Cast
William Forrester (Sean Connery)
Jamal Wallace (Robert Brown)
Claire (Anna Paquin)
Robert Crawford (F. Murray Abraham)
Terrell Wallace (Busta Rhymes)

Directed by Gus Van Sant Written by Mike Rich
Rated PG-13 for brief strong language and some sexual references
Running Time: 135 minutes Distributed by Columbia Tristar

Finding Forrester is a great film about self-discovery and the human spirit. The film focuses on two opposite people that come together by their love for writing. Jamal (Brown) is a sixteen-year-old black basketball player that has just got accepted into a prep school. Jamal loves to write and he reads constantly to enhance his knowledge. William (Connery) is an old man in his late sixties from Scotland that is a Pulitzer Prize winning author. William stays conformed in his apartment building and never steps outside. The two meet through witty circumstances and William decides to help Jamal with his writing, only if he never asks William about his personal life. The days turn into weeks as the two argue, agree and converge on different writings. The two then continue to embark on an unlikable relationship of opposites and finding each one’s place.

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I really loved Finding Forrester, I thought it was touching, funny and most of all inspiring. It had the same feeling of past films like Dead Poets Society and Mr. Holland’s Opus.

Mike Rich’s script for the film could have been varied and typical, but its not. Rich creates believable characters and situations for them to fall into. I found the characters to reflect commonness, but not one-dimensional or stereotypical. The structure of the relationship between William and Jamal paces the film steadily. However, in my opinion, Jamal is the main character of this film. The reason is because he has situations with every character revealed in the story. William is right behind Jamal, in which he doesn’t have many other characters to encounter because seclusion is one of his character traits. Rich’s script is sharp; the writer doesn’t let cliché things that are touched on run the film. Examples are racism, interracial relationships, Jamal’s basketball pressure, William’s drinking, or neighborhood violence. The writer develops a full-of-life drama that is a defiant crowd pleaser.

Director Gus Van Sant conquerors another “older-guy and younger guy” relationship film (previously directed Good Will Hunting). Van Sant poises his actors in a confine setting, William’s apartment, which I believe served as the writing retreat. The director doesn’t develop striking angles or panning shots in his films. He is more of a conservative director that captures the drama of the film and lets the story tell itself. Van Sant does counter and place his actors in shots to where their lines and dialogue shoot quickly back and forth. One example is the novelist argument between Jamal and his egotistical professor, Robert Crawford (Abraham).

Sean Connery delivers one of the best performances of his career as the secluded writer William Forrester. The talented actor steals so many moments with his character quirks and self-inflated body language. He is an icon, a talent, and once again Connery proves that he is one of the best. Newcomer Robert Brown stands strong and holds his own as the ambitious Jamal. Brown has very good eyes and a curiosity about him that I believe will lead him into a fine career. F. Murray Abraham once again effectively plays a slimy individual as Jamal’s biased English teacher. Anna Paquin also delivers a well-balanced performance as Jamal’s sweet love interest, Claire. Rapper Busta Rhymes delivers a break through performance as Jamal’s loving brother Terrell. Rhymes was very impressive with his acting in Finding Forrester, I hope he continues on with his acting career.

Like I said before, I just loved this film. I was absolutely absorbed in it. There are no extraordinary aspects in this film, it is just one of those great little movies that wonderfully stands tall.

Report Card Grade: A

Beastman’s Movie Reviews
Copyright, 2001 Joseph C. Tucker