What it’s about
When MIT Professor Lambeau (Skarsgrd) stumps his students with a math problem chalked on a hallway blackboard, 20-year-old janitor/math prodigy Will Hunting (Damon) leaves the solution, prompting Lambeau to track him down. But Will, a rebellious South Boston native who’d rather booze it up with friends like Chuckie (Affleck) than cultivate his gift, resists facing the deep-seated troubles that hold him back at least until he meets psychologist Sean (Williams).
Why we love it
“Good Will Hunting” was a fresh and impressive writing/acting debut for Hollywood unknowns Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, but it's Williams's Oscar-winning performance, as the mentor who helps Will face his past and future, that really sticks in your memory. Targeting both the elitism of the academy and the anti-intellectual currents that constrain real talent in our culture, Gus Van Sant's film is a sensitive, uplifting story about the challenge of self-realization.