Customer Reviews

Finding Forrester

5 star:		(86)
4 star:		(44)
3 star:		(27)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Je suis non satisfait car c'est la premiere fois qu'une commande d'achat d'un film sur DVD m'est envoyé sans être dans la pochette d'origine. Je n'accepte pas avoir recu ce DVD dans une pochette non originale qui de plus est une pochette de CD (cheap).

Although this movie didn't engage me as much as most of Connery's movies, I still enjoyed it, and he's still excellent as the crusty but reclusive writer who takes a brilliant young black kid under his wing and nurtures his writing talent. Rob Brown is also excellent in the role and surprisingly good since he is apparently a non-actor. The relationship that develops between the two unlikely friends grows out of their love of books and writing, and they come to like and respect each other despite the cultural and generational gap that exists between them. F. Murray Abraham is also great playing the villain as usual who wrongly attempts to get Rob expelled for an infraction, when Connery suddenly comes to his aid at the climax. This reminded me of the final scene in "Scent of a Woman" in which Al Pacino comes to the aid of Chris O'Donnell at his exclusive New England private school. A little piece of trivia--did anybody notice the ending music during the credits with the Jamaican steel drum band? It was the same music used during the credits in the Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek movie, Badlands, about two serial killers in South Dakota back in the 50's. I loved that music but have no idea about how to get ahold of it, and I was amazed to find it by chance in this movie. The only reason I don't give the movie more stars is that it just doesn't seem to get off the ground dramatically, but maybe I just don't appreciate the director's naturalistic, low-key style, since that could have been what he intended. Overall, however, it's still a good flick and worth seeing if you're a Connery fan like me.

First saw this film on a flight from Greece to the U.S.; as long as the trip was, watching "Finding Forrester" made it incredibly enjoyable. I purchased the DVD as soon as I could and shared it with my family. So far, everyone I've recomended it to has loved it. You will laugh, you will cry, you will be changed forever.

I loved the way that a most uncommon friendship formed between 2 most different people. Who would have thought that Sean Connery fitted into a role such as this, but it was very clever to see it all develop. I've always enjoyed the melancholy acting of F. Murray Abraham, and once again he proves that he is perfect for the role. It was the first movie where I realized that Busta Rhymes acted on the side.I thought he almost played a key role as the ideal big brother, and showed the genuine love for Jamal that some siblings never experience. Rob Brown, awesome. A talented young basketball player who learns that he is also a talented writer.

One thing that I love are some of the comments that Brown and Connery come out with in this. Brown: "You read all these, man?" Connery: "No, I just have them to impress all my visitors." Another one I like is, "Bolt the door... if you're coming in." But my favorite line throughout the whole film as to be one you probably would never expect from someone like Sean Connery. He booms, "PUNCH THE KEYS!!!" and Jamal punches the keys, and then he proceeds to say, "You're the man now, dog!" Who's gonna forget that! Ha!

Probably Gus Van Sant`s more mainstream (and uninspired??) movie, "Finding Forrester" presents a couple of intriguing moments and ideas yet the result is typical and too close to cliched territory. A coming-of-age story combined with an essay about the writing process, this average melodrama starts well enough but loses its steam halfway through. There`s nothing new here, and some of the plot resembles aspects of the previous (and better) Van Sant`s picture, "Good Will Hunting". Sure, the acting is very convincing and the direction shows some brilliance at parts, but the pacing is too uneven and drags in many moments. "Finding Forrester" is also too PC and "pretty", delivering another awe-inspiring Hollywood piece of fluff that doesn`t dare to challenge the viewer (and Van Sant is usually a challenging director). Overall, this cinematic experience is not a complete disaster but doesn`t manage to impress either, offering a so-so story that has been done before and with better results.

Good at parts, a somewhat interesting failure as a whole.

The story is so played -- a ghetto genius is discovered, quite by accident, and is guided by a rough-around-the-edges genius-in-his-own-right mentor. You have seen this in "Good Will Hunting" or "Hoop Dreams" among others.

Fortunately, Finding Forrester does have a somewhat different hue, and unlike the mawkish sentimentality of movies like Patch Adams or Bruce Almighty, it includes decent and well-contained drama.

It unfolds smoothly. So smoothly in fact that you don't really realize how many cardboard characters are smooshed in -- a spent-up reclusive J.D. Salinger type writer (Sean Connery), a failed writer with a grudge (the professor), a rich WASP student in a rich WASP school (the love interest of the black boy that never really takes off)..etc.

Besides, the movie's main premise hinges on a rather implausible chance meeting between a bunch of kids playing basketball and a Pulitzer winning writer who purportedly lives a hermit's life.

Yet, the script makes all the difference, it overshadows these minor quibbles. Very well written movie, tinged with modernistic poetry spoken and actuated with the least accents and efforts, more than enough to keep the spirit going.

