Your analysis is phenomenal. I see you have reacted to _Forrest Gump_ and _The Thing_ already, so I will watch them shortly. Outstanding work!

Sean’s monologue is one of the best. And chuckie’s speech at the end and Sean’s “it’s not your fault”, gets me every time

Right there with you, that bench scene is one of the best scenes in cinema history. The lack of camera panning or large movements definitely brings the best out of Robin Williams' monologue.

I always loved how Will's friends are never played for laughs or portrayed as idiots, and they're just comedic in the sense that you see them fooling around, but never in the sense that you're supposed to think they're morons. Sure, they're just regular guys and Prof. Lambeau talks some shit about them at some point from his own snobby p.o.v., but whenever they appear with Will, they're portrayed as loyal to a fault and they never judge Will or make him feel left out because he's different than them. To the contrary, they just accept him for who he is and they're even proud of the fact that he's that smart, like when he embarrasses the douche at the Harvard bar when he meets Skylar and Morgan (Casey Affleck's character) says to Skylar and her girlfriend, "My boy's wicked smart!" That scene where Chuckie calls Will out on being a pussy and tells him that he owes it to him to do something besides being a construction worker and how he wants him to move on to greater things does a great job at showing how Chuckie's not dumb by any means, and how he honestly just wants what's best for Will even if it means he'll no longer be in his life. That's a true friend right there, and why Sean told Will Chuckie doesn't count as his soulmate because he's family.

Robin's line "Scared of what you'll say" is so incredibly hard hitting. I've done some physically dangerous, my life on line-life of another in peril- type stuff, and most terrifying thing I have ever done, or ever will do is first time I sat down and started talking to a therapist.

I've seen this movie reacted to a lot, and in Shawn's speech on the bench reactors usually cut out the pauses in Shawn's speech. The pauses really make it, letting each line sink in for Will.

While it's a film that stands as an example of story writing at it's best, and Robin Williams at his best - don't knock yourself for not seeing it until now. Minnie Driver is also a stand-out in this film despite not receiving nearly as much film time. Great review Elie! (PS: Don't relinquish your belt w/ the giant W. You may of course feel free to relinquish your shirt, that would be fine.) :P

"Son of a bitch stole my line" was a brilliant improvised line by Robin Williams.

ur not wrong ... this movie has some of the best scenes in cinema... my fav scene is the argument between jerry and sean at the end about will... their acting is incredible in that scene..

"Damon and Affleck evidently made re-write after re-write but were becoming so frustrated with Castle Rock not reading them, that they added-in some out of context sex scenes between Will and Sean to see if they noticed -- they didn’t." Not sure if this just added fuel to the fire for long standing rumors of Ben & Matt being more than friends but it tickles my fancy. They shared some of that same energy in Kevin Smith's 'Dogma' when Affleck's character; Bartleby tells Damon's Loki to stop staring at him... "people are gonna think I just broke-up with you." Evidently they wanted Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio for their roles in Good Will Hunting but both actors were tied-up in other films.

The fart story about Seans wife was improvised by Robin Williams. You can see Matt Damon literally breaking character dying with laughter, even the camera guy is craking up, that's why the camera is not steady all of a sudden.

I myself have seen easily thousands of movies and that scene on the bench is still one of my favourite scenes ever.

I like the fact you play the best scenes out in practically their entirety.

His friend taking over at the end and riding shotgun, imo, is symbolic. It's his turn to move up in the world now

As someone who grew up in Massachusetts and who was a college student when Good Will Hunting was released, this film is especially near and dear to my heart. I've watched countless reactions to it, and I think yours is, by far, the best. I appreciate your insightful comments and how you point out things, such as framing, panning, and focus, that most responders miss. Film school is clearly a place you belong, and I'm already curious what the future has in store for you. One note that I'll add to your reaction is that when Will responds to the gift of the car by saying, "This is the fucking ugliest car I've ever seen in my life," it's actually the best compliment he could ever give, and his friends realize this. Insults were a way that guys of my generation back then demonstrated our affection for other guys. I used to think the same phenomenon existed everywhere, but I recall later watching the film with a Japanese friend, and he couldn't understand why the guys were so "mean" to one another. Anyway, keep up the great work, Elie. I just subscribed and I look forward to watching many more of your reactions in the future.

Great reaction, Elie! Loved this movie!

No the ending tells you or Legend has it: the car broke down and didn't make it 59 miles went back home and watched the patriots game

Hey, Elie, I'm thrilled to see you break this classic down.

