133-485: Good Will Hunting is a 1997 American drama film directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon . It stars Robin Williams , Damon, Affleck, Stellan Skarsgård and Minnie Driver . The film tells the story of janitor Will Hunting, whose mathematical genius is discovered by a professor at MIT . The film received acclaim from critics and grossed over $ 225 million during its theatrical run against
266-547: A fallen angel who discusses pop culture as intellectual subject matter with Affleck's character. The film received generally positive reviews, but proved controversial among religious groups who deemed it blasphemous. In 2000, Damon, Affleck, and producers Chris Moore and Sean Bailey founded the production company LivePlanet to create the Emmy -nominated documentary series Project Greenlight , which aimed to find and fund worthwhile film projects from novice filmmakers. Among
399-471: A script doctor . In his book Which Lie Did I Tell? , Goldman jokingly writes, "I did not just doctor it. I wrote the whole thing from scratch," before dismissing the rumor as false and saying that his only advice was agreeing with Reiner's suggestion. Affleck and Damon proposed to act in the lead roles, but many studio executives said that they wanted Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio . Meanwhile, Kevin Smith
532-525: A "quick lecture". When asked for a problem that Will could solve, Kleitman and Bohman suggested the unsolved computer science P versus NP problem , but the film used other problems. The plot was inspired by George Dantzig 's real life story. The main hallway blackboard is used twice to reveal Will's talent, first to the audience, and second to Professor Lambeau. Damon based it on his artist brother Kyle visiting MIT's Infinite Corridor and writing "an incredibly elaborate, totally fake, version of an equation" on
665-473: A "spectrum of behavior" analysis of sexual misconduct cases, noting that some are more serious than others. The comment caused offense to prominent members of the Me Too movement and the public for being "tone-deaf in understand[ing] what abuse is like". On January 17, 2018, Damon apologized on The Today Show for his social commentary, stating that he "should get in the back seat and close [his] mouth for
798-465: A $ 10 million budget. At the 70th Academy Awards , it received nominations in nine categories, including Best Picture and Best Director , and won in two: Best Supporting Actor for Williams and Best Original Screenplay for Affleck and Damon. In 2014, it was ranked at number 53 in The Hollywood Reporter ' s "100 Favorite Films" list. Twenty-year-old Will Hunting of South Boston
931-636: A 20-second advertisement for Nespresso , directed by Grant Heslov , with whom he worked on The Monuments Men . The deal earned him $ 3 million. Damon also provided voice-over for United Airlines ' resurrected "Fly the Friendly Skies" advertisement campaign in 2013. In 2014, he starred in George Clooney 's The Monuments Men , and played the minor role of scientist Dr. Mann in Christopher Nolan 's Interstellar . That same year, Damon appeared as
1064-464: A Water.org partner, including the sale of limited-edition "blue chalice" glasses imprinted with an embellished blue version of the brand's logo. In a television advertisement made for broadcast during the 2018 Super Bowl of the United States' National Football League (NFL), he promoted Water.org and Stella Artois's role in supporting its work. In October 2021, he announced a new partnership with
1197-462: A better understanding of the film. According to the taxonomy, combining the type with the genre does not create a separate genre. For instance, the "Horror Drama" is simply a dramatic horror film (as opposed to a comedic horror film). "Horror Drama" is not a genre separate from the horror genre or the drama type. Crime dramas explore themes of truth, justice, and freedom, and contain the fundamental dichotomy of "criminal vs. lawman". Crime films make
1330-455: A blackboard, which lasted for months. Kyle returned to Matt, saying that MIT needed those blackboards "because these kids are so smart they just need to, you know, drop everything and solve problems!". Near the start of the film, Will sets aside his mop to study a difficult problem posed by Lambeau on the blackboard. The problem has to do with intermediate-level graph theory , but Lambeau describes it as an advanced " Fourier system". To answer
1463-613: A career CIA agent, and played an undercover mobster working for the Massachusetts State Police in Martin Scorsese 's The Departed , a remake of the Hong Kong police thriller Infernal Affairs . Assessing his work in the two films, Manohla Dargis of The New York Times wrote that Damon has the unique "ability to recede into a film while also being fully present, a recessed intensity, that distinguishes how he holds
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#17328518677921596-523: A celebrity correspondent for Years of Living Dangerously . In 2015, Damon portrayed the main character, astronaut Mark Watney, in Ridley Scott 's The Martian , based on Andy Weir 's bestselling novel of the same name , a role that earned him the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and his second Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Having not returned for
