'Good Will Hunting' = Great Robin Williams

Comic Genius = Acting Giant + "Real" Man

GOOD WILL HUNTING (1997)

Director = Gus Van Sant
Writers = Matt Damon + Ben Affleck
Stars = Robin Williams + Matt Damon + Ben Affleck

Read Original Screenplay
Read William Goldman’s Take On The Screenplay

When Good Will Hunting hit theaters in 1997, it marked the big-screen breakthrough for best friends and actor-screenwriter partners-in-film Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.

Directed by Gus Van Sant, the film had all the makings of Miramax award bait—and for me, it delivered. Nominated for 50+ awards and winning at least 25 that year, the film laid the foundation for Damon’s and Affleck’s careers as Hollywood heavyweights.

It also gave audiences a few lessons about hearts and smarts.
How do you like them apples?

For all the film’s accolades, its true magic lies in Robin Williams’ human, sensitive, and thoughtful portrayal of Sean. Though the character is technically a “supporting” role, Williams got top billing for more than just his good looks and name recognition.

Robin Williams’ performance, as Will Hunting’s tough-but-tender therapist, brought a gravitas and humanity to the film. For me, it turned a movie-of-the-week screenplay into a work of cinematic art. It also earned Williams several awards, including an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. But I don’t think Robin Williams did the film for the awards, the fame, or the money. At least not primarily.

Don’t believe me (or remember)? Watch this scene…and try not to cry. In case you don’t remember it—or never saw the film—it’s where Sean gets to the heart of their personality conflicts. Not with anger or force but with compassionate truth bombs.

Why is this scene coming up—over 25 years later—for me? Well, let’s just say I’ve seen far too many folks recently popping off, thinking they’re Will Hunting. In real life, in the media, and online.

Folks so full of bravado. Folks so eager to prove they’re smarter or stronger than everyone else. Folks so quick to burn bridges and whole towns down just to protect their fragile egos and opinions. In other words, folks too dumb—and too full of pride and prejudice—to grow and shut the fuck up.

The “truth”—from my perspective—is that what the world needs now is more folk like Sean. And more actors like Robin.

I think it’s safe to say most of us are looking for more leaders who lead with empathy, more listeners who listen with open hearts and minds, and more superheroes who are super because they realize vulnerability is most heroic superpower in the universe.

In my book, Robin Williams wasn’t just a comic genius or an acting giant—he was a “real” man. Warts and all. For better and worse. His portrayal of Sean Maguire is far more than the performance of a lifetime. For me, it’s a reminder of what being a “real” hu-man can look and sound like.

In a world of Wills and Matts, let’s aspire to be more like Robin and Sean.

Thanks for reading!
Clint

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ON THIS DAY = DECEMBER 19

BIRTHDAYS

• 1910 = Jean Genet = French novelist and activist 🌈

• 1915 = Édith Piaf = French singer-songwriter and actor

• 1920 = David Susskind = American talk show host and producer

• 1924 = Cicely Tyson = American actor

• 1924 = Edmund Purdom = British-Italian actor

• 1925 = Robert B. Sherman = American songwriter and screenwriter

• 1928 = Nathan Oliveira = American painter and sculptor

• 1944 = Tim Reid = American actor and director

• 1946 = Robert Urich = American actor and producer

• 1960 = Michelangelo Signorile = American journalist and author 🌈

• 1963 = Jennifer Beals = American model and actor

• 1967 = Criss Angel = American magician

• 1969 = Kristy Swanson = American actor

• 1971 = Amy Locane = American actor

• 1972 = Alyssa Milano = American actor and activist

• 1980 = Jake Gyllenhaal = American actor and producer

HOLIDAYS + OBSERVANCES

• National Hard Candy Day

EVENTS

• 1776 = Thomas Paine publishes "The American Crisis", as part of his series of pamphlets The Pennsylvania Journal.

• 1843 = A Christmas Carol, the novella by Charles Dickens about the miser Ebenezer Scrooge and his transformation after being visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve, is published.

• 1900 – French parliament votes amnesty for all involved in scandalous army treason trial known as Dreyfus affair.

• 1922 = God of Vengeance opens at the Provincetown Playhouse. The drama, translated from Yiddish and performed in English for the first time, includes the first lesbian scenes on the American stage.

• 1924 = In Hanover, Germany, a gay man named Fritz Haarmann is found guilty of 24 of the 27 murders and sentenced to death. The case ultimately becomes one of the inspirations for Fritz Lang’s classic film M. The publicity surrounding the case results in a major setback for the German homophile movement.

• 1924 – The last Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost is sold in London, England.

• 1932 – BBC World Service begins broadcasting as the BBC Empire Service.

• 1958 = POTUS Dwight D Eisenhower relays a Christmas message to the world from the SCORE satellite, his voice becoming the first ever to be transmitted through space.

• 1958 = “The Little Drummer Boy” is released as a single.

• 1971 = Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange premieres in NYC.

• 1974 – Nelson Rockefeller is sworn in as Vice President of the United States under President Gerald Ford under the provisions of the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

• 1980 = Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull is released in theaters.

• 1986 - The made-for-tv musical Babes in Toyland, based on the 1903 operetta and starring Drew Barrymore and Keanu Reeves, premieres on NBC.

• 1997 = James Cameron’s Titanic is released in theaters.

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PHOTO + QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Don't listen to what anybody says except the people who encourage you. If it's what you want to do and it's within yourself, then keep going and try to do it for the rest of your life.”
Jake Gyllenhaal

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