How Do You Like Them Apples? (Fifteen Years Later)

Presidential infidelity takes over the White House. The nation is captivated by a steroidal assault on baseball’s most hallowed number. The FDA makes life  harder for men over the age of 60. We say “Goodbye” to Ol’ Blue Eyes and a show about nothing. By year’s end, there were many stories that had, at one point, gripped the nation in 1998.

Perhaps the biggest story that broke early in the year was the scandalous affair between President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky and the ensuing investigation and media frenzy. And, later, from the “totally unrelated, yet possibly related” department, on March of 1998, the FDA approved the use of the Viagra drug as the first oral treatment for erectile dysfunction. 

Speaking of performance enhancing drugs, the cities of St. Louis and Chicago became the centers of the sports world for the majority of the baseball season as Mark McGwire of the Cardinals, and the Cubs’ Sammy Sosa spent the summer chasing the vaunted single-season homerun record. Both men would not only break the thirty-seven year old mark, but also the hearts of fans everywhere when, seven years later, suspicions of their rampant steroid use were validated by evidence found in a Congressional investigation.

And on May 14, 1998, the city of New York bid a fond farewell to two icons with whom it had become synonymous throughout their respective lives. After nine seasons, the 180th and final episode of Seinfeld aired, thus bringing an end to one of the best sitcoms in television history. Later that night, at the age of 82, "The Chairman of the Board", Frank Sinatra - arguably one of the all-time greatest entertainers - passed away after suffering a heart attack.

Yet, for an aspiring writer with a story to tell, the most inspirational event of 1998 was the release and success of the movie Good Will Hunting. For those who may not know, Good Will Hunting, is not the sport of tracking and killing animals while maintaining a friendly and helpful attitude. Nor is it a reality show on A&E chronicling a group of people as they travel the country in search of stores that sell donated goods in order to raise money for charitable organizations.

The Internet Movie Database takes a simplistic approach in reducing it down to a story about "Will Hunting, a janitor at MIT, [who] has a gift for mathematics but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life." (www.imdb.com) To me, it is much more than that. I see it as a story about an enduring friendship, and shooting for - and achieving - your dreams by utilizing your talents and abilities and maximizing your potential. While these themes are, indeed, buried within the pages of this award-winning manuscript, they are also the cornerstones of the story behind the impetus and evolution of the script itself.

After achieving minor successes in limited appearances in film and on television, twenty-somethings Matt Damon and Ben Affleck - friends since before Ronald Reagan was elected president - knew that the best way to get the movie roles they wanted was to simply create them for themselves. Following years of developing, writing, rewriting, and acting out every role in their story, the boys from Boston were able to sell their script to a major movie studio.

"How do you like me NOW?!?"

After some typical Hollywood speedbumps including the redistribution of the script to another studio, fighting for the actors they wanted in the film, and the interviewing of different directors all of whom had a different vision for the movie, Good Will Hunting finally began filming in April of 1997. Following a limited run later in December, the movie moderately budgeted at ten million dollars, was released nationwide on January 9, 1998, on its way to ultimately generating over $225 million at the box office.

Nine days after its wide release, the guy who made his movie debut with a single line of dialogue in the coming-of-age tale of three girls working in a pizza parlor in Mystic, Connecticut, and the guy who once played a steroid-raging high school football player in an afterschool special were both honored by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association with the Golden Globe award for Best Screenplay. The duo stormed the stage again two months later to accept the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay by beating out such icons as Paul Thomas Anderson and the legendary Woody Allen.

As a great screenplay is more than just the story it is telling, its brilliance lies in how it tells that story. Equally as important as the pace and direction at which it moves is the interaction between its characters and settings. For me, the beauty of the screenplay penned by Damon and Affleck is in the dialogue. Delivered in the "R"-dropping dialect of their native Boston, the content and flow of conversation between the characters adds an element to the story that elevates it to a higher level.

          

In recognition of this past week's 15th anniversary of their win at "The Globes", I was going to post fifteen samples of text that, I feel, best exemplify the greatness of Good Will Hunting's screenplay. However, out of respect for the integrity of the script, I was unwilling to dissect it and extract any portions of its prose to be put on display out of context.

