"Finding Forrester" (IMDb listing) is the latest film from Gus Van Sant, director of "Good
Will Hunting" and like its predecessor, "Forrester" deals with finding genius
where other people refuse to look for it.
Whether or not you like this film
will depend upon whether or not you're interested in a retelling of the
story from "Hunting." No, it's not exactly the same movie, but if you didn't
like "Hunting," you'll probably be better off moving along. Unlike Matt
Damon's romp through the academic utopia of Cambridge, MA, "Finding Forrester" deals with the two major subcultures of America's largest city and
the uneasy relations between them rich, white Manhattan. and the poor, black
Bronx. We watch the on-screen development of a phenomenal young man, Jamal
(Rob Brown), whose academic endeavors take him deep into a society that
variably views him with smug indignation, wary apprehension, and perhaps
worst of all, as a commodity to be exploited for the purposes of prestige.
As a middle class minority who has found herself in the bastion of the
privileged WASP culture, I found the film's portrayal of these aspects of life to be
dead on. As weird as the Park Avenue set is to me, I could hardly fathom
the awkwardness and tension experienced by someone in Jamal's position. I
was impressed by Rob Brown's portrayal of his character, letting us see his
frustration but balancing it against a very quiet and reserved strength,
brought to life with a mastery that surprised me when I discovered that this
was Brown's very first venture into acting. I was relieved to find that the
issues of race and class relations were dealt with in a manner that was
both realistic and delicate. Let's face it, there aren't a whole lot of out-and-out neo-nazi racists hanging about anymore. Racism and prejudice
have evolved into the subtler, but nonetheless venomous, forms such as
preconceptions about 'other' people that we quietly hold on to. Yeah, the
movie's got a bad guy, but thanks to characters like Anna Paquin's ("The
Piano") Claire, the idea that rich white people are all bad was never rammed
down my throat. Instead of seeing the championing of one side in an
antagonistic battle, I saw people of two cultures struggling to understand
one another and overcome their prejudices in the larger context of trying to
understand people for who they are, not whom you think they are. However, For its
realistic contextualization, I do think that the film chickened out on
plenty of opportunities to break real ground. As far as interracial dating is
concerned, the film skirted the issues and generally wussed out.
The entire cast put forward admirable performances. Rob Brown portrays Jamal
with a maturity beyond his years. I felt that Connery in his taciturn
and sometimes acerbic role as Jamal's mentor was worth mentioning, if for no
other reason than hearing Connery, in true 70-year-old Scottish curmudgeon style, proclaim, "You're the man now, dog!" Connery's laconic
J.D. Salinger-esque writer-who-wrote-the-perfect-novel-then
retired-to-anonymity didn't exactly break new ground. However, I found him to be infinitely less
annoying than sappy and hyper-emotional Robin Williams in his "Hunting" role.
I'm of the opinion that "Finding Forrester" suffers
from categorical predictability. The good guys were really good, the bad
guys were clearly bad there was none of that complexity or ambiguity in the
characters. The less-than-superb screenplay has plenty of contrite moments,
and if Connery isn't exactly convincing as the world's greatest living
writer, maybe it's because of the material with which he had to work. At
least the writers and the filmmakers recognized this shortcoming and didn't
make us sit through long monologues of characters reading from this living
legend's work.
"Finding Forrester" is an enjoyable, "feel good" film that's marked by Brown's strong performance. Certainly, it's predictable, but I found enough to relate to in "Forrester" to make it worthwhile.
Filmfodder Grade: B-