Good Will Hunting

Miramax Films | Release Date: December 5, 1997

CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION

71	METASCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

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Critic Reviews

Critic score Publication By date

Mr. ShowbizKevin Maynard

Intelligently written, sharply directed, and beautifully played.

David Ansen

Gus Van Sant, working from the tangy, well-written script, gets so much humor, grit and emotional truth out of this tale that the familiar formulas behind it simply fall away. Read full review

Shawn Levy

With its sweet soul and sharp mind, it's one of the most heartening films of the year.

Keith Phipps

Van Sant's direction is surprisingly static and conventional, which doesn't help this earnest, underwhelming misfire. Read full review

Ann Hornaday

Fairly bursts with the exuberance and youthful energy that must have attended its creation.

David Sterritt

Matt Damon and Robin Williams give touching performances, but Gus Van Sant's filmmaking is surprisingly ordinary. Read full review

Emanuel Levy

This beautifully realized tale is always engaging and often quite touching. Read full review

Marc Savlov

Part character study, part redemptive drama, and all cheesy heart, it's Boston-baked melodrama, a little too gooey at times, but still pretty delicious. Read full review

James Berardinelli

An ordinary story told well. Taken as a whole, there's little that's special about this tale -- it follows a traditional narrative path, leaves the audience with a warm, fuzzy feeling, and never really challenges or surprises us. Read full review

Roger Ebert

It's the individual moments, not the payoff, that make it so effective. Read full review

Jami Bernard

You'd never guess this just-off-center movie was directed by indie hero Gus Van Sant. Maybe, like Will, he's casual about his gifts and feels no need to trot them out. Read full review

Janet Maslin

The script's bare bones are familiar, yet the film also has fine acting, steady momentum, a sharp eye and a very warm heart. Read full review

Mark Caro

Presents a few too many hugs and arguments over what's best for Will. But ultimately, the movie, like its protagonist, boasts an integrity and intelligence that are tough not to admire. [25 December 1997, Tempo, p.1]

Film.comMatthew Kohut

Thanks to solid performances by Damon, Williams, and Driver, the story glides by on charm.

Dallas ObserverPeter Rainer

Damon--as actor, not as co-screenwriter--is the best thing about Good Will Hunting. Read full review

TNT RoughCutAndy Jones

Damon benefits greatly from a director like Gus Van Sant ("My Own Private Idaho") who understands quiet, funny moments, intricate relationships and beautiful young actors.

100

Peter Stack

Intimate, heartfelt and wickedly funny, it's a movie whose impact lingers. Read full review

Mike Clark

Damon convincingly matches Williams recrimination for recrimination in this portrayal of mutual tough love, even with the latter giving what may be the best performance of his career. Read full review

Desson Thomson

Director Van Sant, who made the lyrical "Mala Noche," "Drugstore Cowboy" and "My Own Private Idaho," returns to his favorite hunting ground -- the subworlds of grimy, poetic lost boys -- and pulls us right in Read full review

Owen Gleiberman

Stuffed--indeed, overstuffed--with heart, soul, audacity, and blarney. You may not believe a minute of it, but you don't necessarily want to stop watching. Read full review

TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh

The acting is top-notch and some scenes are authentically well-observed. Read full review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

This is good, solid work that never achieves either the art or poignance of Van Sant's earlier and more personal projects. Read full review

100

Jay Carr

First and foremost, Good Will Hunting is a film riding young, exuberant energies. Read full review

Richard Schickel

Hearts sinking, we are obliged to endure much pseudo-serious gabble as we head toward another painfully predictable triumph of the human spirit. There must be some better way of hunting our--and Oscar's--goodwill. [Dec. 1,1997]

Rick Groen

Both smart and shrewd -- it wraps that same comforting message in a thoroughly entertaining package. Read full review

Kenneth Turan

While the charismatic performances of Damon and Affleck make Good Will Hunting a difficult entertainment to resist, doing just that is not as hard as the film would like to think. Read full review

Film.comJohn Hartl

The script also happens to be quite literate and laceratingly funny, and Damon -- no big surprise here -- turns out to be the perfect actor to deliver Will's zingers.

Andrew O'Hehir

It isn't surprising that the film was originally based on actors' improvisations, since it creates a universe of tremendously enjoyable characters and allows them plenty of room to roam, but has only the most predictable notion of plot and nothing whatever to say beyond be-yourself pieties. Read full review