Nice critique. I enjoyed hearing your views about the editing during the movie. I've never noticed some of those details before.

This film has NEVER failed to move me (and I’ve seen it a bunch of times). If you can’t shed a tear during this, I question your humanity. Thank you for the thoughtful commentary during this film… Robin Williams was an incredible force of nature during this film and you clearly recognized that. Keep up the great work! A couple of other great ones in a similar vein (great writing/acting/emotional)… “STRANGER THAN FICTION’” and “ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND “… also “ARRIVAL” and “CHILDREN OF MEN”…. You’ll be blown away by them.

Great reaction! Thanks for leaving the complete park bench scene, I wish every reactor would do this. It's is as necessary as leaving in the complete "I Hope" scene at the end of Shawshank Redemption. One small critique; Be aware of the important scenes and don't interrupt until the scene is finished. I enjoy long commentary as long as you pause and it's relevant to the movie.

I really enjoyed your analysis --- pointing out some of the art behind the art of what makes a top movie like this so good. I'd love for you to watch Scent of a Woman, another top movie from the same era, also with boatloads of awards. It features some amazing character acting by the leads Al Pacino and Chris O'Donnell and, just as in Good Will Hunting all the other actors put in top notch performances.

If you ever get a chance to see Grosse Point Blank, please, please do! Minnie Driver stars in it with John Cusack and it's such a eclectic little film that I watch every year. it almost has the same flavor as Garden State (staring Natalie Portman & Zack Braff) and is a film I have a difficult time explaining to the 'norms' who just want explosions or saccharine rom-coms in their diet. Ben and Matt showed up in the film; School Ties (also staring Brendan Fraser) which has some heavy material but I don't believe they had major roles. Ben Affleck's brother Casey had a cameo in the film; Chasing Amy and I think he's popped-up a couple other times in his brother's films.

MINNIE DRIVER IS FKN INCREDIBLE.... GD

Nice reaction. Such a great great movie.

You have great insight for a young film student. And I'm totally biased about the bench scene, but it is IMO the greatest monologue scene in movie history.

And they lived happily ever after… 😂 Great commentary dude!

One of the best scenes in movies!

Finally! So glad you appreciate it, Elie. 🍎 #ElieMoses #GusVanSant #GoodWillHunting

A fantastic movie and solid reaction. As much as I like flashy, epics with all the action sequences and CGI, when a character-focussed movie does it well, there's no topping it. Other good character-study movies I recommend are The Shawshank Redemption and The Breakfast Club.

For me, this is a top 5 movie. Up there with saving private Ryan, Braveheart, Forrest Gump, Braveheart, tropic thunder, there’s something about Mary, gladiator.

There’s no. CGI, no special effects, just good dialogue.

I watch a lot of wrestling podcasts and a lot of movie reviews but I never thought I'd see a WWE championship belt in a movie reaction channel. For a moment there, my brain was a little confused.

U picked a classic Elie! When r u gonna post ur next Breaking Bad reaction?

I think you missed part of the message. He didn’t feel good enough deep down inside. He needed Robin William’s character to say over. and over “” It’s not your fault. He knew that at an intellectual level and but he didn’t truly feel it.

Talking about the importance of good editing -- there is a playlist on KZfaq of scenes that were cut from this movie. All of the scenes are pretty bad. If those scenes would have been left in at the expense of eight of the scenes that survived, this movie would not have been good.

Ok, i believe you, you're a film student but the man-splaining is a little heavy, sorry. The pausing to talk to us is awesome, seriously, I wish all reactors would do the same since they are talking over & basically ignoring dialog and scenes to tell us things which indeed it is a reaction we're here for but a lot of times i find myself screaming "shut up" to my TV because they're missing an important line or scene. Your thoughts on the "how do you like them apples" scene are proper imo, i feel the exact same way but that's the Canadian in me I've been told.😊 Great job, thank you.

TLC match

Great Reaction... One point though... Splashing your name across the film's screen seems Egotistical and is NOT NECESSARY...

First robin williams is overrated..boring actor..same character in his movies no range...anyways i was really here to say I'm on will side that trust fund baby can't just ask/force someone to go to California just cause she wants to chance it. I will not leave my hometown for a girl.. That's the mistake Emily almost made on Friends when ross asked her to move to new york from London.. Never move for anyone.. You move for a better career then find the wife... Yeah will intelligencr can help him out find something in California but that's not a good reason to move for someone.