A critically acclaimed drama directed by Gus Van Sant that helped put two future Hollywood superstars on the map, “Good Will Hunting” was a surprising box office success, grossing over 200 million dollars on a modest 10 million dollar budget. Written by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, who also plays the lead protagonist, it won the duo an Academy Award for the best original screenplay. Damon plays the role of Will hunting, a poor 20 year old South Bostonian who is a self taught mathematical genius in disguise, working as a janitor at the MIT and spending his free time drinking with his lower class buddies. His life takes a dramatic turn when he anonymously solves a difficult mathematical problem posted by MIT math professor Gerald Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgard). When Lambeau posts another problem, Will gets caught trying to solve it and flees the MIT remises. Later he beats up a man who bullied him in his childhood and gets arrested. Lambeau arranges for him to be released, under the conditions that he studies mathematics under Lambeau and receives behavioral treatment. When Will is defiant towards the therapists he has to visit, Lambeau calls up his former college roommate Sean Maguire (Robin Williams), a community college psychology teacher who manages to get under Will’s skin. Sean will force Will to face the demons of his past and decide what he wants to do with his life. Will meets and falls in love with Skylar, a British Harvard student, and he also has numerous prestigious job interview lined up for him, but his propensity to burn his bridges threatens to jeopardize all of his chances to rise above his South Boston surroundings.
Joan Rivers still in coma