1729-418: A challenge to the unknown genius, Lambeau posts an even more difficult problem. He later catches Will writing the solution on the blackboard late at night, but initially thinks Will is vandalizing it and chases him off. At a bar, Will meets Skylar, an English woman about to graduate from Harvard College , who plans on attending medical school at Stanford . Meanwhile, Lambeau, realizing Will was not vandalizing
1862-450: A charismatic performance in a demanding role that's bound to catapult him to stardom. Perfectly cast, he makes the aching, step-by-step transformation of Will realistic and credible." It received nine Academy Awards nominations, including Best Actor for Damon; he and Affleck won the Oscar and Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay . He and Affleck were each paid salaries of $ 600,000, while
1995-594: A desert. The reviews for the film were generally positive, but it was a box-office failure. He then played amnesiac assassin Jason Bourne in Doug Liman 's action thriller The Bourne Identity (2002). Liman considered several actors for the role before he cast Damon. Damon insisted on performing many of the stunts himself, undergoing three months of extensive training in stunt work, the use of weapons, boxing, and eskrima . Damon said that before The Bourne Identity he
2128-402: A different application." This had come after an incident in which his daughter left the table due to his usage of the word and "wrote a very long, beautiful treatise on how that word is dangerous." He denied ever using the six-letter word "faggot" in his personal life, and, in regard to the word "fag": "I explained that that word was used constantly and casually and was even a line of dialogue in
2261-565: A fictionalized version of Wilhelm Grimm alongside Heath Ledger in Terry Gilliam 's fantasy adventure The Brothers Grimm (2005), which was a critically panned commercial failure; The Washington Post concluded, "Damon, constantly flashing his newscaster's teeth and flaunting a fake, ' Masterpiece Theatre ' dialect, comes across like someone who got lost on the way to an audition for a high school production of The Pirates of Penzance ." Later in 2005, he appeared as an energy analyst in
2394-457: A lead role in the film Geronimo: An American Legend . While at Harvard, as an exercise for an English class, Damon wrote an essay in the form of a film treatment which was later developed into the screenplay Good Will Hunting (for which he received an Academy Award). At Harvard, Damon was a member of the Delphic Club , one of the university's elite Final Clubs . In 2013, he was awarded
2527-447: A minute of it, but you don't necessarily want to stop watching." He also noted Damon's and Williams's chemistry, describing it as "a quicksilver intercepting each other's thoughts". Janet Maslin of The New York Times called the screenplay "smart and touching", and praised Van Sant for directing with "style, shrewdness and clarity". She also complimented the production design and cinematography , which were able to effortlessly move
2660-685: A more central component of the story, along with serious content. Examples include Three Colours: White (1994), The Truman Show (1998), The Man Without a Past (2002), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011), and Silver Linings Playbook (2012). Coined by film professor Ken Dancyger , these stories exaggerate characters and situations to the point of becoming fable, legend or fairy tale. Examples: Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) and Maleficent (2014). Light dramas are light-hearted stories that are, nevertheless, serious in nature. Examples: The Help (2011) and The Terminal (2004). Psychological dramas are dramas that focus on
2793-472: A movie of mine as recently as 2003... To my admiration and pride, she was extremely articulate about the extent to which that word would have been painful to someone in the LGBTQ+ community regardless of how culturally normalized it was. I not only agreed with her but thrilled at her passion, values and desire for social justice." Aside from awards he has garnered for his role as an actor and producer, Damon became
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#17328518677922926-417: A one-act play, Damon submitted a 40-page script. He wrote into his script his then-girlfriend, medical student Skylar Satenstein (credited in the closing credits of the film). Damon said that the only scene from that script to survive verbatim was when Will (Damon) meets his therapist, Sean Maguire ( Robin Williams ), for the first time. Damon asked Ben Affleck to develop the screenplay with him. They completed
3059-400: A particular setting or subject matter, or they combine a drama's otherwise serious tone with elements that encourage a broader range of moods . To these ends, a primary element in a drama is the occurrence of conflict —emotional, social, or otherwise—and its resolution in the course of the storyline. All forms of cinema or television that involve fictional stories are forms of drama in
3192-633: A person's life and raises their level of importance. The "small things in life" feel as important to the protagonist (and the audience) as the climactic battle in an action film, or the final shootout in a western. Often, the protagonists deal with multiple, overlapping issues in the course of the film – just as we do in life. Films of this type/genre combination include: The Wrestler (2008), Fruitvale Station (2013), and Locke (2013). Romantic dramas are films with central themes that reinforce our beliefs about love (e.g.: themes such as "love at first sight", "love conquers all", or "there
