¶ … movie Good Will Hunting is an artfully written and produced film which explores one important part of the human condition from the viewpoint of all of the major characters. The question probed in one way or another by all the major characters is how we as human beings balance the need to be connected to others with the risk of being hurt if those people leave us in some way. Will is hunting for a way to fit into a world that doesn't make sense to him. He has two major barriers to connecting to people. First, he is a true self-educated genius with a photographic memory. Second, he is an orphan who was shuffled from foster home to foster home and was sometimes viciously beaten by foster parents. He has no reason to trust other people.

He does manage to connect with some childhood friends, especially Chuckie, his best friend. The four young men squabble among themselves but are very loyal to each other, even helping Will beat up someone who teased him in kindergarten. This incident puts Will in front of a judge again: Will has been in trouble with the law several times before. A professor...

The woman he picks up in a bar accepts him even when she knows he is lying to her. As his therapist helps Will learn how to take risks and truly connect with people, Will provokes him into getting past the death of his wife and stop hiding from the world himself. As he is tutored with the math professor, he manages to help the math professor and the therapist, who are friends, truly heal the rift that has grown between them since they were roommates in college.
By the end of the movie, even Will's best friend Chuckie has prodded him to take the risks Will needs to take to really live his life. His relationship with his friends is superficial, drinking after work or watching ball games. They are known to him and safe, so he doesn't have to take emotional risks, and the activities are all simple, so he doesn't have to face how much more gifted he is than virtually everyone else.

All the characters search for and find the good in Will, and in the process, they become more deeply involved with people important to…