Sanan Khan

Robin Williams is one of the greatest ever stars in the history of cinema and he has left behind his artwork that people still crave in 2021 after his sad demise in 2014. The keyword research we did on Best Movies Like Good Will Hunting surprised us. Like you, there are many people looking for movies that will somehow satisfy their craving for a movie of a similar kind. We are here to help you find that movie, stay here and find your perfect temporary or permanent replacement for Good Will Hunting. 10 Best Movies Like Good Will Hunting Good Will Hunting - Two Great Actors These are 10 of the most similar movies like Good Will Hunting that will help you in your pursuit of finding new movies that will match or surpass your expectations when comparing it to the classic. Dead Poets Society (1989) It has Robin Williams as the lead role. It is one of the most beautiful movies ever made, yes Good Will Hunting has a larger fanbase as it doesn't only have Robin Williams but Matt Damon, Ben Affleck with Casey Affleck starred in one of the earliest movies of their careers. The education system that we loathe today and the lack of real mentors was also an issue identified in 1989. This movie is more like a journey of the teacher we all wanted in our childhood, that ray of hope who takes us out and understands us to the core. It is one of the most adored movies and John Keat played by Robin Williams is one of the most liked characters in the history of Cinema. A must-watch movie for all the teenagers frustrated by the education system's systematic burdening, while parents who want to understand their kids better will be kicking themselves if they don't watch this evergreen movie, and well the educators should include this in their training! Finding Forrester (2000) We often forget the director of a movie after the death of a popular star and start to associate the famous movies with the deceased star only. Good Will Hunting and Finding Forrester are the creations of the same director, Gus Van Sant. It gave a new turn to the career of Sean Connery and the audience found how this popular macho man of Hollywood can fit into an alien role. This tale like Good Will Hunting is not outrageous and it just connects with normal people. The pacing of the movie is amazing despite the topic of writing being the focus of the movie, mind you it is my job but the majority of people find such movies half-baked especially when it comes to pacing. Talking about the pacing, you will not even notice how the 2 hours and 16 minutes movie ended so smoothly, it is just very pure backed by the most natural acting you will find in movies. This has become a rarity in modern-day Hollywood, where outrageous scripts and over-the-top acting has ruined the charm of the cinema. Best movies like Good Will Hunting don't become as natural as this one, a masterpiece that is recognized by few people only. Manchester by the sea (2016) Matt Damon and Casey Affleck join hand in this movie after Good Will Hunting but this time, Matt is producing the movie while Casey is the lead role after playing the second fiddle to the main cast in the 1997 classic. Did you know? Casey Affleck won an Oscar for this movie but the fun fact is that Matt had tailored this movie for himself but then at the last moment gave the role of Lee Chandler to Casey Affleck with an altered ending from the original one. This movie like Good Will Hunting sees the main role suffering from tragedy after being a loyal family man. Even though the movie was made in 2016 but the vibes it gives are from the early 1990s. The town of Manchester in New England is captured in the most nostalgic way possible, it has been shown that very few changes have occurred over the decades with the mesmerizing white tone of the movie. The first half of the movie is unspoken, The character of Lee Chandler is a loner, who has a job as a janitor and finds solace in drinking. The state he is it makes one's heart wrench and it is not revealed, the movie is not speaking, there is a lot of unspoken things and it is just very beautifully gloomy. As the movie progresses the beautiful gloom is replaced by one of the most brilliant dialogues you will find in a movie in recent times, the unspoken is replaced and a masterclass from the main cast unfolds. If you love Good Will Hunting the best movies like it don't get any better when it comes to strong dialogues. Awakening (1990) A movie starring De Niro and Robin Williams is surprisingly not praised, even the rating on the popular site IMDB stops people from giving it the credit it deserves. One of my close friends refused to call it a masterpiece because of its 7.8 ratings on IMDB. This movie tries to tell us the story of a man who has lost the ability to move or function properly because of a rare disease and a doctor who treats people like him for a living. It just encompasses you into a direction that emotionally drains you and then gives you a new perspective about the things you have and another on this earth only dream about. This is a must-watch if you want to see the benefits of life. At a very low point in my life, I witnessed this movie and I started to appreciate the things I took for granted. The portrayal of the man suffering from the disease, Leonard Lowe by Robert Deniro had me in awe of his ability to act but Robert Williams was not there to play a second fiddle, he brilliantly embraced his role of a hear warming introvert. Believe me that the tears will roll down from your globular organs of sight and you will have a parched throat while witnessing this underrated gem, it is not given the due credit and which is shocking. Good Will Hunting was an incredible movie but it is a big shame that a movie, which is better than Good Will Hunting in many major ways is not even considered to be put with it by many critics, movie buffs; let alone the casual watchers. If it was up to me then, certainly I would have forced you to watch this is as it is one of the best movies like Good Will Hunting. Ordinary People (1980) Good Will Hunting taught you that therapy can work in no time, but is it the true depiction of what happens in the real world? Not at all, it takes time! The movie follows a dysfunctional family that saw a very tragic event but they are in complete denial of how the family is breaking apart post that sad event. The story of the movie doesn't have a focus on one main person, rather it is a combination of small little secrets about the mental state of the characters and it is the most beautiful portrayal of the mental trauma one goes through when your parents are at conflict, and the conflict is because of denial and mismatched personalities coming together. Judd Hirsch unlike Robin Williams is not the miracle worker who fixes everything by saying the story of his wife, it is not a fairy tale here; this is a realistic portrayal of what happens. If you are going through a lot due to a dysfunctional family, or you want to be good at parenting and avoid the toxic traits that can lead your kids to suicide then watch this movie because Good Will Hunting has not