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"Good Will Hunting": Movie Review

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Published: May 14, 2021

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"Good Will Hunting" Summary Essay

Works cited:.

Carter, T. (Director). (2005). Coach Carter [Motion Picture]. United States: Paramount Pictures.
Jain, R. (2019, June 5). Coach Carter: An Analysis of Leadership Qualities. Medium.
Ken Carter (basketball). (2023, April 1). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Carter_(basketball)
Leadership Lessons from Coach Carter. (2015, January 14). Skip Prichard. https://www.skipprichard.com/leadership-lessons-from-coach-carter/
The Impact of Ken Carter's Decision to Lock Out His High School Basketball Team. (2016, January 14). Vice. https://www.vice.com/en/article/5gqj3q/the-impact-of-ken-carters-decision-to-lock-out-his-high-school-basketball-team

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“Good Will Hunting” Movie: Abandonment, Love, and Attachment

Movie synopsis, defense mechanisms, stages of cognitive development: object constancy.

Fear of abandonment, inability to deeply connect, hardship in love, abusive childhood, and management of challenging relationship creation are some of the prevalent and relatable movie tropes explored in the modern media. The movie Good Will Hunting is a prime example of how cinema can provide the audience with a comprehensive narrative of one’s complex psyche and its role in relationships, career, and talent. From the perspective of psychology, this film also serves as a field of exploration of various theories and concepts to explain the behavior of the main character. Will Hunting, evidently, suffers from multiple behavioral disturbances caused by his abusive foster family, unfortunate circumstances, and socioeconomic background. This essay will explore the behavior of the protagonist through the application of the attachment theory, defense mechanisms, and object constancy.

Good Will Hunting presents the audience with a narrative of Will Hunting’s life story. At first, he appears to be an extremely intelligent genius with a photographic memory who gains profound insight in any field of studies by merely looking at a textbook once. Despite his talent, Will works as a janitor at Harvard until his genius is discovered by a local mathematician who sees Will’s solution to a problem he worked on for years. After that, the scenario escalates: the mathematician bails Will out of jail under two conditions – that he will learn with him and have weekly psychology sessions. While the first condition thrills him, Will resents the second one and drives away any therapist assigned to him. That is until he is paired with a professional coming from the same disadvantaged neighborhood as Will.

As they start working on Will’s psychological problems, the protagonist meets the love of his life, Skylar, but struggles to connect with her on a deep emotional level. In addition, the main character is also pressured to pick up a highly paid academic career due to his talent. In the end, with the help of his therapist, Will realizes that he is ready to commit to a relationship and pursue what he wants, not what others expect of him, and leaves Boston to reunite with Skylar at Stanford.

One of the first and most apparent psychological theories that can be applied to the protagonist is the Freudian theory of defense mechanisms. This concept is explained as complex psychological strategies weaponized by one’s ego to protect itself from unpleasant stimuli. More specifically, Freud concluded that there are several defense mechanisms that people use to avoid harmful experiences.

If to examine what defense mechanisms are present in Will Hunting’s behavior, displacement, denial, and projection can be highlighted as the major ones. Firstly, it is essential to emphasize that his experience being an orphan resulted in him having severe abandonment issues. As it concerns displacement, it is generally regarded as a mechanism of redirecting strong emotional responses from the initial stimuli to other less threatening subjects. Will Hunting is a person who experienced adverse physical abuse in childhood (Ciocca et al., 2020). At that time, he was unable to resist his foster parents but still felt anger and frustration.

At present, he displaces this aggression onto random strangers who express any anger towards him, which results in severe beatings and, consequently, a prison sentence for Will. The impulsive anger he feels towards strangers is a displaced emotion he experienced towards his abusive parent. Secondly, Will Hunting exercises projection by the fear of commitment: in the past, he powerless and alone, left by his unknown biological parents (Ciocca et al., 2020). At present, he projects those feelings onto Skylar by thinking that she does not really love him and plans to leave him, just like his biological parents did.

Thirdly, one can argue that for the majority of the film’s duration, Will Hunting experiences the defense mechanism of denial. At this stage, a person avoids any mention of his trauma and pretends like the traumatic experiences never happened to shield his conscience from past events (Ciocca et al., 2020). It is especially evident when his therapist repeatedly states that it is not his fault that he is like that now – broken and non-committal. Will becomes aggressive and denies his internal guilt that, undoubtedly, has been the root problem in his relationships. Instead of admitting his psychological trauma and working through it, he proceeds to avoid it. Will is also unwilling to disclose his past to Skylar since he lies about having a lot of brothers throughout the movie and then becomes angry when she discovers the truth about being an orphan.

