The Story: Who was it said a screenplay was the most uncommunicative form of writing ever devised? It's what you do with it that matters. Shape it. Bend it. Photograph it. Make it sound real.
Make it art.
The ideas are there in Matt Damon's and Ben Affleck's script for Good Will Hunting. It's a good read. But, as you can tell—as I've noticed difference between page and screen—there's a lot of finessing going on.
Some of it reminding me of Howard Hawks.
Hawks would take the material—a lot of it written by very good writers—and re-write it the night before filming. Roughing it up, scuffing it, adding unnecessary linkages that you wouldn't miss if the actors talked over each other (which was encouraged). Taking the formality of it out. Make it feel less than a script than a conversation.
I had remembered this scene when I first saw it in the theater, but it had dropped out of mind after seeing the rest of the movie. A recent viewing of it made me want to put this up because I found it extraordinarily well done, and finding the original script showed how much it had changed...little changes here and there, words taken out where they distracted from content and little additions to give it more flow and punch things where they needed to be emphasized. Like Hawks and his methodology.
And while looking at it so closely it reminded me of another Hawks film—Red River. Now, that's a western. A very good one. But, there's a scene in it, where John Wayne has been stripped of his authority as head of a cattle drive for being an abusive, potentially murderous, autocrat. His surrogate son, played by Montgomery Clift, takes over and there's a scene where the drive is heading out, when Clift says good-bye to Wayne, leaving him on the prairie to fend for himself. Wayne's character is spitting mad, but, quietly tells Clift that he's going to kill him the next time he sees him. And it's so subtle and underplayed, that the scene is that much more powerful for its quiet menace.
That isn't the case here. Damon and Affleck's characters are best friends, but Affleck's Chuckie confesses that if Damon's character doesn't take advantage of his natural gifts and make a better life for himself than the one Affleck is relegated to, hje's going to kill him. "That's not a threat. It's a fact."
The quiet and casualness with which Aflleck delivers the lines speaks truth. And then, director van Sant does something brilliant: he cuts to a two-shot of the two of them standing together with their own thoughts. Usually—in cinema-speak—when two characters are not of a single mind, they're separated, each having their own thoughts. But, Van Sant has them together, joined by the implications of what Affleck's character has said: Damon's Will contemplating his friend's perspective and how, even though they're friends, he would let him go—even encourage it—as it would be the best for his friend; Affleck's Chuckie, resigned to his fate, tosses a cigarette as he would a lost opportunity, contemplates his flat beer, spits, and starts to go back to his work, and his fate...truth being told.
It's a wonderful scene, done simply, but executed flawlessly.
The Set-Up: Will Hunting (Matt Damon) is a genius—an off-the-charts genius. But, he's chosen to stay off-the-charts of any college, think-tank, brokerage, governmental agency—and maintains a menial existence getting by and not getting noticed. Working as a janitor, he solves an intricate math problem and comes under the glare of professor Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgård) who sees the vast potential in the boy but can't reach him, turning to his therapist-friend Sean (Robin Williams). But, Will is obstinate, uncaring of his potential, and pointedly resists all efforts to reach beyond the Boston townie shell he hides behind. Will knows logical arguments off the top of his mind, but he never stops to look at his own lack of it. Until his best bud' Chuckie (Ben Affleck) confronts him with a contradiction of his own.
Action.
Script deletions have been crossed out. Filmed additions are in green.
EXT. MAGGIORE BUILDER'S CONSTRUCTION SITE -- PARKING LOT
Chuckie is sitting on the hood of his Cadillac, watching
Will across the street. Chuckie is covered in grime as well.
Will starts walking towards Chuckie. As he draws closer, he
heaves a can of Budweiser a good thirty yards, to Chuckie
who handles it routinely.
Will takes a seat next to Chuckie and they crack open their
beers.
Other workers file out of the site. They drink.
CHUCKIE
Ah. Fuck that shit.
WILL
Yeah.
CHUCKIE
When was this?
WILL What?
CHUCKIE I don't?
CHUCKIE Oh, I don't know that. Let me tell you what I do know.
CHUCKIE
Now, I don't know much.
Good Will Hunting is available on DVD and Blu-Ray from Walt Disney Entertainment.
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