10 Great Screenplays: #9 Good Will Hunting (1997)

Good Will Hunting, a screenplay by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Wait...what? These two actors, who get more notoriety for their looks than their acting chops, actually wrote themselves one heck of a screenplay. And to think it all started as an idea Damon got in a Harvard English class, where he wrote a 40-page "treatment" (detailed summary, scenes and dialogue optional). Affleck, Damon's childhood friend, helped with the idea and even dropped out of college when a creative writing professor ridiculed the idea. Then, after getting a part in an unsuccessful movie, Damon moved in with Affleck in Los Angeles. He was only semester shy of getting his Harvard degree.

In short, Good Will Hunting was a passion project for them. They believed in it strongly enough and had a surplus of guts to see their idea through. Not many would drop out of school because a professor didn't like their story and even less would leave Harvard with only one semester to go, but they did. I'm pretty sure they don't regret doing so.

Hey professor! Look who's ridiculous now!

Anyway, onto the screenplay.

This story is all about character and it is all about the journey to self-enlightenment. Will Hunting, the titular protagonist, is an out-and-out genius. He has what appears to be a photographic memory and snaps off complicated combinatorics (complex mathematics) that a Fields Medal winner of an M.I.T Professor even stumbles on. Life's good, right? Wrong. Will has attachment issues, the byproduct of being abused by multiple foster parents, and he is afraid of caring, afraid of rejection.

Professor Lambeau brings Will to a psychologist friend of his, Sean McGuire, after other therapists refuse to work with Will. McGuire, a man grieving over the loss of his beloved wife, takes on the challenge that is Mr. Hunting. He finds himself opening up to Will and they slowly become good friends, but Will insists on holding back. 

Enter Skylar, the soon-to-be Med student who captures Will's heart. She's fun, intelligent, and can tell a mean joke. She falls for Will and wants nothing more than to give a long-term relationship a chance. He, however, still has problems with committing. The scars of his childhood persist in bothering him.

He has a few trusted friends, especially Chuckie, a blue-collar construction worker with a definitely blue-collar vocabulary. They are his comfort zone.

Can Will overcome his problems? Can Sean move on from his state of grief? Can Sean break Will's defenses? And can Skylar convince him to follow through with their budding relationship?

All of these questions result in beautifully organic situations of conflict. A battle of wills (:P) between Will and Sean, which forces the two of them to dig deep and find out who they really are and what they really want. This is what Good Will Hunting is all about--discovering what truly matters in life and having the courage to pursue it. 

Simply put, the story is character, conflict, and a little thing called heart. Well done Ben and Matt (sorry Ben and Jerry).