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Movie Review: “Finding Forrester”
Reviewed by Nima Razfar
25/01/2001
What happens when an inner-city street kid comes across one of America's most prominent literary novelists of the 20th century? The result is the delightful story of “Finding Forrester,” a naturally superb piece of work by director Gus Van Sant and screenwriter Mike Rich. Starring Sean Connery as William Forrester, the film is about a talented writer and basketball star, Jamal Wallace (played by newcomer Joe Brown), who is helped by Forrester, a Pulitzer Prize winner who comes out of a self-imposed exile, when the two cross paths.
Director Gus Van Sant returns with yet another film about a struggling young man who is battling the obstacles of social pressure and antagonism. “Finding Forrester” has many similarities to Van Sant's previous film “Good Will Hunting.” If “Good Will Hunting” amazed and delighted you, you will enjoy an equally excellent work in “Finding Forrester.”
The eloquent rap of a young black man opens the movie and leads into a collage of shots of the daily going-ons of the Bronx in New York City. These scenes show the livelihood of all the city’s people – establishing a perception of inner-city life that breaks away from the stereotypical images we so often see of gangs, drugs, and violence.
The film’s introduction subtly makes the bold statement that there is a breath of energy in the inner city; most importantly, though, that there is life (rather than the violence and death that typically fill Hollywood movie screens as well as the media’s portrayal of ‘Da Hood’). In a world where we are constantly blasted with these stereotypes, “Finding Forrester” brings the issue of the inner city to the front with a new twist.
The story is written from the point of view of Jamal Wallace, a 16-year-old black youth from the Bronx, whose aspirations to become a writer intermingle with his great talent for basketball. It is his adeptness on the court that society acknowledges, however, as it fits the mold of the young black athlete.
This stereotype is exemplified in his experiences at one of the top private schools on the east coast, Mailor Callow, where Jamal is offered a scholarship based on his surprisingly high scores on the states' standardized test. As the movie unfolds, however, we realize that the school is set more on getting his basketball skills and help in winning the state basketball championship than on furthering his academic excellence and genius.
While attending the mostly white private school, Jamal faces obvious racial prejudice; particularly from one of his teachers, Professor Crawford, played by F. Murray Abraham. The professor belittles his abilities, and is quite angered when he is embarrassed by Jamal’s obvious intelligence one day in class.
Following their chance run-together, William Forrester (Sean Connery) becomes the one person that seeks to help Jamal develop his writing. After publishing just one (ingenious) book, the novelist had disappeared, never to be heard from or seen in public for decades. An increasingly warm (and unlikely) friendship develops between the two as they reach a mutual understanding and appreciation of one another – irrespective of their age, racial, and background differences – through the shared experience of writing. Their relationship involves more than merely Jamal receiving help from an older and wiser man; indeed, young Jamal helps Forrester come to realize that the power and affect of writing extends far beyond ink and paper.
Although the film is filled with rather coincidental circumstances, nevertheless, the story line works. We understand why novelist William Forrester chooses to live in the inner city, and why he went into hiding after his first book was published. We understand why he never leaves his home, and the circumstances surrounding Jamal’s life. Director Gus Van Sant and screenwriter Mike Rich do a remarkable job in telling the story of two writers – a quite difficult task to accomplish while holding the audience's attention.
To antagonist Professor Crawford, Jamal is simply a basketball player who somehow “lucked up” on his test scores. Little does he realize that Jamal is a gifted basketball player with an even greater gift of writing. As Jamal faces Crawford’s intense bitterness because he does not fit the stereotype of a young black kid from the Bronx, Forrester is there to advise and support him.
The ensuing battle between the two is the cliché struggle between hero and villain. The audience is moved by Jamal's persistence and his courage in not compromising his abilities or beliefs, while Professor Crawford is despised for his efforts to belittle Jamal's intelligence.
“Finding Forrester,” as one of the top movies of the year, is a must-see film. The approximate running time is two and a half hours. An occasional scene and storyline could have been omitted without affecting the film’s brilliance or outcome; for example, the partly-developed romance between Jamal and Claire (played by Anna Paquin), a female student who is chosen to show him around Mailor when he first arrives. Their relationship (bi-racial, by the way) never fully develops into anything so that one wonders why it was even a part of the film.
Also, we get to see more of Jamal's basketball talents than we do of his writing, when it should have been the other way around. Still, “Finding Forrester” tells a heartfelt story about the obstacles that a young man faces while pursuing his dream of becoming a writer, and the love and friendship that develops between two men who come from two different poles; yet, are united by a mutual passion – writing. A friendship in which an older and wiser man shares his gifts with a far younger man; one in which that younger (and wise) man teaches him a thing or two.
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