3325-631: A position at the NSA with a scathing critique of the agency's moral position. Skylar asks Will to move to California with her, but he refuses and tells her he is an orphan, and that his foster father physically abused him. Will breaks up with Skylar and later storms out on Lambeau, dismissing the mathematical research he has been doing. Sean points out to Will that he is so adept at anticipating future failure in his interpersonal relationships that he deliberately sabotages them to avoid emotional pain. Chuckie likewise challenges Will over his resistance to taking any of
3458-411: A predictable narrative arc, but Good Will Hunting adds enough quirks to the journey – and is loaded with enough powerful performances – that it remains an entertaining, emotionally rich drama." On Metacritic , the film has a weighted average score of 71 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on
3591-508: A role for which he lost 11 kilograms (25 lb). Damon said that he wanted to display his character's humanity and honesty on screen despite his criminal actions. An adaptation of Patricia Highsmith 's 1955 novel of same name , the film costarred Jude Law , Gwyneth Paltrow , and Cate Blanchett , and received praise from critics. "Damon outstandingly conveys his character's slide from innocent enthusiasm into cold calculation", according to Variety magazine. In Dogma (1999), he played
3724-479: A scale of A+ to F. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of four, writing that while the story is "predictable", it is "the individual moments, not the payoff, that make it so effective". Duane Byrge of The Hollywood Reporter praised the performances of the cast, writing, "The acting is brilliant overall, with special praise to Matt Damon for his ragingly tender portrayal of
3857-562: A series of comments regarding the Me Too movement against sexual harassment and misconduct. On October 10, Sharon Waxman , a former reporter for The New York Times , mentioned that Damon and Russell Crowe had made direct phone calls to her to vouch for the head of Miramax Italy, Fabrizio Lombardo. In her report, she suspected Lombardo of facilitating incidents of Harvey Weinstein 's sexual misconduct in Europe. However, Damon clarified later that
3990-477: A series of tweets, among them one by Carole Cadwalladr of The Observer in which she wrote, "There isn't enough yuck in the world to describe Matt Damon advertising a Ponzi scheme and comparing it to the moon landings." Jody Rosen in the New York Times said that "There is something unseemly, to put it mildly, about the famous and fabulously wealthy urging crypto on their fans" and "The bleakness of that pitch
4123-457: A specific approach to drama but, rather, consider drama as a lack of comedic techniques. Examples: Ghost World (2001) and Wuthering Heights (2011). According to the Screenwriters' Taxonomy, all film descriptions should contain their type (comedy or drama) combined with one (or more) of the eleven super-genres. This combination does not create a separate genre, but rather, provides
Good Will Hunting - Misplaced Pages Continue
4256-681: A stepdaughter Alexia Barroso (born 1998) from Bozán's previous marriage, and considers her to be his own. The couple has lived in Miami and New York City; and since 2012, they have lived in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood in Los Angeles. In 2018, Damon bought a luxury penthouse in New York City's Brooklyn Heights neighborhood for $ 16.5 million. He is a fan of the Boston Red Sox . After
4389-555: A street in New York and having everybody turn and look". Before the film, Damon played the lead in the critically acclaimed drama The Rainmaker (1997), where he was recognized by the Los Angeles Times as "a talented young actor on the brink of stardom." For the role, Damon regained most of the weight he had lost for Courage Under Fire . After meeting Damon on the set of Good Will Hunting , director Steven Spielberg cast him in
4522-405: A while". In March 2018, Damon and Affleck announced they would adopt the inclusion rider agreement in all their future production deals through their company Pearl Street Films . In August 2021, Damon sparked controversy after stating in an interview with The Sunday Times that he had only "months ago" stopped using the word " fag ", saying that it "was commonly used when I was a kid, with
4655-570: A working relationship with the Obama administration , primarily due to his friendship with Jason Furman , his former Harvard roommate who became Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors to Obama. In 2012, Damon joined Ben Affleck and John Krasinski in hosting a fundraiser for Democratic Senate nominee Elizabeth Warren . Damon endorsed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election . In October and December 2017, Damon made headlines when he made
4788-772: Is a board member of Tonic Mailstopper (formerly GreenDimes), a company that attempts to halt junk mail delivered to American homes each day. Damon was the founder of the H2O Africa Foundation , the charitable arm of the Running the Sahara expedition, which merged with WaterPartners to create Water.org in July 2009. Water.org has partnered with corporate sponsors to promote awareness and raise funds to support its mission of bringing safe, clean, cost-effective drinking water and sanitation to developing countries. In this context, Damon has been