Instead, I kept it simple and made a list comprised of my favorite singular, declamatory statements that should strike a chord with any true fan of the movie. Below, in no particular order, are my Top 15 Good Will Hunting One-Liners:

 

Do you like apples?
I gotta go see about a girl.
Chuck, I had a double burger.
It's not your fault.
You're gonna get charged.
Son of a bitch stole my line.
You're suspect!
My boy's wicked smart.
I swallowed a bug.
You're the shepherd.
I will end you!
I don't know much, but I know that.
Or maybe we could go somewhere and eat a bunch of caramels
I thought there'd be equations and shit on the wall.
Maybe you're perfect right now; maybe you don't want to ruin that.

With their obvious talents superseding their youth and inexperience, the erratic, adrenaline-infused ramblings of their acceptance speech might as well have been their notice to all that they were going to be forces to reckon with for a long time. Almost immediately, from the springboard of success of Good Will Hunting, launched roles in two of the biggest box office successes of that summer.

As the title character in Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan and in a leading role in the end-of-the-world epic Armageddon, Damon and Affleck, were given top billing in movies that would amass over one billion dollars worldwide. And while there have been some misses along the way - I’m looking at you, Brothers Grimm and Gigli - these lifelong friends have, separately, pieced together quite an impressive career in film.

As unrealistic as it would be to expect every movie on their resumes to match the emotional brilliance of a Good Will Hunting, it would be equally irresponsible of me to try and justify, or excuse, the sub-par quality of a Daredevil or All the Pretty Horses. But I am here to celebrate their theatrical achievements, not to condemn them for their on-screen shortcomings.

To commemorate this month's 15th anniversary of the worldwide release of Good Will Hunting, and the ensuing careers it spawned, I have compiled a list of those films which i have enjoyed the most. Again, arbitrarily arranged, here are my Top 15 Movies Starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck:

Rounders - Damon and Edward Norton go "all in" in this one.
The Town - Who doesn't like a good heist film? And the tour of Fenway Park is an added bonus.
Dogma - Damon and Affleck as renegade angels in a good one from Kevin Smith.
Ocean's Eleven - Remake of the Rat Pack original. Great ensemble cast.
Gone Baby Gone - Ben Affleck's directorial debut starring his younger brother.
The Bourne Identity - "Y'know, I always thought that Matt Damon was like a Streisand, but he's rocking the shit in this one!" (Paul Rudd, The 40 Year Old Virgin)
True Grit - I have never seen the John Wayne version, but thoroughly enjoyed this one.
The Talented Mr. Ripley - Pretty creepy, but well-played role by Damon.
Armageddon - It's full of cheeseball lines, big explosions, and melodrama, but I'll still watch it (and shed a man tear at the end every time)
The Departed - Two words. Martin Scorsese. 'nuff said.
Saving Private Ryan - Granted, Damon doesn't appear until 106 minutes into the movie which would be the equivalent of not making his first appearance in his 2011 thriller The Adjustment Bureau until the final credits have finished rolling. Then again the move is titled, Saving Private Ryan, not Spending Time With Private Ryan.
Argo - Haven't seen it yet, but I know I will enjoy it. All the hype can't be wrong, right?
Promised Land - Another one I haven't seen, but it uses a similar winning formula as Good Will Hunting: Directed by Gus Van Sant, and Matt Damon co-stars with a fellow Bostonian (John Krasinski) with whom he co-wrote the screenplay.
*Dazed and Confused - Affleck owned the role of high school bully.
*Chasing Amy - With all due respect to fans of Mallrats, this is Kevin Smith's best movie post-Clerks.
NOTE: I am aware that these last two movies were filmed and released before Good Will Hunting, but they are just too good to leave off this list. And I make the rules here. 

This is normally where I would conclude by summarizing my main points and add in some last-minute sarcastic attempts at humor. However, I find it befitting the subject of this piece by just, simply, coming to an end. No "Goodbye." No "See ya later." No nothing.