Amazing to think that this work of art was written by Affleck & Damon, when they were bascially kids. Won an oscar, and got one of Williams' best performances ever. It's a masterpiece.

An Academy Award-winning performance from Robin Williams, for a good reason.

I still find it incredible that these two young men wrote this story. Really amazing all around.

The "it's not your fault" scene is so devastating but cathartic. It kills me every time, obviously.

I appreciate actors who can be funny and dramatic! And Robin Williams blew my mind

I love knowing that the movie ends where we all hope he got back together with her, but whether he did or not, he'll be OK because he knows and understands himself so much more after working with Sean. And Chuck's speech hits me in the feels EVERY TIME.

Loved your reaction to one of the greatest movies of all time. Hits so hard every damn time... 🥰 RIP Robin Williams, you were not only a hero of my childhood, a hero of my and many other peoples lifes!

Robin Williams's performance in this gets me every time. The monolog in the park still has me tearing up even after multiple viewings. And the ending when he finally gets Will to drop the wall he's been holding up his whole life 😭Perfectly done 💔~Caroline

This movie cemented my unconditional love for Robin Williams, what a performance, RIP great man. It also introduced me to another actor I love Stellan Skarsgård

One of the greatest movies I've ever seen. Masterpiece. Sean and Will were exactly what each other needed. They helped each other move on.

My favorite film of all time. I have a hundred movies tied for places 2-10, but this is easily my favorite, for numerous reasons.

Matt D. was fast-tracked to Harvard but dropped out to pursue his creative career - his roomie was Jason Furman who was a rock star in his own right. It is easy to forget how amazing it is that Matt and Ben came up with this script and then starred in it when they were so young - now that is genuine talent

One of the best Robin Williams films ever! Outstanding lines, Outstanding acting and pulls the heart strings

It's amazing how they wrote such an impactful scrip so young. And of course Robin Williams is... Robin Williams, one of the greatest actors who has embraced us with his presence. RIP master.

One of the best movies ever. SO well written. Damon & Affleck knocked it out of the park with this. And Robin Williams' performance is nothing short of outstanding. An instant classic.

A great reaction, Addie. I was touched by your empathy. And, you really nailed it by saying Will could objectively realize it wasn't his fault, but he needed to really feel what that meant. You're the first reactor to GWH that I've seen really grasp that. Thank you! ☺❤🌹

This movie and the actors are all top shelf, but after having seen it numerous times, Addie, I got as much enjoyment this time seeing and hearing your reaction. Your sensitivity, thoughtfulness and wisdom shown through... I hope you have someone in your life who treats you really well, or at least will soon. You deserve it!

I love that Addie doesn’t completely over talk the movies

That Ben Afleck scene where he tells Matt the best part of his day is. So impactful

Matt Damon said that writing this movie made him realize just how much he cursed when he was living in Boston. He said in an interview that one time when met with the Miramax Executives, they notified him that they movie will be "R" rated. This confused him so he asked why because there's no explicit sex scenes, drugs, or too much violence and they told him because of the language because they went over the cursing limit. And back then movies were only allowed to have about 2 curse words to get a PG-13 rating, and Matt Damon was told of this. He of course was flexible and offered to lower the amount of cursing and adjust for the PG-13 rating so he asked by how many times do they go over the limit by for the PG-13 rating, and the executive told him "You go over by 145." LOL When he found that out, he realized how much he cursed, laughed at it. and thought "Fuck it. Just leave it as it is." According to him, cursing was just a place holder when speaking or a default for when he's at a loss for words.

