History Film / GoodWillHunting

* TheGlassesComeOff: When Will pressed Maguire's BerserkButton, he calmly takes them off in the background before unleashing TranquilFury-infused death threat to Will.

* OvershadowedByAwesome / CantCatchUp: Lambeau, by Will. Agonizingly lampshaded by Lambeau himself.

* FakeNationality: Swedish Stellan Skarsgard portraying a French(?) professor named Lambeau.

-->'''Sean:''' India, China....and Baltimore.

---> '''Sean''': I woke up and said, "Somebody light a match!"
---> '''Will''': Was that how she died?

--> '''Chuckie''': Let me tell you something: if you're still here in twenty years, and you come over to watch the Patriots game, I'll fucking kill ya. And that's not a threat, that's a fact.

---> '''Sean''': I woke up and said, "somebody light a match!"

--> '''Sean''': I woke up and said, "somebody light a match!"
--> '''"Will''': Was that how she died?

** According to the filmmakers' commentary, Sean and Will's laughter in the scene when Sean talks about his wife's flatulence is genuine. The joke that really sent them off the deep end (not used in the actual film)? "Sean: I woke up and said, 'somebody light a match!'" "Will: Was that how she died?"

* DawsonCasting: Damon was 26, but his character was 20.

* ThrowItIn: Maguire's final line, "Son of a bitch...he stole my line," was ad-libbed by Robin Williams, and was kept as the second-last shot of the film.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Creator/BenAffleck and Creator/MattDamon first asked Creator/KevinSmith to Direct. He declined because he felt the script deserved a better Director, and served as a Producer instead.
** MichaelMann, StevenSoderbergh and Creator/MelGibson were also considered before Creator/GusVanSant was hired on.
** Damon and Affleck's original idea for the film was more along the lines of a thriller, with the CIA endeavouring to use Will's math talents for their own ends. The Weinstein brothers encouraged them instead to focus on the relationship between Will and Maguire.
* WrittenByCastMember: Damon and Affleck's Oscar-winning screenplay.

* BreakingSpeech: Will pulls several off successfully. He also tries using one on RobinWilliams, to avoid talking about his own feelings. [[spoiler:Despite the words cutting Williams' character at first, the next time the two are together, Will gets a Lecture thrown right back at him]].

* BreakTheCutie: Will's back story involves abuse and abandonment.

* JerkassFacade: Will uses this as a defense mechanism.

* JustifiedTitle: Trust, i.e. 'good will' is necessary for helping Will.

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%%* AppealToObscurity
%%* [[ArmorPiercingQuestion Armor Piercing Statement]]: "It's not your fault."

%%* AwardBaitSong: "Miss Misery".
%%* BadassBeard: Maguire's beard.

%%* ButtMonkey: Morgan among his friends.

%%* ClusterFBomb
%%* CoolOldGuy: Sean
%%* CriticalPsychoanalysisFailure

%%* GeniusBruiser: Will.

%%* HollywoodNewEngland

%%* MaybeEverAfter: [[spoiler: Will and Skylar]]
%%* MeaningfulEcho: "[[spoiler:I have to go see about a girl.]]"
%%* MissingTheGoodStuff: Maguire's story about Game 6 of the 1975 World Series.

%%* UnsportsmanlikeGloating:

%%* YouWouldntBelieveMeIfIToldYou

* AlmightyJanitor

* AppealToObscurity
* [[ArmorPiercingQuestion Armor Piercing Statement]]: "It's not your fault."

* AwardBaitSong: "Miss Misery".
* BadassBeard: Maguire's beard.
* BerserkButton: Disrespecting Maguire's wife is almost a lethally stupid mistake.

* BreakTheCutie: Will's back story.
* BrilliantButLazy: Will
* ButtMonkey: Morgan among his friends.

* ClusterFBomb
* CoolOldGuy: Sean
* CriticalPsychoanalysisFailure

* EEqualsMCHammer: The completed algebraic equation given by Lambeau as a challenge is (in real life) actually a basic linear algebra problem. Pretty advanced for most people (beyond calculus), but not for a college mathematics professor.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Maguire is introduced teaching a community college class on psychology, specifically lecturing on the importance of trust. The only reason he's able to help Will is because Will trusts him.
* ForWantOfANail: Will's lengthy explanation of why he doesn't want to work for the NSA.
* GeniusBruiser: Will.
* GoodWithNumbers: Will, obviously.
* HannibalLecture: Will is an advanced student of them and pulls several off successfully. He also tries using one on RobinWilliams, to avoid talking about his own feelings. [[spoiler:This is a subversion, though, as despite the words cutting Williams' character at first, the next time the two are together, Will gets a Lecture thrown right back at him that is something of a combination of ShutUpHannibal, TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, and a HannibalLecture itself]].

