An enjoyable film, made more so by the performances ... and by dozens of thoughtful touches like Bill Frisell's delicate score.
Comment
12/24/00
Finding Forrester (2000)
74
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:121
Fresh:89
Rotten:32
Average Rating:6.5/10
Consensus: Despite the predictability of its plot and its similarity to Good Will Hunting, Finding Forrester has an honest, solid feel to it and good rapport between Connery and Brown.
Runtime: 2 hrs 16 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Director Gus Van Sant brings to the screen this moving story of a grizzled recluse and an inner-city teenager brought together by their shared passion for writing. Like Van Sant's Oscar-nominated... [More]
Starring: Sean Connery, Rob Brown, Anna Paquin, F. Murray Abraham
Director: Gus Van Sant
Reviews for Finding Forrester
It might've worked better if the film had tried harder to turn these characters into living, breathing people, instead of the bickering odd couple that's become such a stereotype.
12/24/00
Its intentions are honorable, but its portrait of youth, urban, academic and literary culture is Mesozoic.
12/24/00
Warm and likable -- and, during the holidays, warm and likable is often what moviegoers want.
12/24/00
The real reason to see it is for the remarkable debut of Rob Brown. Now, here is a kid who is worth the price of admission.
12/22/00
A solid entry into the 'teacher/student' genre.
12/22/00
Van Sant takes the cliches and gives them a half spin that makes them seem fresh and almost accidental. He's like an inspired jazz musician improvising on an old, too-familiar tune and making it his own.
12/22/00
Movies about writers are notoriously hard to do, since writing by its nature is not cinematic. Finding Forrester evades that problem by giving us a man who wrote one good novel a long time ago, and now writes no more.
12/22/00
Top CriticFinding Forrester manages to take the cerebral act of literary creation and make it exciting, sexy even.
12/22/00
At first glance, Gus Van Sant's Finding Forrester seems a retread of his popular Good Will Hunting... However, Finding Forrester offers more than enough additional themes and rich characters to justify the new spin.
12/22/00
A competent, highly functional heart-warmer.
12/22/00
A well-acted, if overly familiar, tale of an unlikely friendship.
12/22/00
A quiet little gem with a beautiful show by Connery -- one of the noblest performances of his career.
12/21/00
[Van Sant's] visual lyricism and uncondescending attitude toward almost everyone on screen ensure that the film won't succumb to formula.
12/21/00
Van Sant should be lauded for taking on a movie that places such a high premium on the life of the mind.
12/21/00
The unlikely friendship is touchingly authentic thanks to genuine and profound performances from Connery and newcomer Pitt.
12/20/00
A simplistic, irritating, and often ridiculous travesty posing as a feel-good movie.
12/20/00
The movie eventually turns ridiculous, as you thought it might.
12/20/00
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