The writing for this movie was absolutely fantastic and it’s hard to be believe it was done by a young Matt Damon and Ben Affleck! Matt Damon and Ben Affleck wrote this movie because they weren’t getting much acting work and they wanted the parts as actors and at the time they were really influenced by Reservior Dogs (1992) and the story that they heard is that because Harvey Keitel had signed up for the movie, the director Quentin Tarantino was able to secure half a million dollars for his budget and was allowed to make the movie. This gave them the idea to write the therapist role of Sean Maguire, which obviously Robin Williams would eventually take (which according to them, they got him at a serious discount because Robin Williams was one of highest paid actors of the time). They called it the “Harvey Keitel Part” because they specifically wrote it with the intention of looking for an actor of such gravitas who could secure them money to help make the movie because Matt Damon and Ben Affleck were unknown actors at the time, and were doing all they can to get the movie made. They also intentionally wrote the role to be really open-ended as possible and were flexible to changes. For instance, if a renowned black actor like James Earl Jones, Morgan Freeman or Denzel Washington wanted to come in and play the role, they had the idea to adjust it and make the therapist character be from Roxbury and maybe explore the kind of historic racial tensions within Boston to make the dynamic between Will and his therapist more interesting and possibly contentious. Or if a famous actress like Meryl Streep or Sandra Bullock wanted the role, they would simply make the therapist character female and instead of a father-son relationship they would make the dynamic between Will and his therapist be that of a mother-son relationship, and so on and so forth. According to them, they left the role to be as open-ended because they wanted to cast as wide a net as possible to ensure the possibility of the movie being made. It was really great writing and also quite strategic on their parts!

Such a beautiful reaction to a beautiful movie. You know a movie is great and you're totally caught up in it when it's hard to put your thoughts into words. Thank you so much for sharing this with us, lovely lady.

Rest in peace, Robin Williams.

the bar where Will meets Skyler is called the Bow & Arrow Pub. tucked away on a little side street a few blocks from Harvard it started as a neighborhood bar; in the 60s & 70s a biker gang made it their haunt & Harvard students discovered it in the 80s. so by the noughts it had this eclectic mix of townies, bikers & students.

It's insane looking back at this film realizing how good the acting, directing, writing etc is. With the exception of Robin Williams all of the actors were pretty early into their careers.

Such so strong acting from everyone in this movie... Matt and Ben won an award for this!!

I saw that movie in the theater when I was 24 yrs old. It literally changed my life. To this day it remains one of my all time favorites

She’s also AMAZING with John Cusak in “Grosse Pointe Blank” A must see- Amazing cast and soundtrack

What surprises me about the screenplay here isn't the writing, really; it's the insight. It took me many years of reflection to achieve the same level of understanding demonstrated by the young writers of this script.

Addie's expression at the usual Boston back and forth between friends and would be lovers 😂 so good!

"Am I gonna tear up in every single one of their reactions?" Yeah, pretty much! 😝

Such a great film, such a great reaction. Just reading about the movie, and reading up on stories about very good mathmaticians and their life makes the movie, at least for me, even stronger. There is 3 real life people that could have been the inspiriations to different parts of Will. George Dantzig, William Sidis and Srinivasa Ramanujan. george Dantzig was a student at Berkeley during the 1930s. He wasn't the most motivated student, often running late to class. One day, he was late to class, came in, wrote down the homework on the blackboard and continued to listen to the rest of the class. Worked with the problems for a few days, was very irritated and when he finally handed in the homework to the teacher he said: "sorry for being late, but I felt the homework was harder than usual". The professor didn't understand what student George said, so just answered with: "place them there, I will look at them later". Late one night, someone was banging on George door. Banging so hard the door almost fell in. "You solved the fucking problem. Those where not homework. Those where unsolvable problems, and you fucking solved them". William Sidis was a wonderchild. Insanely good at maths. Started studying math at Harvard University at the age of 12. Even with the studies at Harvard was to easy for this child so he started teaching the other students. At the age of 21 William Sidis was arrested. He was part of a demostration in Boston that became a riot. He was arrested, but William Sidis parents managed to get him out of not going to prison. Instead he was convicted to be forced to go to a psyciatrist for 1 year. That happened to be his own dad. So his dad forced the 21 year old to be locked inside the families home for 1 year, every day have therapy sessions with his dad. After 1 year, the parents moved him to California, they moved with him, and the same treatment was happening there. The parents aimed to "reschool him", and threatened to lock him in to a mental hospital if not agreeing to their demands. Finally he managed to get out of his families claws, and vowed to never again be part of anything in the world of academia. And he did that. He instead took work running adding machines. Srinivasa Ramanujan was born in India. Had no formal training, selftought, solving the books in mathmatics he could get his hands on. He was undiscovered until around 1913. In 1914 he traveled to Cambridge to start working there. Sadly he was discovered to late, and most of his life he was just proving other proofs. He died 1920, age 32. Another mathmatician that is very interesting to read the life about is Terence Tao. Born in Australia 1975, he remains the youngest winner of each of the three medals in the International Mathematical Olympiad. He competed in 86, 87 and 88. First time he was ten, and he won bronze. Myself have read the legend of question six from 1988 Olympiad. I am decent at maths, and I have no clue what they are even asking. He became a professor at UCLA at the age of 24. Also. The questions itself that Will Hunting solved in this movie. Are they really that hard? Could be interesting to find out? (spoiler. They are not hard).

