GOOD WILL HUNTING: 15th Anniversary Blu-ray re-issue (Miramax, 1997) Paramount Home Video
The ‘Cinderfella’ quality of Gus Van Sant’s Good
Will Hunting (1997) has helped perpetuate one of Hollywood’s grand myths –
namely, that anyone with a dream and a sprinkling of talent can make it big in
the film industry. Certainly, it worked for Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, then a
pair of struggling newbies with seemingly nothing more than a shared venture in
this screenplay about a rudderless/orphaned South Boston prodigy working menial
jobs with his less than brilliant/rebel-rousing cohort. I suppose Good Will
Hunting falls somewhere into that ‘field of dreams’ category –
something about ‘if you make it, they – the public – will pay to see it, and
the Academy will honor it as nothing before.’ In hindsight, it probably
helped matters considerably, the puppet master eventually involved behind the
scenes was none other than mogul, Harvey Weinstein, whose seemingly indestructible
reign as part of the Miramax machine has since been reduced to tatters. Oh, how
the mighty - and perverted - have (thankfully) fallen. But I digress. As the
original ‘high’ concept from Damon and Affleck was to make their movie on their
terms, like all labors of love, this one took some time to get off the ground, repeatedly
running aground and afoul of a spate of directors and production companies who
promised much, but delivered nothing. From their stubborn resolve, and, a
rather clumsily strung together – and occasionally overwrought – series of
dramatic detours, there arose a fairly engrossing character study, to be
nominated for a truckload of Oscars, and one – long overdue – and justly given to
honor the celebrated genius of the late Robin Williams.
The world has changed a great deal in these almost 25-years
since Good Will Hunting hit movie screens. And yet, the picture retains
an almost daredevil relevancy for its psychoanalytic underlay; exploring one’s
inner demons – those small, invisible voices of self-doubt that often prevent us
from reaching our fullest potential in life. The Damon/Affleck screenplay gets
a lot of this right - especially, the outlet for Will’s belligerence and
frustration; the safety valve to, at times, barely manage and/or regulate his
deep and self-reflexive contempt, weighed against his inability to move ahead
or even advance marginally beyond his current station in life, given his
superior smarts. And in this, his first
great challenge as an actor, Matt Damon hits the bull’s eye with sincerity,
unvarnished – and, even better – seemingly unrehearsed. His dramatic intensity telegraphs
a beguiling rectitude to the audience. We can see why Will is much respected by
his closest ally, Chuckie (Ben Affleck), who lacks Will’s genius, though not
the heart to appreciate what a waste Will’s life has been thus far. If Chuckie
can see this, why can’t Will? Or rather, why does Will resist this ‘diamond in
the rough’ quality? It is the emotional authenticity in these infrequent
exchanges between Chuckie and Will to cut like a knife, exposing the open
wounds in Will’s psyche.
Director, Van Sant excels in mining these kernels of
truth from Damon/Affleck’s not-altogether cleverly contrived tale, exploring misspent
promise and pent-up emotional angst, testing the boundaries of love against
fractured intimacy. “How do you like them apples?” And, for the most
part, it helped the picture – then – no one outside of Hollywood’s
inbred enclave knew who Damon and Affleck were. Good Will Hunting, if
nothing else, is a testament to promoting ‘new’ talent from without, taking a
gamble on unproven commodities, and, just having a lot of old-fashioned blind faith
to step into the creative breach without first weighing the calculus of its potential
box office success against a lot of spreadsheets and clever marketing. So, we
get Damon – more restless, cocky and self-assured than any male ingenue ought
to be, as Will Hunting, a janitor at a prestigious college who damn-well knows
he can run academic rings around the Fall cohort of legitimate students aspiring
to fill their heads with the same knowledge he somehow assimilates as
effortlessly as picking bar fights with his rag-tag South Boston bruisers (played
by Ben and Casey Affleck, and, Cole Hauser). After one of his monkeyshines land
him in hot water with the police, Will is placed under the compulsory custody of
mathematics professor, Gerald Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgård), in awe of Will's scholastic
virtuosity in solving complex algorithms. Encouraging Will’s genius isn’t the
problem. Getting him to see it as such, arguably is; also, to get Will to commit
to ‘aggression’ therapy sessions with Lambeau’s weathered psychotherapist, Sean
(Robin Williams).
And it must be said of Matt Damon, he reveals an
uncanny ability to reconcile Will’s organic rage against life with the soul-seeking
pain that anchors his performance in a sort of awkward and unbearably purgatory.