4921-447: Is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction ) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-genre, macro-genre, or micro-genre, such as soap opera , police crime drama , political drama , legal drama , historical drama , domestic drama , teen drama , and comedy-drama (dramedy). These terms tend to indicate
5054-526: Is a final fight to the death; the idea of the protagonists facing death is a central expectation in a war drama film. In a war film even though the enemy may out-number, or out-power, the hero, we assume that the enemy can be defeated if only the hero can figure out how. Examples include: Apocalypse Now (1979), Come and See (1985), Braveheart (1995), Life Is Beautiful (1997), Black Book (2006), The Hurt Locker (2008), 1944 (2015), Wildeye (2015), and 1917 (2019). Films in
5187-419: Is a self-taught math genius who was recently paroled after completing a prison term. He works as a janitor at MIT , and spends his free time drinking with his friends Chuckie, Billy and Morgan. When Professor Gerald Lambeau posts a difficult combinatorial mathematics problem on a blackboard as a challenge for his graduate students, Will solves the problem anonymously, stunning both the students and Lambeau. As
5320-528: Is a victim of his own inner demons and to accept that it is not his fault by repeatedly stating, "It's not your fault", causing him to break down in tears in Sean's arms. Will accepts one of the job offers arranged by Lambeau. Having helped Will manage his problems, Sean reconciles with Lambeau, deciding to take a sabbatical. Will's friends give him a used car for his 21st birthday so he can commute to work. Later, Chuckie goes to Will's to pick him up, only to find that he
5453-612: Is aimed at fighting AIDS and poverty in Third World countries. He has appeared in their print and television advertising. He is an ambassador for ONEXONE, a nonprofit foundation committed to supporting, preserving, and improving the lives of children at home in Canada, the United States, and around the world. Damon is a spokesperson for Feeding America , a hunger-relief organization, and a member of their Entertainment Council, participating in their Ad Council public service announcements . He
Good Will Hunting - Misplaced Pages Continue
5586-452: Is not there, much to his happiness, as Will had finally done what Chuckie had been wishing for all these years. Will leaves a note for Sean asking him to tell Lambeau that he had to go "see about a girl", revealing he passed on the job offer and instead is heading to California to reunite with Skylar. Matt Damon started writing the film as a final assignment for a playwriting class that he was taking at Harvard University . Instead of writing
5719-421: Is someone out there for everyone"); the story typically revolves around characters falling into (and out of, and back into) love. Annie Hall (1977), The Notebook (2004), Carol (2015), Her (2013) , and La La Land (2016) are examples of romance dramas. The science fiction drama film is often the story of a protagonist (and their allies) facing something "unknown" that has the potential to change
5852-462: Is startling." Comedian Jimmy Kimmel has a running gag on his ABC television show, Jimmy Kimmel Live! , where he apologizes for not being able to interview Damon at the end of each show . It culminated in a planned skit on September 12, 2006, when Damon stormed off after having his interview cut short. Damon appeared in several of E! Entertainment's top ten Jimmy Kimmel Live! spoofs. On January 24, 2013, Damon took over his show and mentioned
5985-587: Is tasked with the responsibility of fighting wars. In an interview with the Sunday Herald in January 2003, Damon expressed his support for Gun control with "I actually hate guns. They freak me out." Damon is a supporter of the Democratic Party , and has made several critical attacks on Republican Party figures. However, he also expressed disappointment over the policies of President Barack Obama . He had
6118-622: Is that in a documentary it uses real people to describe history or current events; in a docudrama it uses professionally trained actors to play the roles in the current event, that is "dramatized" a bit. Examples: Black Mass (2015) and Zodiac (2007). Unlike docudramas, docu-fictional films combine documentary and fiction, where actual footage or real events are intermingled with recreated scenes. Examples: Interior. Leather Bar (2013) and Your Name Here (2015). Many otherwise serious productions have humorous scenes and characters intended to provide comic relief . A comedy drama has humor as
6251-507: The 78th Venice International Film Festival and earned positive reviews while being a financial failure at the box office. In 2023, Damon starred as Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro in Air , a drama film about the launch of Air Jordan , co-starring and directed by Affleck. It marked the first release from Affleck and Damon's independent production company, Artists Equity , which they had formed in 2022. He also reunited with Christopher Nolan in