this movie has the best writing ever, the dialogue is so goated

There’s a plaque in Boston Common at the exact spot this scene was filmed right by this bench that says “Your move chief.” Another fun fact: Robin Williams ad libbed “Son of a bitch, he stole my line.” They loved it and left it in the film.

As great as it was to see Williams win the Oscar for this, for me the real success story was Ben and Matt winning for best original screenplay. I remember for years afterwards people doubting that these two had the ability to do it and that they must have had a ghost writer do it for them, which was kind of heartbreaking to see.

Robin Williams is a legend. gotta watch more of his movie's. good morning vietnam is amazing also

For this film Ben Affleck and Matt Damon won an Oscar for best screenplay and Robin Williams won an Oscar for best supporting actor👍👍👍

Over 25 years since it was released and I still think it is Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's best movie in their careers. The funny thing was the previous Oscar year, they were both watching the awards on TV in a hotel room while they were in production for "Good Will Hunting", and a year later, they won their first Oscars. BTW, Robin Williams filmed all his scenes in 3 weeks and while on rehearsal break, he introduced Matt and Ben to Steven Spielberg who was in another part of Boston filming "Amistad". Steven was also casting for "Saving Private Ryan" and when he met Damon, said he would be a great candidate for a role in that movie. What great timing.

14:23 you ca visibly see the camera shaking from the cameraman laughing at Robin’s improvised story. Love this movie

I first saw this movie when I was a kid, and while I still recognized it was a good film, it took a lot more life experience to get me to understand just how powerful it is. As someone who ended up having some parallels with Will Hunting, this film nowadays just absolutely guts me.

I was stuck in Atlanta outskirts for a week long class and has theaters near me and since Will and Bill are both nicknames for William so I picked this one. I was blown away.

Love your reaction!! You're so insightful ~ this has probably one of the best soundtracks of any movie / matching the movie's tone and feel. Great one-liners 'n 2 of the best speeches in the same movie!

Robin Williams (RIP) won the Oscar as Best Supporting Actor, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon won the Oscar for the Best Original Screenplay. This movie is great, and makes my heart hurt because we lost Robin too soon.

this is definitely in my top 10 such an incredible profound movie

One important message of this film that's often overlooked is that, in order to be happy, people with special talents need to truly understand that they don't "owe the world" anything (or their family or their mentors or...). If ANY of us are to be happy, we need to find our own truth -- be 100% honest with ourselves and find out what WE want to do. Dedicating your life to something you're good at rather than to something you love is a recipe for a slow slide into mediocrity and misery. In the long run, all the talent in the world will not make up for the malaise and listless lack of motivation that arises when there's no underlying passion.

I'm surprised at how many people talk about the monologue more than the "It's not your fault" scene. The second is the movie's climax, where Will is rescued. Robin reaches into his soul and touches his heart; And not just his soul but who knows how many audience members souls??

One of my favorite movies of all time. So many great performances. Love your reaction Addie!

Great film. Some of us have had ruinous experiences growing up and unfortunately didn't have someone like Robin that may have helped. That's why I cry happily for the help they provide to each other. Life is what it is though, to actually live, even with horror is better than never existing at all surely?

You should check out Dead Poets Society. Just as emotional and also stars Robin Williams. 😊

I saw a video where Matt Damon was saying that at the end, when Robin Williams says "he stole my line", that was improv on his part. The scene itself was just supposed to be him silently reminiscing, but when he said that line, everyone knew that was the take.