Damon intimately connects with the audience well beyond the ‘just relatable’ or
‘been there/done that’ ilk of social angst Hollywood is usually adept and all too
quick to peddle as verisimilitude. Setting the story in South Boston, a place
as fractured and struggling as our cock-sure young brain is a definite plus,
augmented by director, Van Sant’s narrative verve for grit, visually realized
by cinematographer, Jean-Yves Escoffier’s urban gruel. Getting to the heart of
why Will repeatedly denies himself the luxury of exploring his own potential
lends Good Will Hunting its thought-provoking ballast. If the deus ex
machina of the piece falls back on the time-honored cliché of what ‘one good
woman’ can do, then at least the burgeoning romance between Damon’s Will
and Minnie Driver’s deliciously disarming ‘bright young lass’, Skyler (Minnie
Driver) is as genuine, if constantly in crisis. Confidence will only get you so
far – especially with a gal as forthright and sexy/smart as Skyler. And thus,
the tug-o-war - guts against guarded emotions – begins, or rather, begins to
unravel, placing Will’s insular attitudes in jeopardy.
Will is all too efficient at pushing away those who
may wish to see him succeed, including Lambeau who is determined to challenge
Will’s brainpower and belligerence in tandem. Sean is the antithesis of
Lambeau, careworn, scarred and drained of all human empathy from having dealt
with his own wife's illness. And Robin Williams, long ago stepped away from
merely playing the comic fop in pictures, approaches Sean with an uncanny impassiveness.
In hindsight, it is the ‘sessions’ between Sean and Will that crackle with a magisterial
concentration; banal conversations about the World Series, women, or even
exploring the symbolism in a painting hanging in Sean’s office, depicting a mariner
caught in a storm, are transformed into exalted, ideological debates on the human
condition, gradually to relate more readily and severely on the laying bare of
these two insular men, caught in a rare opportunity to move beyond their respective
emotional stalemates by helping one another.
Herein, we doff our caps to the Damon/Affleck
screenplay; an unusual and thoroughly compelling bundle of nerves to pit Will’s
brainpower against Sean’s earthier attempts to force his emotional involvement
out into the open by poking his psychotherapist’s stick at the rawer and more pliable/teachable
connections in life Will has thus far resisted with every fiber of his being. And
while the arc of development here favors the traditional ‘psychiatrist unlocks
secrets from the worthy sufferer’s past’ ilk in picture-making, there
evolves an unsettling understanding between this ‘master’ and ‘mate’, bonding
together these kindred spirits in a struggle for the truth – however terrifyingly
intense its fallout. In the end, it is Will's inner torment that sincerely legitimizes
his detachment, and, even more satisfyingly, bears out the picture’s cathartic
conclusion; the rudderless young scrapper, neither convinced nor steered by
anyone’s impressions, desires or decisions to manage and look out for his
future. Instead, Will is stirred to reconsider his life’s direction on his own
terms; the puppet now pulling its own strings. In hindsight, this proves the
most rewarding and enduring aspect of the movie today.
Odd, that Paramount should re-issue the ‘15th
Anniversary’ Blu-ray of Good Will Hunting, considering the movie is
now 23-yrs.-old! Apparently, Alliance media group have lost all distribution
rights. I can absolutely understand why Paramount would want to re-distribute
the picture under its own banner. Not remastering the movie in 4K or even to
present it as part of their ‘Paramount presents…’ line-up is a bit odd –
especially since other non-Paramount product like The Haunting (1999) is
getting such attention. But Paramount has not added anything to this re-release.
In fact, packaging and extras are virtually identical to the defunct Alliance
Blu from 2012. So, on the short and sweet side, if you already own that disc
there is no point to double-dip for this one – none at all! The 1080p transfer is virtually identical,
and, before anyone panics, it still holds up under closer scrutiny, with a
reserved palette of colors, effective skin tones, and some solid depth and detail,
good contrast and a light smattering of grain looking indigenous to its source.
How much Good Will Hunting would have benefited from a 4K upgrade we’ll
never know. The DTS 5.1 is competently rendered, showcasing Danny Elfman's excellent
score. Extras? You guessed it – all ported over from the ‘legit’ 15th
Anniversary Blu, including an audio commentary featuring Damon, Affleck and
Van Sant, deleted scenes, a pair of junkets produced in conjunction with the
theatrical release, the ‘Miss Misery’ music video and a trailer. Also, in the
mix, Damon’s reflections on the movie, and the hour-long ‘retrospective’
produced in 2012 which favors unedited interviews in lieu of a more slickly
packaged ‘documentary’ interspersed with vintage clips and behind-the-scenes
footage. Here, you get not only the aforementioned triumvirate of commentators,
but also, Robin Williams, Kevin Smith and Chris Moore – each, offering introspective
(and occasionally rambling) reflections on making the movie. Bottom line: an
odd duck from Paramount, as no one there seems to realize 23 years have since
passed – so, a bizarre ‘anniversary’ edition to say the least! Shameless
retread, actually. Judge and buy accordingly.
FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)
3
VIDEO/AUDIO
4.5
EXTRAS
5+
Comments