Recommended rental.

this movie was great. Everything everyone has said is true about it, itis a very uplifting movie and a hope amoungst the hopeless type story. ETC, and for that guy at the bottom who is putting down this movie, he is clueless, Rob Brown has done plenty of acting since Finding Forrester, such as Coach Carter, Orphan King, and Primal. Gotta get ur facts straight before you decide to diss a great movie. Everyone should get this DVD. Thanks for reading

Sound familiar? A kid from a rough neighborhood and an old man with former ambitions meet and both their lives are completely turned around. The boy realizes that he is smarter then his former bad grades let on and the old man learns that he can still find a life past his recent failures. Good Will Hunting, right? Well, yes, but it is also the basic premise for Finding Forrester. Though the story is tweaked a bit and toned down from the R-rated Hunting, Forrester does come off as being a little too familiar, being released around three years after the Miramax feature, but can the similarities really hurt it? In actuality, not really. There have been plenty of Dead Poet Society knock-offs that have made pretty decent coin at the box office in recent years but none of them equal the quality of the original. So in essence there is both a good side as well as a bad side to this situation. Can Forrester break this trend? History is against the film but Connery is pretty select on his choice of scripts, so there is at least some hope for it.

The story is pretty much the same as Good Will Hunting minus the witty charm of Ben Affleck and Robin Williams. William Forrester, a vibrant writer from New York, wrote the great American novel nearly four decades ago but ever since then he has basically vanished from the face of the earth. Or so many people thought. A sixteen year old student named Jamal Wallace meets up with the famous author when he breaks into his apartment one night and leaves his backpack behind. Jamal is amazed to find that his writings are returned with corrections made to the documents. When Mr. Wallace is accepted to an elite Manhattan prep school, he returns to the old recluse seeking help and inspiration for writing. After some time Mr. Forrester agrees but on two conditions: Jamal can not tell anyone about the whereabouts of William Forrester and no questions on why he only wrote one book. As time goes on they begin to look beyond the stereotypes they once believed and teach each other something about life. The story for Finding Forrester is quite well done despite borrowing several influences from the previously mentioned Good Will Hunting. If you are literature buff then you will greatly enjoy some of mentioned works in the film. If you're not then you will find the several scenes a bit confusing but your overall experience shouldn't be greatly affected.

Though the cast is a relative bunch of no names, the leading roles, for the most part, perform exceedingly well. Sean Connery shows that he can still act off much younger co-stars amazingly well as he does with Rob Brown. Connery really showcases a former writer who had enough of what society thought his book was about and sunk into a deep depression especially after the loss of the several members of his family. The most enchanting scenes with the veteran actor have to be him riding his bicycle through the streets of New York. It seems so awkward that it becomes quite charming and heart-warming to witness in this feature. Rob Brown, as ill experienced as he may be, does a wonderful job considering he is performing opposite one of the prominent veteran actors of our time. One of the few flaws in the film has to be the character played by Anna Paquin, who recently appeared in the summer hit, X-Men. It has nothing to do with the performance, Paquin did an excellent job with the material that was given to her, but has rather to do with the character itself. The film suggests a growing romantic relationship between her and Brown's character but once the main premise of the feature rises to its climax, the whole romantic side story disappears completely.

Overall, Finding Forrester managed to do what many of its predecessors couldn't by actually being entertaining despite borrowing several elements from critically-acclaimed Good Will Hunting. One those borrowed elements would have to be the talented actor Matt Damon, who cameos as Mr. Forrester's lawyer near the end of the feature. The timing and way the scene was handled made the cameo quite a delight considering thoughts of Hunting had to be on the minds of many movie-goers. The few problems with feature would have to include the longer then needed time length and some side stories including the romantic relationship between two characters that aren't explored fully in the film. Outside of those small complaints, Finding Forrester succeeds at being quite an entertaining romp despite feeling all too familiar to movie-goers. Not as entertaining as Good Will Hunting but it can be said that filmmakers never intended that to happen.

The reviewer a few below me talks about how bad this movie was, but then goes on to trumpet how good Spiderman was. That alone should be enough not to take his/her review seriously. They apparently feel a need to brag about knowing an insider, yet give no reason as to why this movie isn't any good other than it's "sloopy" editing. BTW, Jamal attended a prep school, not a college or university. Regardless, this is an excellent movie about an unlikely friendship that is very entertaining.

To me, a classic is something that you can watch and watch again no matter when without the story, the setting, the dialog, and the theme becoming tired and aged. This one fits my criteria completely.

The ending, although conventional and without surprises, is still extremely uplifting and leaves you with a good feeling afterwards.

The haunting mood of the sound track - hope among the hopeless - fits the movie hand in glove.

You have to be an extremely cynical person not to like this movie.