The attachment theory, developed by Ainsworth, is another viable concept to examine Good Will Hunting . According to Ainsworth, the attachment theory explains various types of people’s behavior in interpersonal relationships, explicitly relating these types to the childhood experiences of parenting (Pepping et al., 2018). For instance, if a child has a loving and present mother, he is more likely to grow up with a secure attachment style, which will result in healthy relationships, trust in partners, and independence. Conversely, if a person grows up in an abusive household with a parent who is always absent or cruel, one is inclined to have trust issues and difficulties with a commitment since the first meaningful relationship they ever had were negative.

This theory easily translates into the experience of Will since he is an orphan who was brought up in abusive and uncaring foster families. Throughout the movie, it is mentioned multiple times that Will was physically and mentally abused by a father figure, specifically by showcasing his stab wound and indicating his constant inclinations to violence. Consequently, through this unhealthy parenting that Will experienced, he developed avoidant attachment. Due to this peculiarity, as an adult, he cannot trust others such as his therapist and girlfriend, has difficulties in believing that Skylar will not abandon him, and is always hesitant in intimacy. Pepping et al. (2018) claim, avoidant attachment style is one of the most driving forces behind abandonment and trust issues that Will evidently adopts. Thus, it can be argued that avoidant attachment is one of his most apparent issues in the movie.

The third concept relevant to the investigation of Will Hunting’s psyche is Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, particularly the idea of object permanence. According to Piaget, the human development of infants is divided into particular and clearly defined stages of sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational periods (Capella, 2016). During each phase, some crucially essential skills are developed to sustain children throughout their life, ultimately shaping behavior, intelligence, and set of abilities. For instance, during the first phase of the sensorimotor stage, a child learns how to be curious about the world, coordinate his/her senses, use simplistic language to make demands, and express dissatisfaction (Capella, 2016). Another vital aspect of the sensorimotor stage is the creation of object permanence. This concept explains how children understand that objects and people exist even when they are unable to see them. If this skill is not developed, infants think that, for instance, if their parental figure is not in sight, they do not exist anymore.

Although it is a fundamental human skill necessary for basic existence, it also has underlying implications for trauma creation that relate to the experiences of Will Hunting. Zivkovic (2020) claims that children whose sensorimotor development is disturbed by abuse and neglect suffer from the lack of object permanence. Although, as any mentally healthy adult, Will recognizes that people he does not see still exist, he feels an instinctive unease when the person he feels affectionate toward is not in close proximity. As Zivkovic (2020) finds, “Such violations may also restrict the development of object constancy, which may result in a lack of identity consolidation and affect the individual’s adult relationships” (p. 251). In simpler terms, infants with abusive parents develop object constancy. However, they unconsciously decide to slow the progress since they do not want to recognize that their abuser exists outside their sights, meaning that they are not only temporary but constant threat.

In conclusion, it can be argued that Good Will Hunting can be analyzed from the perspectives of three theories: Freudian defense mechanisms, Ainsworth’s attachment styles, and Piaget’s stages of development. Firstly, the protagonist employs a set of coping techniques to avoid the trauma of childhood abuse. Secondly, his fear of abandonment can be explained by his avoidant attachment style. Lastly, the tendency to distance himself from intimacy fits the theory of object constancy, as described by Piaget.

Capella, C. (2016). Disequilibrium and loss of narrative coherence in identity construction: A Piagetian perspective on trauma in adolescent victims of sexual abuse . Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 30( 4), 323-338.

Ciocca, G., Rossi, R., Collazzoni, A., Gorea, F., Vallaj, B., & Stratta, P. (2020). The impact of attachment styles and defense mechanisms on psychological distress in a non-clinical young adult sample: A path analysis . Journal of Affective Disorders, 273 (1), 384-390.

Pepping, C., MacDonald, G., & Davis, P. (2018). Toward a psychology of singlehood: An attachment-theory perspective on long-term singlehood . Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27 (5), 324-331.

Zivkovic, A. (2020). Developmental trauma and the bad object: Attachment, identity, reenactments. Transactional Analysis Journal, 50 (3), 251-265. Web.

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Good Will Hunting: The Impact of Past Experiences on Personality

Will hunting's cognition and personality development.

Bostwick, J. M., & Bucci, W. (2008). Nature and nurture in personality development: The case of neuroticism and extraversion. Journal of Personality, 76(6), 1395-1420.
Gagne, F. (2017). Nature and nurture in the development of intelligence. In Handbook of Intelligence (pp. 41-60). Springer, Cham.
Kim, S., & Cicchetti, D. (2010). Longitudinal pathways linking child maltreatment, emotion regulation, peer relations, and psychopathology. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51(6), 706-716.
McLanahan, S. S. (1999). Father absence and the welfare of children. Marriage & Family Review, 29(2-3), 84-100.
Tesser, A., & Schwarz, N. (2008). On the relationship between trait measures of self-esteem and emotional vulnerability: A critical reevaluation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(4), 537-544.

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It must be heartbreaking to be able to appreciate true genius and yet fall just short of it yourself. A man can spend his entire life studying to be a mathematician--and yet watch helplessly while a high school dropout, a janitor, scribbles down the answers to questions the professor is baffled by.