I remember reading the script while watching the movie and it's amazing how much improv Williams brought to the script. He truly made the character. It's a masterful work all around

Awesome reaction to one of my all-time favourite movies, hilarious and heart-breaking. Fun Fact: Addie Counts, but Addie also Rocks. 😊👍🤘❤

Robin Williams could take a role in any movie or show that would be great on its own, with incredible actors and make everyone around him look even better. He was a true genius when it came to making anything, no matter how real or how far fetched seem possible and make you feel like you're part of it. It's hard to imagine that someone with so much inner turmoil, mental, as well as physical, and substance based health issues was capable of making everyone else feel so happy and relevant with his comedy. As he said, "You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it". And he used his to the fullest. R.I.P. to a one of a kind man.

This movie is... so... not what anyone expects. And it shows what some actors, like Damon and Williams, are capable of... and hope. Glad you finally saw this, and really glad you let us come along for the ride.

It was really lovely to watch your reaction to this amazing film. You always present a very real and honest reaction that shows us a tiny little bit more of your soul each time. It shows us that you are a very sweet and kind person. Thank you for allowing your audience to connect with you in a genuine way through these reactions. God bless.

Glad you liked the movie. It's one of my favorites. I really enjoyed watching it through another person's eyes. especially yours, as I can see how emotional you got. And your analysis was so spot on and intelligent, especially when you pointed out Will's mentors and their opposing approaches to saving Will. In cinema, we call the Unity of Opposites. Glad you enjoyed!

yess, been waiting for this reaction, awesome movie!!!

Always happy to see a new Addie reaction recommended. This one was a good one.

Yeah, it's about Goodwill, the used clothing store! Fun fact: this movie was the inspiration for Macklemore's song Thrift Shop. ;-)

RIP Robin Williams. One of my favorite movies of his.

If anyone else had been reacting to this movie I probably would not have bothered, but because it's you Addie I did. I just love your setup and how you do react to movies, you don't make stupid comments during the movie, and what you say, even some silly comments are in context with the movie we are watching. You truly are the best reactor on KZfaq:)

Love your reactions, any chance Dead Poets Society (also features Robin WIlliams) is on the list?

At around 14:22, look at the file cabinet behind Robin Williams' head, and note the slight up and down movement. That's the cameraman cracking up at the dialogue. Apparently, more people on set than just the two actors were having fun at that point in the story. 😎

Robin Williams was a genius. The world is sadder for his loss. RIP

A child being physically abused, neglected and in a home where there is mental illness and alcoholism is equivalent to a soldier in intense combat during wartime. It causes PTSD for the child that will stay with him his entire life...and in this film you can see what this does to the now adults decision making skills....it's all caused by the abuse at such a young age. What Will does and says in this film makes perfect sense to me...some of the finest acting that I have ever seen by Matt and Minnie.

The "It's no t your fault" scene is so iconic. At first WIll tries to quietly agree, but Sean won't let that happen, then he tries to shrug it off with a smirk, and Sean persists, and then will starts getting defensive and confused, and then upset, and then the last thing he does before breaking is lash out at Sean with violence, pushing him. It's his last defense mechanism to keep Sean away to avoid letting the pain out. And Sean doesn't stop. Just amazing.

I swear, every time the "It's not your fault" scene happens, someone is cutting onions around me.

He mentions Srinivasa Ramanujan when talking about Will's math abilities. Ramanujan was a from a different planet that spoke with the gods to unlock the secrets of the universe for humanity. If Ramanujan had lived longer I have no doubt that we would be way more advanced than we are now.

Well, you held it together emotionally better than most. This is one of my favorite all time movies. Very satisfying. Ben and Matt did it masterful job with this screenplay. AND, being basically teenagers. How does that happen?! And now they both have achieved critical acclaim and performed well in just about every film. Well deserved success. Thanks to Matt and Ben. 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

After this movie came out my dad got mistaken for Robin WIlliams a lot for a few years. It was the beard mostly, their beards were very similar and they have the same forehead. Once my dad was buying gas when the attendent started freaking out exclaiming, 'you're Robin William!' My dad *_almost_* had the guy convinced he wasn't when he made the mistake of cracking a joke he said, 'If I _was_ Robin Williams, I think I'd remember.' There was no convincing the guy after that.

This film deserves to exist just for the performance from Robin Williams. Add to that the great performances from everyone else, particularly Minnie Driver, and you have a great great film.

