Chances are, if you’ve seen Good Will Hunting, you liked it enough to merit a sniffing around for movies like that. The movie stars Matt Damon, Robin Williams and Ben Affleck, so there’s absolutely no shortage of good acting performance. The screenplay and the story itself is powerful and moving enough for it to earn a whopping $220 million from a meagre budget, so, as many would say, Good Will Hunting might be one of the best movies they have ever seen. As such, we would like to make a list of movies similar to Good Will Hunting, so that we may relive some inspiring moments and feast our eyes on some of the greatest offerings from Hollywood. So, here goes films like Good Will Hunting.
Good Will Hunting follows an unrecognized genius (Damon), who comes under the wing of a mathematics professor (Robin Williams) and begins to rethink his whole life. The movie is full of inspiring and poignant moments, and the performance from the cast is stellar, which leaves many wanting more. So, here are some movies like Good Will Hunting.
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Movies like Good Will Hunting : Our Top Picks
Following is a list of movies similar to Good Will Hunting. All belong to the same genre, featuring a savant (who may or may not be autistic) and how their life is turned around just because a good person joins them in their life.
1) Rain Man
Starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise, Rain Man has since become one of those legendary movies whose status remains untarnished, even after 30-plus years since it was first released to audiences. It follows Cruise’s character, Charlie Babbitt, who lives a hedonistic life and does not amount much to anything in terms of good. When his father passes away, he files to Ohio in anticipation of inheriting his large fortune, only to discover that all he stands to gain is a 1949 Buick Roadmaster, while the large part of his estate has been left to his autistic savant brother Raymond, previously unknown. What ensues is a story where Charlie abandons his lifestyle and spends time with his brother, getting to know him better and disregarding the wealth. A beautiful movie, certainly one that stands up with Good Will Hunting.
2) Finding Forrester
Starring Sean Connery and Rob Brown, Finding Forrester is yet another movie that you cannot help but feel inspired from. It follows your average run-of-the-mill teenager Jamal Wallace, who plays basketball with his friends. One day, on a dare from his friends, he goes into the apartment of Mr. Forrester, an older gentleman who he recognizes as the man who watches them play from his window. Once he confronts him, Wallace leaves his backpack while hurrying out, allowing Mr. Forrester to teach the young Wallace how to write better, beginning Wallace’s quest towards bettering himself, and making someone out of himself. Very inspiring story, acting is beyond good. Definitely a movie like Good Will Hunting.
3) A Beautiful Mind
Many people consider A Beautiful Mind to be one of the best movies to have been made in this genre, and you can see why many say so. Its got Russel Crowe as its lead actor, and depicts the life and struggles of Nobel Prize winner John Nash and how his struggle with paranoid schizophrenia nearly caused him to waste his life. However, as the movie depicts, Nash overcomes all his mental issues and goes on to win both the Abel Prize and the Nobel Prize, and to this day remains the only one to have done so. The story is already great, and it is further made better by the directing, acting and the screenplay of the movie.
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4) The Shawshank Redemption
The Shawshank Redemption is the best movie of all time, according to many, and is actually rated number 1 on IMDb’s list of greatest movies of all time. And we don’t see a reason otherwise; the movie stars Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, with a lot of the narration being done by Freeman, so we’d hardly call it anything else than phenomenal. It follows the life of Andy Dufresne, a banker who is convicted of murdering his wife and her lover, and is handed two life sentences. While in prison, he befriends fellow convict Ellis Boyd ‘Red’ Redding, while the warden learns of his brilliance in money matters, and uses him for some creative accounting. However, Andy himself has been planning his escape, which becomes the movie’s peak. It is an amazing movie, certainly like Good Will Hunting, or even better than it in some cases.
5) Searching for Bobby Fischer
Chess players stand up: this one is for all the people who play chess and think of themselves as prodigies. The movie follows Joshua Waitzkin, a chess prodigy, whose parents, wanting to further polish the talent, hire a chess instructor by the name of Bruce Pandolfini, who wants him to emulate the moves of chess legend Bobby Fischer. However, the young prodigy is more enamored with the chess style of Vinnie, a player whose play style relies on speed and is the polar opposite of Fischer. This clash of ideals leads to a movie that is worth watching and incredibly memorable.
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6) The Talented Mr. Ripley
Tom Ripley is an adept sociopath, who is a master of forgery, lying and impersonation. As such, he is able to get in wherever he wants, and with whoever he wants. His life takes a drastic turn when he is approached by an individual, who mistakes him for his son’s classmate at Princeton, and offers him $1000 to convince his son to return to US from Italy. The premise itself is very interesting and the acting knocks it out of the ballpark. Incredible movie.