* HollywoodHypeMachine: Affleck and Damon won an Academy Award for their script, and promptly became the biggest stars in Hollywood. They've parlayed that success into different avenues over the years, with Damon appearing to be much more critically and commercially consistent than Affleck, whose career petered out for a period of time in the mid 00's. However, Affleck has recently reinvented himself as a well-respected director, a la Clint Eastwood, while Damon's career has begun to stagnate.

* HollywoodNewEngland
* {{Improv}}: Much of RobinWilliams' monologue about dating was ad-libbed.

** He is shown to be a ''very'' fast reader.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Will and Lambeau (to a degree) fall under this.
* JustifiedTitle
* {{MacGuffin}}: Will's math talents drive the plot of the film, but it's basically an InformedAttribute (see that trope above).
* MaybeEverAfter: [[spoiler: Will and Skylar]]
* MeaningfulEcho: "[[spoiler:I have to go see about a girl.]]"
* MissingTheGoodStuff: Maguire's story about Game 6 of the 1975 World Series could be considered a subversion.

* TheMourningAfter: Discussed by Maguire during one of his monologues.
* OddFriendship: Maguire and Lambeau, although their relationship is strained, are revealed to have been old buddies and get a bit of reconciliation as the movie progresses.

* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Happens to Prof. Lambeau (played by Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard) occasionally.

* PhotographicMemory: Played with. Maguire talks with Will about his ability to memorize books and analyze information ridiculously fast, but not know the feelings, emotions and sensations that result from a lifetime of personal experiences.

* RealisticDictionIsUnrealistic

* TheShrink: Maguire

* {{Southies}}

* UnsportsmanlikeGloating: A moment of awesome.

* YouWouldntBelieveMeIfIToldYou

* StarMakingRole: For both Affleck and Damon, as well as a dramatic one for RobinWilliams, who had primarily been known for his comedy work up to that point.

* EEqualsMCHammer: The completed algebraic equation given by Maguire as a challenge is (in real life) actually a basic linear algebra problem. Pretty advanced for most people (beyond calculus), but not for a college mathematics professor.

''Good Will Hunting'' is a 1997 drama film directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Creator/MattDamon and Creator/BenAffleck.

After solving a complex mathematical equation at the campus, Will is discovered by Professor Gerald Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgard), a Fields Medal-winning mathematician who sees a lot of potential in Hunting, and sends him to psychiatrist Sean Maguire (Robin Williams), while at the same time, Hunting strikes up a relationship with the beautiful Skylar (Minnie Driver), who is also confronting her own personal problems. Will must learn to overcome his deep fear of abandonment (with Maguire's help) in order to learn how to trust and love the people who care about him.

''Good Will Hunting'' was a financial success, earned widespread critical praise, an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for Robin Williams that spearheaded his dramatic career and an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay that launched Damon and Affleck into prominence.

See also ''FindingForrester'', another GusVanSant film about the discovery (and self-discovery) of an intelligent young man.

* BerserkButton: Dissing Maguire's wife is almost a lethally stupid mistake.

''Good Will Hunting'' is a 1997 drama film directed by Gus Van Sant and written by MattDamon and Creator/BenAffleck.

** Creator/BenAffleck and MattDamon first asked KevinSmith to Direct. He declined because he felt the script deserved a better Director, and served as a Producer instead.
** MichaelMann, StevenSoderbergh and Creator/MelGibson were also considered before GusVanSant was hired on.

--> '''Chuckie''': Let me tell you something: if you're still here in twenty years, breaking brick with me, I'll fucking kill ya. And that's not a threat, that's a promise.

* ForWantOfANail: Will's lenghty explanation of why he doesn't want to work for the NSA.

* EpiphanyTherapy: Maguire helps Will turn a serious corner in his life and inspires him to be something more by admitting that it wasn't his fault that his father abused him.

* EEqualsMCHammer: The completed algebraic equation given by Maguire as a challenge is (in real life) actually a basic linear algebra problem.

* HollywoodHypeMachine: Affleck and Damon won an Academy Award for their script, and promptly became the biggest stars in Hollywood. They've parlayed that success into different avenues over the years, with Damon appearing to be much more critically and commercially consistent than Affleck (whose career petered out for a period of time in the mid 00's).

''Good Will Hunting'' is a 1997 drama film directed by Gus Van Sant and written by MattDamon and BenAffleck.

** BenAffleck and MattDamon first asked KevinSmith to Direct. He declined because he felt the script deserved a better Director, and served as a Producer instead.

* IronicEcho: "[[spoiler:I have to go see about a girl.]]"