NDSU Spectrum: Movie review

‘Forrester’ recaptures the magic of ‘Good Will Hunting’

By JOHN HANSEN

Jan. 19, 2001

In one of the after-school chats in “Finding Forrester,” student-athlete phenom Jamal Wallace (Rob Brown) describes William Forrester’s (Sean Connery) lone novel as a story of how life keeps pushing you down and you never really get to do what you want.

“You needed a book to figure that out?” the reclusive writer responds.

Viewers probably won’t need a movie to figure it out either, but that doesn’t make “Finding Forrester” any less enjoyable.

The film is a subtle masterpiece that’s best described as “Good Will Hunting” Light. Drawing on his experience directing the 1997 masterpiece about a highly-intelligent student and a brilliant teacher who help each other through life, Gus Van Sant recaptures the magic here.

Mike Rich’s script for “Finding Forrester” isn’t quite as layered as “Good Will Hunting.” It certainly has its moments, but it’s more of a distilled effort that relies on subtleties that can be brought out by a great cast.

Although his boredom with his Bronx school results in “C” grades, Jamal’s test scores are so outstanding that he’s accepted to a top-notch private school in Manhattan. Of course, the fact that Jamal can hoop it up with the best of them further clinches the school’s decision to offer a free ride.

William is a mysterious legend who wrote his only novel years ago. Although it was hailed as a masterpiece, William became so disgusted with critics telling him what his novel meant that he never published another book. After all, he knew what his book meant, and he didn’t write it for the critics.

The acting is uniformly brilliant. Connery’s reputation precedes him, but I was still impressed by his sympathetic transformation from eccentric loner to an old man with a childlike fear of public places.

Sixteen-year-old newcomer Brown seems like a veteran actor playing a kid who lives in multiple worlds — he can play street basketball with the best of them; but he can also discuss great literature as he watches “Jeopardy!” with William.

The always-adorable Anna Paquin lights up every scene as Claire, a white girl who becomes Jamal’s best friend at the private school. As Jamal’s classmate Coleridge, Michael Pitt basically reprises his shy-kid gig from “Dawson’s Creek,” only he wears wool sweaters this time. And Busta Rhymes’s colorful personality is perfectly suited to playing Jamal’s older brother, a parking lot attendant at Yankee Stadium.

Jamal is a pure talent who can blend with any crowd. While he can teach Claire how to play defense on a rooftop, he can also stand up for Coleridge. When Professor Crawford (F. Murray Abraham) shows the kid up, Jamal responds by showing the teacher up in one of those guilty-pleasure movie-fantasy scenes. As William points out, a failed writer can be either excellent or dangerous as a writing teacher, and Crawford is certainly the latter.

“Forrester” doesn’t teach us anything new about life, it just makes us understand it better. It’s about dreams — being scared of failure and even more scared of success. It’s about inspiration, and how the stuff we write for others is never as good as what we write for ourselves.

It’s about trying to think for yourself in a world of blaring messages and distractions. For example, Crawford is fascinated with the sound of his own voice, but dismissive of students’ views. And the brief scenes of Jamal writing in his notebook even as shouting and banging headboards can be clearly heard from his apartment is a prime example of the film’s knack for effective wordless scenes.

Above all, “Forrester” is about the simple concept of friendship, no matter how unlikely it may be. As a black youth, Jamal is equally comfortable with his basketball buddies, a rich white girl or an eccentric old writer. Because when you boil it down, friends are the only reason we make it through the day, and the only reason we want to get to the next one.

Title: “Finding Forrester”

Starring: Rob Brown, Sean Connery, Anna Paquin, F. Murray Abraham, Michael Pitt, Busta Rhymes

Written by: Mike Rich

Director: Gus Van Sant

Grade: A