Analysis of the Film Good Will Hunting

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Set in South Boston, Good Will Hunting is about Will Hunting (Matt Damon), a young man who immerses himself in books, drinking and friends to escape his anger and frustration stemming largely from his past experiences with abusive foster families. Will and his best friend, Chuckie Sullivan (Ben Affleck), hang out together with their small group of friends in impoverished areas of Boston, drinking and occasionally fighting down in Southie. Will works menial jobs, hiding his incredible genius (such as a talent for memorizing facts and an intuitive ability to solve complex math equations). While Will is working as a janitor at MIT, Professor Gerald Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgård), a Fields Medalist and combinatorialist, puts a difficult problem for his graduate class on a chalkboard in the hallway, hoping that someone would be able to solve the 'challenge' by the end of the term. Will solves it overnight and secretly posts the answer the next day. This throws the classes and professors into confusion, wondering who could have solved the equation. At some point during the next few days, Will meets Skylar (Minnie Driver) at a Harvard bar, and she gives him her phone number. Meanwhile, at MIT, Lambeau and the other professors decide to put up a much more complicated problem — one that had taken him and his colleagues two years to prove. Soon after they have put up this second problem, Lambeau and his assistant find Will, in his janitor's uniform, writing on the chalkboard. Lambeau (thinking Will is vandalizing the board) is incensed and chases Will away, but then returns to the board to find his astonished assistant staring at the correctly solved theorem. While Lambeau is in the process of trying to track Will down, Will and his f... ... middle of paper ... ...is heart and go to California to find Skylar, instead of continuing his life in Boston. Will casts aside the lucrative job opportunities that Lambeau had offered him, and puts his heart on the line, leaving it up to "fate", but not before dropping by Sean's apartment, who is still in the process of packing his things. As Will drives off, Sean finds a note in his mailbox from Will explaining what he was doing and using the line "I have to go see about a girl", the very same line that Sean told his friends when he first spotted his future wife in a bar. The next morning, Chuckie and his buddies drop by Will's apartment with Chuckie showing up at his doorstep, to find Will gone. A smile forms on Chuckie's face as he walks back to his car, realizing his friend has finally left. The movie ends with a scene of Will driving his car on the highway, headed to California.

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