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Good Will Hunting (1997)
In director Gus Van Sant's coming-of-age drama about
an angry, misguided, paranoid, and delusional 20 year-old who was
provided direction in his life by a therapist, his friends and girlfriend:
- the scene at a bar near Harvard University where
20 year-old, troubled but gifted genius and MIT janitor Will Hunting
(Matt Damon) showed off his own intellect with debate words in
order to humiliate a pretentious student named Clark (Scott William
Winters), who bragged about his recent learnings: "...Were
you gonna plagiarize the whole thing for us? Do you have any thoughts
of your own on this matter? Or do you - is that your thing? You
come into a bar. You read some obscure passage and then pretend
- you pawn it off as your own, as your own idea just to impress
some girls and embarrass my friend? See, the sad thing about a
guy like you is in 50 years, you're gonna start doin' some thinkin'
on your own and you're gonna come up with the fact that there are
two certainties in life. One: don't do that. And two: you dropped
a hundred and fifty grand on a f--kin' education you coulda got
for a dollar fifty in late charges at the public library..."
- the scene of the second meeting between South Boston
psychologist and community college teacher Sean Maguire (Robin Williams)
and Will Hunting at Boston Common on a park bench overlooking swan
boats on the pond, when Maguire counseled Will about experiencing
life more than rationalizing about it - he provided advice about
really living life instead of using intellectual defense mechanisms::
("You're just a kid. You don't have the faintest idea what you're
talking about...You don't know about real loss, 'cause that only
occurs when you've loved something more than you love yourself. And
I doubt you've ever dared to love anybody that much. I look at you.
I don't see an intelligent, confident man. I see a cocky, scared
s--tless kid. But you're a genius, Will. No one denies that")
At the Bostom Common Park
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- Will's on-off romantic relationship with a graduating
Harvard senior from Britain named Skylar (Minnie Driver), with
plans to attend Stanford Medical School in the fall - she asked
Will to join her in California but the non-committal Will was reluctant
and turned angry when she questioned his willingness to break up
their relationship: Skylar: "I just want you to come to California
with me...Why not?...If you don't love me, you should just tell
me...Why won't you come? What are you so scared of?...You live
in this safe little world where no one challenges you and you're
scared s--tless to do anything else." Will: "You just
want to have your little fling with like, the guy from the other
side of town. Then you're gonna go off to Stanford. You're gonna
marry some rich prick who your parents will approve of and just
sit around with the other trust fund babies and talk about how
you went slummin', too, once.."; she responded by confronting
him with the truth: "Why are you saying this?...So don't put
your s--t on me when you're the one that's afraid....You're afraid
of me. You're afraid that I won't love you back. You know what?
I'm afraid, too. But f--k it, I want to give it a shot. And at
least I'm honest with you"; during their emotional outburst,
she professed her love for him no matter the circumstances of his
abused upbringing: ("I love you. I want to hear you say that
you don't love me. Because if you say that, then I won't call you
and I won't be in your life") - they broke up after he coldly
stated: "I don't love you"
- the sequence of Will offered a lucrative and promising
job with the government intelligency agency, the NSA - he refused
it with a scathing tirade against the organization - acting against
his own self-interest:
"Why shouldn't I work for the N.S.A.? That's a tough one, but
I'll take a shot....So what did I think? I'm holdin' out for somethin'
better. I figure, f--k it, while I'm at it, why not just shoot my buddy,
take his job, give it to his sworn enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb
a village, club a baby seal, hit the hash pipe and join the National
Guard? I could be elected president"
- the sequence of construction worker and friend Chuckie
Sullivan (Ben Affleck) challenging Will to do something with his
life: "In 20 years if you're still livin' here, comin' over
to my house to watch the Patriots games, still workin' construction,
I'll f--kin' kill ya. That's not a threat. That's a fact. I'll f--kin'
kill ya...Look, you got somethin' none of us have....You don't owe
it to yourself. You owe it to me, 'cause tomorrow I'm gonna wake
up and I'll be 50, and I'll still be doin' this shit. That's all
right. That's fine. I mean, you're sittin' on a winnin' lottery ticket.
You're too much of a pussy to cash it in, and that's bullshit. 'Cause
I'd do f--kin' anything to have what you got. So would any of these
f--kin' guys. Be an insult to us if you're still here in 20 years.
Hangin' around here is a f--kin' waste of your time"; he then
added that he hoped that Will would move on with his talents: "Let
me tell you what I do know. Every day I come by your house, and I
pick you up. We go out and we have a few drinks and a few laughs,
and it's great. You know what the best part of my day is? It's for
about ten seconds from when I pull up to the curb and when I get
to your door. 'Cause I think maybe I'll get up there and I'll knock
on the door and you won't be there. No 'Good-bye,' no 'See ya later.'
No nothin'. You just left. I don't know much, but I know that"
- the "It's not your fault" scene in which
both Sean and Will discussed how they were victims of child abuse,
and how the trauma continued to affect Will - with Sean's assurances
that it wasn't his fault: (- "It's not your fault." - "Yeah,
I know that." - "Look at me, son. It's not your fault." - "I
know." - "No. It's not your fault." - "I know." - "No,
no, you don't. It's not your fault. Hmm?" - "I know." - "It's
not your fault." - "Alright." - "It's not your
fault. It's not your fault." - "Don't f--k with me." - "It's
not your fault." - "Don't f--k with me, alright? Don't
f--k with me, Sean, not you!" - "It's not your fault. It's
not your fault." - "Oh, God, Oh God, I'm so sorry")
"It's Not Your Fault"
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Bar Scene
Discussing Future with Girlfriend Skylar
Disastrous Interview to Work at NSA
Advice From Chuckie: "You're sittin on a winnin'
lottery ticket"
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