shown you this angle. The Fundamentals of Caring (2016) You must be thinking if I am a crack head for suggesting a movie starring Salena Gomez in the list of best movies like Good Will Hunting. If that is the case then you are wrong, this is one of the best Netflix original movies that came out in 2016 because honestly they have somewhat improved their movies but back then they were unbearable to watch. Paul Rudd carries the movie on his back but that is an overstatement because of my love for that guy, the whole cast to be honest did a formidable job. The movie will surely make you laugh with its witty comedy and a simple great plot with good pacing. There are no cliches that have surrounded Hollywood as of late. This is in no way a perfect movie and certainly not better than Good Will Hunting but the flaws like few lackluster scenes but you can forgive them for this and have a nice time watching this movie. Rounders (1998) I have brought you another movie that is underrated and I believe deserves the tag of being a masterpiece. The first time I watched this was looking at the DVD collection that my dad had, the only reason I watched it was because Matt Damon is on the cover of it. But I am glad to this day that I watched this movie and I urge many people to watch this one at least once in their life. If you are someone who is not aware of Poker and the different variants it has, especially the Texas Hold'em then you are going to have a hard time understanding this movie. Lucky for me, at a young age I was able to learn about the gambling industry and have made a good amount of money but well my point is that my love for gambling helped me understand this movie at a deeper level if you are like me; who loves gambling then forging a connection with this movie will be very easy for you. Matt Damon, Edward Norton, Gretchen Mol, John Malkovich, and John Turturro, what else do you need from a cast? Not quite as star-studded as Inception but star-studded nevertheless. Unlike typical Hollywood, this movie has taken help from 4 poker world champions and in my DVD I even found their commentary. A must-watch for anyone who is into poker but even if you are not, learning the basics and diving into this masterpiece is not at all a waste of your time. It is one of Damon's best movies like Good Will Hunting. Scent of a Woman (1992) How to hide years of trauma by being a grumpy old fu*k, just ask Lt. Col. Frank Slade, played by Al Pacino. He is one of the best actors I have ever seen and me saying it won't surprise you because you already know. This movie in my opinion is his best-ever performance. Yes, I know all about the God Father and Scarface but this here shows how versatile Al Pacino can be, watching this a million times will not bore me. The voice of Al Pacino as he roars in the move with his majestic, grand, deep, and emotional acting that takes you into a new world, certainly you can not miss this one. The legacy this movie leaves behind like Good Will Hunting did is not more seen in modern cinema, or very sparingly seen. I will not tell you about the plot of this movie, nor I would want you to go and read any synopsis or watch the trailer above, watch this movie completely blindly and you will see why the Scent of a Woman is beyond a mere cliched Scent of a Woman. “Scent is such a powerful tool of attraction, that if a woman has this tool perfectly tuned, she needs no other. I will forgive her a large nose, a cleft lip, even crossed-eyes; and I’ll bathe in the jouissance of her intoxicating odour.” Lt. Col. Frank Slade "People Call These Things Imperfections, But They're Not, That's The Good Stuff. And Then We Get To Choose Who We Let Into Our Weird Little Worlds." Sean Maguire I think if you are a true fan of Good Will Hunting, then you surely know why I have recommended Scent of a Woman on this list after reading these two quotes. Wonder Boys (2000) This is a strange little journey that will make you smile because of many flabbergasting reasons that are not very pretty nor very sad, there are perfectly balanced emotions seen in this movie but the outrageousness in some scenes makes it one of the most memorable movies of all time. Tobey Maguire is known for his acting in Sam Raimi's trilogy of the famous character, Spider-Man but that shouldn't cast a shadow on the successful career he has had and his performance as an innocent boy in this movie is one of his brilliant performances. I talked about how this movie is revolving around alien behavior and if at any time some superhero flick came into your mind, then rewind and see the title of the article, these movies share the same aura as The Good Will Hunting and this is one of those classic and a piece of real cinema that the superhero unoriented scripts don't offer. Movies hardly do justice to novels and this one is based on a novel that has shown that the director and the cast, have done tremendous efforts in making sure it is a perfect depiction of the novel. I consider it a lazy practice to go and convert a novel into a movie, where is your own creativity then? But the issue that I am presenting doesn't apply to this incredible movie, which even surpasses the novel by Michael Chabon in many ways because of the delivery of the dialogues that a novel can't capture as realistically as a camera does. Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) All the movies that you have seen o this list were great but if you want to meet the master of the students, then watch this movie. Peter Weir is amazing and his movies have captured humans like never before. One is capturing physically using a camera but then there is caging the emotions of the characters to the point that you feel like the essence of humanity is oozing through the screen and he has done no less with Picnic at Hanging Rock. One might think this is an old movie and how is it like Good Will Hunting? But guess what, it is even better! The fire that one experiences during the teen years and the discoverability of the sexual desires is not exactly the main plot of this movie, which is wrongfully perceived by many out there. It is much more than that. It is a mystery movie that represents what humans are capable of and perhaps it was one of the very first depictions of such an issue in the history of cinema. The plot will feel too cliched to many but those who have a real taste of cinema will find the flawlessness in this movie and not seek the fake flaws that people have drawn over this masterpiece. Conclusion Good Will Hunting is an incredible movie that is not chained by times nor shackled by the ever-changing dynamics of cinema. It teaches you many life lessons but there have been movies that are better and have done a lot for the cinema but don't get the hype they deserve. Watching all these movies on the list will give you a new perspective and finally, you will start recommending other movies over Good Will Hunting. If you loved our similar movies articles then surely this one will give you new journeys you can explore through the screen.

Sanan Khan

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