It's also heartbreaking when genius won't recognize itself, and that's the most baffling problem of all in “Good Will Hunting,” the smart, involving story of a working-class kid from Boston.

The film stars Matt Damon as a janitor at MIT who likes to party and hang around the old neighborhood and whose reading consists of downloading the contents of whole libraries into his photographic memory. Stellan Skarsgard (the husband in “ Breaking the Waves ”) plays Lambeau, the professor, who offers a prize to any student who can solve a difficult problem. The next morning, the answer is written on a blackboard standing in the hall.

Who claims credit? None of the students does. A few days later, Lambeau catches Will Hunting (Damon) at the board and realizes he's the author--a natural mathematical genius who can intuitively see through the thorniest problems. Lambeau wants to help Will, to get him into school, maybe, or collaborate with him. But before that can take place, Will and some buddies are cruising the old neighborhood and beat up a guy. Will also hammers on the cops a little and is jailed.

He's a tough nut. He sees nothing wrong with spending his whole life hanging out with his friends, quaffing a few beers, holding down a blue-collar job. He sees romance in being an honest bricklayer, but none in being a professor of mathematics--maybe because bricklaying is work, and, for him, math isn't.

“Good Will Hunting” is the story of how this kid's life edges toward self-destruction and how four people try to haul him back. One is Lambeau, who gets probation for Will with a promise that he'll find him help and counseling.

One is Sean McGuire ( Robin Williams ), Lambeau's college roommate, now a community college professor who has messed up his own life, but is a gifted counselor. One is Skylar ( Minnie Driver ), a British student at Harvard, who falls in love with Will and tries to help him. And one is Chuckie ( Ben Affleck ), Will's friend since childhood, who tells him: “You're sitting on a winning lottery ticket. It would be an insult to us if you're still around here in 20 years.” True, but Will doesn't see it that way. His reluctance to embrace the opportunity at MIT is based partly on class pride (it would be betraying his buddies and the old neighborhood) and partly on old psychic wounds. And it is only through breaking through to those scars and sharing some of his own that McGuire, the counselor, is able to help him. Robin Williams gives one of his best performances as McGuire, especially in a scene where he finally gets the kid to repeat, “It's not my fault.” “Good Will Hunting” perhaps found some of its inspiration in the lives of its makers. The movie was co-written by Damon and Affleck, who grew up in Boston, who are childhood friends, and who both took youthful natural talents and used them to find success as actors. It's tempting to find parallels between their lives and the characters--and tempting, too, to watch the scenes between Damon and Driver with the knowledge that they fell in love while making the movie.

The Will Hunting character is so much in the foreground that it's easy to miss a parallel relationship: Lambeau and McGuire also are old friends who have fought because of old angers and insecurities. In a sense, by bringing the troubled counselor and the troublesome janitor together, the professor helps to heal both of them.

The film has a good ear for the way these characters might really talk.

It was directed by Gus Van Sant (“ Drugstore Cowboy ,” “ To Die For ”), who sometimes seems to have perfect pitch when it comes to dialogue; look at the scene where Matt and Skylar break up and say hurtful things, and see how clear he makes it that Matt is pushing her away because he doesn't think he deserves her.

The outcome of the movie is fairly predictable; so is the whole story, really. It's the individual moments, not the payoff, that make it so effective.

“Good Will Hunting” has been rather inexplicably compared to “Rainman,” although “Rainman” was about an autistic character who cannot and does not change, and “Good Will Hunting” is about a genius who can change, and grow, if he chooses to.

True, they can both do quick math in their heads. But Will Hunting is not an idiot savant or some kind of lovable curiosity; he's a smart man who knows he's smart but pulls back from challenges because he was beaten down once too often as a child.

Here is a character who has four friends who love and want to help him, and he's threatened by their help because it means abandoning all of his old, sick, dysfunctional defense mechanisms.

As Louis Armstrong once said, “There's some folks, that, if they don't know, you can't tell 'em.” This movie is about whether Will is one of those folks.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Good Will Hunting (1997)

Rated R For Strong Language, Including Some Sex-Related Dialogue

125 minutes

Matt Damon as Will

Robin Williams as Sean McGuire

Ben Affleck as Chuckie

Minnie Driver as Skylar

Stellan Skarsgard as Lambeau

Ben Affleck

Directed by

Gus Van Sant

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Good Will Hunting Essay Examples

The review of "good will hunting" american psychological drama film.

"Good Will Hunting" is a 1997 American drama film directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Matt Damon, Robin Williams, and Ben Affleck. The "Good Will Hunting" essay gives a movie analysis: its plot, screenplay, performance and more. The movie tells the story of a...

Critical Response to the Film Good Will Hunting

Good Will Hunting is a 1997 movie that was an Academy Award Nominee for Best Picture that same year. It follows Will Hunting, a janitor at MIT, who recently got himself in trouble with the law over a case of assault. A professor at the...

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