Finding Forrester

View Date: December 30th, 2000

Cast :

Writer: Mike Rich 

Director: Gus Van Sant 

Expectation can be a truly powerful emotion, it can weigh on someone soul, propel them to new heights, or shackle them from their true potential. This applies to life, and the movies.  Seeing a preview creates expectations, which are rarely, these days, maintained, while social stature sets standards that can sometimes burden a person’s soul, and shadow them from who they can be.  Movies try to capture this, using a variety of methods, mostly stereotypical and cliché but occasionally, even the simplest story can create a magical glow, with strong writing and subtle twists which go against the norm slightly.  In Finding Forrester, Gus Van Sant’s slightly mirrored follow-up to the Oscar winning Good Will Hunting (an Oscar, by the way, that is more attributed to Affleck and Damon’s writing, than Van Sant’s direction, since few even remembered that he helmed that film) the preview lays down a few expectations of what will be seen, and the subsequent delivery lays some typical storylines which could have been exploited and manipulated.  But Van Sant does a wonderful thing, he lets the story tell itself, and the audience think for itself, while quietly touching our soul and inspiring our heart in a story of finding who we are, who we’ve been, and who we want to me.   

The story does bear a resemblance to Hunting, in the manner that it is a tale of a genius, literary this time, and a mentor, and their trek together that helps them both discover something.  But while Hunting dealt with a broad range of issues regarding this matter, Forrester stays more focused on a writers coming of age and recognizance of his talent, while allowing him to remain true to his roots and desires.  Jamal is an inner city youth with extroverted passion for basketball, and an introverted on for reading and writing.  He is an intellectual, hidden in the body of a basketball playing youth who is just trying to survive and fit in.  He has the gift of words, but hides it behind his hoop skills, for fear of not fitting in and being able to provide for himself and his mother.  Overlooking the park where the youth play is “the window”, an urban legend that watches over them and is the subject of many dares and fantastic tales.  During one of the dares where Jamal sneaks into the apartment, he is surprised and scared off by the inhabitant, leaving his book bag behind.  Upon retrieving it, he finds his journals corrected and heads off to confront the inhabitant.  Said resident is William Forrester, whom Jamal’s class (at the gifted rich school where he is sent) just happens to be studying.  Forrester wrote one book and disappeared into obscurity.  What follows is a plethora of story lines, any of which could have been exploited or overdone, but each of which is deftly handled and given its due.  There’s the inevitable bonding between Forrester and Jamal, where the latter will need his help, the tutoring, the conflict between black and white, rich and poor, the stereotypical doubts raised by an instructor (Abraham) who challenges Jamal’s skills and even a romance subplot with a fellow student (Paquin).  This may seem like a lot for a movie to throw onto its plate, and in the hands of a lesser master, it could have been an unfocused train wreck.  But Van Sant helms things quite masterfully by never losing focus of what this movie is truly about, the characters, the writing and the discovery of one identity, and rebirth of another.  I think I have finally found common ground in Gus Van Sant’s movies.  It’s taken me a bit, but it seems as if there is a common link running through all of them, and they either hit real close to home, or are so dark that I just don’t get the story.  Each tale tells of someone struggling, or dealing with some extraordinary circumstance in his or her life in an extreme manner.  Whether it is writing talent, as it is here, or intelligence (Good Will Hunting), the desire for fame, whatever the cost (To Die For) or sheer survival (Drugstore Cowboy), no one captures the battle to fit in better than Van Sant.  

A key to why this movie works so well lies in the chemistry between Brown, a rookie, and Connery, the wily veteran.  Connery has aged so well, as have his roles.  As he moves up in years, his selection of characters has elevated (save Entrapment), and here, as the reclusively wise Forrester, his touches of comedy and sincerity fit the role its hard to imagine anyone else in this role. The true standout and discovery though is Brown in the main role.  He takes this character and makes it his, appearing not as acting, but as natural reactions to given material.  He was hand picked by Van Sant for athletic ability, and the acting was an incredible bonus.  If he keeps this up, he will have a long future in acting, if that is indeed his profession of choice.  Coming across as an athletic intellectual and going against stereotypes is a challenging task, one that he exceeds with relative ease. 

Ultimately, Finding Forrester takes a conventional tale of student/mentor, overcoming differences in race and social status, and finding a place in the world, and peppers it with over used, overdone story ideas.  What makes the film work is the fact that he never twists the screws in tight, but only acknowledges their existence, resolving things with a glance, a look, or a touch, rather than hammering the idea home like so many other filmmakers do.  Any movie involving the power of the written word, and prodigies of youth is going to strike a serious chord with me.  This is a well-written movie, by great writers, about great writers. Finding Forrester seemed to have everything that I could want in a film.  It dealt with writers (of which I like to think I am) and not just writers per se, but the psychology, stigma and mindset attached to putting into words what you feel and see and having someone else be able to relate.  It also dealt with a child prodigy of sorts, someone trying to come to grips and acceptance of who he is, while society expects and demands him to be something else.  The parallels between Van Sant’s last film, Good Will Hunting, and this are bound to be brought up, but should be quickly discounted, because the comparison end at the teacher/mentor/genius storyline.  This is a film about both characters equally, and he balances the story quite well.  While he does resort to several typical plot device, he at least knows when to throw them in, focus on them, and then leave them alone, rather than dwelling and hammering the points home.  This is the sign of a maturing filmmaker, and this is a mature, real and touching result of his growth. ($$$ out of $$$$)

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