For all of Gus Van Sant’s narrative weavings, for all of his grabs towards emotions and reactions, it amounts to little; a belated film with belated functions.
Finding Forrester (2000)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:121
Fresh:89
Rotten:32
Average Rating:6.5/10
Consensus: Despite the predictability of its plot and its similarity to Good Will Hunting, Finding Forrester has an honest, solid feel to it and good rapport between Connery and Brown.
Runtime: 2 hrs 16 mins
Genre: Dramas
US Box Office: $51,370,406
Synopsis: Director Gus Van Sant brings to the screen this moving story of a grizzled recluse and an inner-city teenager brought together by their shared passion for writing. Like Van Sant's Oscar-nominated... Director Gus Van Sant brings to the screen this moving story of a grizzled recluse and an inner-city teenager brought together by their shared passion for writing. Like Van Sant's Oscar-nominated GOOD WILL HUNTING, FINDING FORRESTER earnestly explores the struggles of a youthful genius whose position in society (underprivileged kid from the wrong side of the tracks) makes him seem destined for failure until he forms a relationship with a gifted but introverted mentor who helps him see the light.The youthful genius is a talented urban basketball player named Jamal Wallace (Rob Brown), who in his spare time reads everything he can get his hands on, secretly scribbling prose and poetry into a composition pad. The introverted mentor is William Forrester (Sean Connery), who took the literary world by storm with his debut novel, AVALON RISING, 50 years earlier but now spends whole days shut inside his Bronx apartment looking out the window onto a basketball court where Jamal hangs out. Buoyed by excellent performances from Connery and newcomer Brown, FINDING FORRESTER paints a compelling, alluring portrait of friendship while offering intriguing insights into the heart and soul of the dedicated writer. [More]
Starring: Sean Connery, Rob Brown, Anna Paquin, F. Murray Abraham
Starring: Sean Connery, Rob Brown, Anna Paquin, F. Murray Abraham, Busta Rhymes, Michael Nouri, Tom Mullica, Lil' Zane
Director: Gus Van Sant
Director: Gus Van Sant
Screenwriter: Mike Rich
Producer: Laurence Mark, Sean Connery, Rhonda Tollefson
Studio: Columbia Pictures
Reviews for Finding Forrester
Finding Forrester is almost worth seeing for Connery and Brown, but it's a lot to ask for people to sit through 136 minutes when only about a third of it is any good.
If "Good Will Hunting" and "Scent of a Woman" were to meet some moonlit night, consummate and make a child, "Finding Forester" would be their adolescent son.
A simplistic, irritating, and often ridiculous travesty posing as a feel-good movie.
At times you can feel Van Sant trying to loosen the movie's windpipe-folding collar, but he doesn't get far, except with Busta Rhymes, as Jamal's gone-nowhere big brother, whose moments are so full of bounce and warmth they feel like invasions from the sc
Mostrando una entrañable historia del alumno-maestro, el filme de Van Sant se convierte en una placentera experiencia fílmica
Its unhurried exploration of the interaction between the two leads is worth spending a couple hours in a movie theater.
A solidly enjoyable, fairly cerebral feature raised above its roots by stout performances from its two leads.
Finding Forrester is a positive experience, a movie you can sit back and enjoy. It will make you laugh, anger you at times, and may even bring a tear to your eye. ItÃs a movie that may envelop you like a warm hug.
Van Sant should be lauded for taking on a movie that places such a high premium on the life of the mind.
Van Sant takes the cliches and gives them a half spin that makes them seem fresh and almost accidental. He's like an inspired jazz musician improvising on an old, too-familiar tune and making it his own.
Director Gus Van Sant accentuates the give-and-take in this unlikely friendship. It's a story of the lost and found.
[Van Sant's] visual lyricism and uncondescending attitude toward almost everyone on screen ensure that the film won't succumb to formula.
To dismiss Finding Forrester as just a rehash of Good Will Hunting is not entirely fair.
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