Despite the fact that he's damn near 70 years old, my mom has a thing for Sean Connery. Because of that, when I went to see "Finding Forrester," I figured I'd bring her along so that she could see her dream man. She had no idea what the movie was about, but that was okay since all she needed to know was that Sean Connery was in it. Besides, I'm really, really broke, and by having my mom come along, I could easily convince her to pay for me. I'm pretty pathetic, ain't I?
"Finding Forrester" has been compared to "Good Will Hunting," and the reasons are obvious. And it doesn't help that "Finding Forrester" and "Good Will Hunting" are directed by the same man, Gus Van Sant. Being that "Good Will Hunting" was such a success, and Van Sant's last movie was the critically-panned bomb, "Psycho" (the remake of the classic Hitchcock film), it would seem as though he wanted to play it safe this time around, doing a movie that is very similar to his most successful film. Regardless of his reasons for making it, "Finding Forrester" is a good movie. A very good movie. It's not as good as "Good Will Hunting," but it's close. For the record, my mom liked it a lot. Probably more than me.
Sean Connery is fantastic in this movie. He has a presence that makes it clear that his character is one who should be respected. Also, he has a subtle sense of humor that goes over very well. F. Murray Abraham plays a snooty professor, and as he so often is, he's very good. Anna Paquin (most recently seen as "Rogue" in "X-Men") is very good, though completely unnecessary. I'll get to that in a moment. Rapper Busta Rhymes is very good, and although the only other time I've seen him in a movie is in the recent "Shaft" remake, it's apparent that he comes across great on the screen. Finally, there's newcomer Rob Brown. He's the "yin" to Sean Connery's "yang." This is his first time in a movie, and he did good considering. I don't think he's gonna be winning any Oscars any time soon, but if he improves his delivery, he may prove me wrong. His chemistry was great with Connery, though, and he never went overboard.
The biggest problem with "Finding Forrester" is a completely useless subplot with Anna Paquin. It starts up, develops awkwardly, and then seems completely tossed aside. I have a feeling that Van Sant probably would have liked to edit her scenes out, but since she's a fairly respected Oscar winning actress, he ultimately thought that he should keep those scenes in the movie. Too bad. If those scenes weren't there, it woulda been shorter, and it probably would have been a better movie all around.
As mentioned earlier, this movie was directed by Gus Van Sant, the director of "Psycho" and "Good Will Hunting." He also directed "To Die for," "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues," "My Own Private Idaho," and "Drugstore Cowboy." I think he's a very good director who was treated unfairly with the "Psycho" remake (a movie that I surprisingly liked), but with "Finding Forrester," critics will probably like him again. As for the script, it was written by Mike Rich, and this is his debut. Pretty good debut, I must say.
"Finding
Forrester" is a really good movie that coulda been great. However,
despite the flaws, this is a very good, very entertaining movie, and it's
very likely that this is a movie that will earn Sean Connery an Oscar nomination
for Best Actor. He may even win it. God knows my Mom would like that.
Scale of 1-10: 8