Will was also a construction worker and spent his
free time with his friends drinking at a bar (Bayles, 2005). Due to some problem, he was taken to
jail. Then Professor gave him two conditions of taking him out of jail- first, he has to study math
under his guidance and second, he has to visit the therapist twice every week.
Chuckie is a friend of Will, one of the closest among his group of friends with whom he
works as a construction worker and spends free time with. Will got the opportunity to work in
NSA and turned it down through Chuckie whom he sent as his “chief negotiator”. When he kept
on turning down good jobs, just because he loves his comfort zone with his friends around,
Chuckie said something to him, which changed the perspective of Will. He said, that twenty
years down the line he does not want to see Will as his neighbor, because the talent he has is a
kind of lottery which he can win but is not taking the opportunity. It makes Will think deeper
that, the person who is holding him back from succeeding is he himself.

3MOVIE REVIEW: GOOD WILL HUNTING
Skylar is the character who was somewhat the love interest of Will in the movie. Both of
them liked each other, but after their first meet Will refused to keep contact with her. The reason
he showed is that their first date was perfect, and he does not want to ruin those happy memories
by taking the matter forward (Bayles, 2005). In the film, it can be understood that Will behaved
like this because he had been abandoned by his parents in childhood, which created a deep
impact on his cognitive mind. He thinks, others will also leave him like his parents and in that
fear, he himself leave them first. That is why when Skylar tells him to go to California with her,
he refuses and breaks up with her, telling that she will also leave him like his parents. This way
he kept on avoiding situations which may result in future disappointment.
As mentioned above, the most important of all the characters is the character of the
therapist, Sean Maguire. After starting therapy sessions he slowly got to know that Will has a
strong defensive behavior which he shows to those who try to take him out of his comfort zone
or make him face his fears. Before Sean, Will had attended therapies with other therapists as
well, but all of them refused to continue sessions with him due to his extreme defensive
behavior. However, very slowly Sean understood the real problem behind Will behavior. To
make Will open up, he said his own life story to him. He said how he met his wife and how it
was love at first sight. However, she died due to cancer at a very young age, but for this Sean
never regrets. He believes that he had taken the right decision. This made Will believe that he
can also be in a relationship with Skylar.
As the movie nears the climax, Will and Sean find out that both of them had been the
victims of child abuse. Sean made Will understand that Will needs to overcome the fears of his
childhood, and move forward towards a healthier and normal future. After knowing all about his
childhood, Sean forces Will to say and believe that whatever happened in the past is not his fault.
Sean did this by saying the phrase- “It’s not your fault” again and again at Will’s face until he
agreed from within (Bayles, 2005). Will at first tried to show his defense by pushing Sean far
away but when Sean continues to move closer and kept repeating the phrase, Will finally started
to get soft and tears rolled down his cheeks. Finally, he embraced Sean and broke down, and kept
crying for a long time, and the intensity of his crying increased when he made his grip tighter
around Sean. After all this, finally Will learns to take life decisions on his own.

4MOVIE REVIEW: GOOD WILL HUNTING
References
Bayles, M. (2005). Goodwill hunting. The Wilson Quarterly (1976-), 29(3), 46-56.