I loved Robin Williams from the first episode of Mork and Mindy, i thought he was the funniest most entertaining guy i ever saw. This movie though showed his real depth, i had no idea he was this kind of actor up to this point, he absolutely killed it in this movie! Years after it came out i only then found out it was written by Affleck and Damon, blew my mind. A lot of talent all around.

KNEW you'd love this one..such a classic Loved your reaction

They won academy award for original script

The bench at Cambridge has turned into a memorial for Robin Williams.

Such a classic film. Glad you loved it. Robin Williams was a genius in his one and only Oscar winning performance! He is greatly missed.

Addie, congratulations on discovering this incredible film. I strongly recommend that you look into the backstory, of how this film came about. The fact that Affleck and Damon wrote it, how they pitched it to the studios, and how they used Sylvester Stallone as a reference to be able to act in it. There's also an interesting part about a random scene they wrote into the script, as a test for the studios. The fact that they were able to get Robin Williams on board, and the film's success is testament to the fact that their original idea resonated and it got picked up as well as earning oscars for Damon, Affleck and Williams.

"I think I got some of your pickle..." Not yet. Maybe later...

Damon and Affleck co-wrote this movie. They had to draw in a big name star (Williams) to get the project greenlit for studios. Many of the scenes in the movie drew from the own experiences, as they both are originally from Boston.

This movie breaking my heart and recolecting it everytime i watching it. What a movie. One of my favourite. And the "its not your fault". Ah

I greatly enjoyed your reaction to this movie. Very genuine and sincere.

The “Man is a syncope… “… a what?” “Ibid, your Honor.” Will / vs Attorney banter is genius

RIP, Robin Williams. He took home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Their accents are incredible

the burger place they ate at was the Tasty (motto: "so good they built Harvard around us"), this greasy spoon place open 24 hours that literally only sold burgers & fries. Harvard Square's been redesigned & rebuilt & the Tasty's gone now.

Thank you for this reaction. I refuse to get in my feels and explain more but I will say thank you.

A masterpiece, worth watching and rewatching countless times.

2:55.... you know Casey and Ben took that from their personal childhood memories lolol

Omg I’ve been waiting for you to do this one

Such a great movie, and wow that guy is blessed to have friends like that!! This movie gets me every time... The acting is so top-notch from all the cast that your brain immediately just accepts their characters as real people. The characters stay with you too. Watch it again and you will see how it feels like you already know them.

With this movie, I truly hope you will continue on a thread of Robin Williams movies! Imagine how amazing that playlist would become!! What's that? You DO intend to do more Robin Williams movies?! Great to hear, Addie! So very happy to hear/read that! I cannot wait! Take care, Addie!!

This is pretty much the movie I watch anytime I feel like crying.

Keep up the great work Addie.

Most people think of Robin Williams as a comedian, but he started as a Julliard trained actor studying under some very acclaimed professors.

So Matt Damon and Ben Affleck also wrote this movie together. They tried to write what they felt would be natural dialogue. After the movie was done, they sent it off to get rated it, and it came back with an R rating, because they used the word Fuck too often. They're only allowed to use it 3 times before they get the R rating. They wanted to keep it PG-13 to hit a wider audience, so they said, hey maybe we can do a couple reshoots to get it down. How much are we over the limit by?... 143. Needless to say they couldn't do that many reshoots so the film stayed R. Damon later said in an interview that he never realized how much he cursed up until that point.

Thank you for reacting!

All of the brothers first names Will rattled off were (when they wrote this) were the first names of Matt and Ben’s favorite directors All big time directors, Have fun looking them up by first name

I had the blessing of meeting Robin Williams numerous times on sets, not part of Hollywood but in a different professional role. He was always very kind and would sit with anyone- and he was ALWAYS- “on”. He would just morph into skits at the drop of a funny statement or anecdote randomly made by someone, abd would have everyone in tears. “Quips like “you’re the shepherd “ Just lighting quick wit. “What Dreams May Come” which he co-starred in -is a brilliant movie but very hard to watch - be forewarned.

Oh, thanks Addie! 😊

Film making at it's best, incredible relatable story, incredible characters and dialog