"Good Will Hunting"—it's your fault for not watching this yet

SPOILER ALERT! With Jimmy Nichols

I used 2025 as the year to educate myself on some of the best movies ever made. For the first time, I watched “Good Morning Vietnam,” “Dead Poets Society” and “The Shining.” 

Every new movie brought a new experience, enjoyment and appreciation for how movies are laid out and constructed. One movie that builds on this expertly is “Good Will Hunting.” 

In the breakout film for future A-list actors, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, the audience follows Damon’s character Will Hunting's journey to self-improvement. Joining the two future stars on the call sheet were Robin Williams and Stellan Skarsgård.  

This is another movie where Williams shows he is so much more than a comedy actor.

While he has a few jokes and one-liners, this is one of the more serious roles I have seen the late actor play. 

Williams portrays a therapist named Sean, who is in a rut following the passing of his wife. Sean offers to be the therapist for Will Hunting. 

Will is shown as a very intelligent man whose knowledge makes him a prodigy. However, due to issues in his childhood and run-ins with the law, he has been forced to work jobs as a janitor and construction worker. 

The audience watches as he solves math equations effortlessly, only to be arrested for fighting a guy who was harassing a woman. The judge, after being convinced by Skarsgård’s character, Professor Gerald Lambeau, releases Will into his care under the conditions that he works with Lambeau and sees a therapist.  

Will is glad to do the first one, but hates the idea of seeing a therapist, scaring off the first three. Running out of options, Lambeau turns to his old college roommate, whom he has not talked to in years, Sean. 

After one session with Will, Sean wants to help him. He sees he is just a hurt kid who needs someone to be there for him.  

The movie explores the ideas of abandonment, abuse and pushing others away to avoid rejection. While it explores these ideas, the movie also explores the concept of love and achieving your full potential. 

One character who helps force Will to face these issues is Skylar. After meeting at a bar, the two hit it off and started seeing each other.  

But when things start to get more serious, Will is afraid of being abandoned and pushes her away, telling her that he does not love her. 

In the sessions, Sean constantly confronts Will about why he feels the need to do this, and eventually the audience learns that it’s because of how he was treated as a child. 

Orphaned at a young age, Will went through foster care, where he experienced abuse, such as cigarettes being put out on him. Since then, he has closed people out to avoid being hurt again. 

Sean helps Will realize that love is a choice to be with someone, to love them because of their imperfections. Whoever you choose to love is not going to be perfect; you are going to have to show them the bad sides of yourself and might get hurt doing it. However, we need to do it because if we do not, wewill live life with regrets, wondering what could have been. 

This is where the iconic “It’s not your fault” scene is from, where Sean comforts Will as he realizes it’s not his fault that he is like this. 

This scene is so powerful. Four words being repeated over and over again hold so much that it leaves the viewers feeling the hurt that Will has gone through in his life. 

The movie also explores the ideas of reaching your full potential and living the life you want to live. With the help of Lambeau, Will has the chance to interview with several firms and agencies that would love to hire someone with his intelligence. 

Will, however, struggles with taking this step because he doesn’t want to leave his friends. This is where his best friend Chuckie, played by Ben Affleck, has the biggest impact. 

He tells Will that any of the people they work with would love to have his knowledge, and he should use it to get out of Boston and improve his life.  

The struggles to satisfy others' wants for your life are expertly shown throughout the film as Will is unsure what to do. In the end, he chooses to be with Skylar and take a chance in California, leaving Boston behind, as Chuckie said. 

This has been one of the best movies I have watched since I started my education on some of the greatest movies of all time. It hooks the audience early on and leaves them wondering what decisions will be made by the end. 

Another great thing about this movie is there are multiple storylines and decisions that need to be made and resolved. Each plot line is given time to develop, and each decision feels important.  

When it comes to some of the greatest movies of all time, “Good Will Hunting” deserves to be in the conversation.