The thing about Gus Van Sant's "Finding Forrester isn't that it's a good film-it is-but that it could have been so bad.
The plot covers much as the same ground as Van Sant's hit, "Good Will Hunting," but it looks and feels like a totally different film. It stars Sean Connery in the type of role that makes audiences turn to each other and say, "Isn't it great that he's transcended James Bond to become such a great character actor?" But the director allows Connery's character to be vulnerable and a bit bizarre. Van Sant puts an unknown, Rob Brown, in the key role across from Connery, and coaxes a wonderful performance out of a non-actor. And it ends with a scene reminiscent of "Scent of a Woman," but one not nearly as over the top.
What makes "Finding Forrester" work is Van Sant's visual style. You realize 15 minutes into the film that the director has told you everything you need to know about the world of its main character, Jamal Wallace, played by Brown.
The only problem with the film is casting F. Murray Abraham as Jamal's adversary, an English professor at a private school that Jamal attends. Abraham plays the character so much to type that we can't find an ounce of humanity in him. Better that Van Sant would have cast someone against type, or allowed Abraham to become multi-dimensional.
The plot covers much as the same ground as Van Sant's hit, "Good Will Hunting," but it looks and feels like a totally different film. It stars Sean Connery in the type of role that makes audiences turn to each other and say, "Isn't it great that he's transcended James Bond to become such a great character actor?" But the director allows Connery's character to be vulnerable and a bit bizarre. Van Sant puts an unknown, Rob Brown, in the key role across from Connery, and coaxes a wonderful performance out of a non-actor. And it ends with a scene reminiscent of "Scent of a Woman," but one not nearly as over the top.
What makes "Finding Forrester" work is Van Sant's visual style. You realize 15 minutes into the film that the director has told you everything you need to know about the world of its main character, Jamal Wallace, played by Brown.
The only problem with the film is casting F. Murray Abraham as Jamal's adversary, an English professor at a private school that Jamal attends. Abraham plays the character so much to type that we can't find an ounce of humanity in him. Better that Van Sant would have cast someone against type, or allowed Abraham to become multi-dimensional.