6384-1116: The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay . He established himself as a leading man by starring as Tom Ripley in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Jason Bourne in the Bourne franchise (2002–2007; 2016), and Linus Caldwell in the Ocean's trilogy (2001–2007). He received a nomination for an Academy Award and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for playing an astronaut stranded on Mars in The Martian (2015). He also acted in The Rainmaker (1997), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Syriana (2005), The Departed (2006), The Informant! (2009), Invictus (2009), True Grit (2010), Contagion (2011), Ford v Ferrari (2019), Stillwater (2021), Air (2023), and Oppenheimer (2023),
6517-595: The Clint Eastwood -directed film Invictus , which is based on the 2008 John Carlin book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation and features Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela . Invictus earned Damon an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The New Republic observed that he brought "it off with low-key charm and integrity." Damon also lent his voice to
6650-514: The Coen brothers ' remake of the 1969 John Wayne-starring Western True Grit . He also narrated Inside Job , a documentary film about the effects of financial deregulation in the 2007–2008 financial crisis . In 2010, he was one of the highest-grossing actors of all time, ranking 37th. In 2011, he starred in The Adjustment Bureau , Contagion , and We Bought a Zoo . That same year,
6783-669: The Tribeca Sloan retrospectively explained that for physics, "Having some deep insight about the universe [ . . . ] typically [ is ] a group project in the modern era", while "doing some mathematical theorem is a singular undertaking very often". Patrick O'Donnell, professor of physics at the University of Toronto , served as the mathematical consultant for the film. In the spring of 1997, Damon and Affleck asked Kleitman to "speak math to us" for writing realistic dialogue, so Kleitman invited postdoc Tom Bohman to join him, giving them
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#17328518677926916-755: The western super-genre often take place in the American Southwest or Mexico, with a large number of scenes occurring outdoors so we can soak in scenic landscapes. Visceral expectations for the audience include fistfights, gunplay, and chase scenes. There is also the expectation of spectacular panoramic images of the countryside including sunsets, wide open landscapes, and endless deserts and sky. Examples of western dramas include: True Grit (1969) and its 2010 remake , Mad Max (1979), Unforgiven (1992), No Country for Old Men (2007), Django Unchained (2012), Hell or High Water (2016), and Logan (2017). Some film categories that use
7049-549: The "enjoyable characters", he thought that the film was somewhat superficial, writing, "there isn't a whole lot of movie to take home with you ... many will wake the next morning wondering why, with all that talent on hand, it amounts to so little in the end." Writing for the BBC , Nev Pierce gave the film four stars out of five, describing it as "touching, without being sentimental", although he felt that some scenes were "odd lapses into self-help speak". Emanuel Levy of Variety called
7182-489: The Apes (1968), A Clockwork Orange (1971), Blade Runner (1982) and its sequel Blade Runner 2049 (2017), Children of Men (2006), Interstellar (2014), and Arrival (2016). In the sports super-genre, characters will be playing sports. Thematically, the story is often one of "Our Team" versus "Their Team"; their team will always try to win, and our team will show the world that they deserve recognition or redemption;
7315-564: The English version of the animated film Ponyo , which was released in the United States in August 2009. In March 2010, Damon and Ben Affleck collaborated once again to create another production company titled Pearl Street Films , a Warner Bros. -based production company. That year, he reunited with director Paul Greengrass, who directed him in the Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Ultimatum , for
7448-545: The Harvard Arts Medal. Damon entered Harvard in 1988, where he appeared in student theater plays, such as Burn This and A... My Name is Alice . Later, he made his film debut at the age of 18, with a single line of dialogue in the romantic comedy Mystic Pizza . As a student at Harvard, he acted in small roles such as in the TNT original film Rising Son and the ensemble prep-school drama School Ties . He left
7581-520: The North American box office. In 2021, Damon starred in Tom McCarthy 's crime drama Stillwater , playing an unemployed oil rig worker from Oklahoma who sets out with a French woman to prove his convicted daughter's innocence. The film had its world premiere at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival . IndieWire praised Damon's performance as "graced with a quiet softness that offsets the sheer volume of
7714-426: The United States and Canada, surpassing Pulp Fiction as Miramax's highest grossing film in that market at the time. It grossed $ 225,933,435 worldwide. Good Will Hunting was met with widespread critical acclaim on release. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes , the film holds an approval rating of 97%, based on 91 reviews, with an average rating of 8.10/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "It follows
7847-646: The University of Toronto) and Central Technical School . Harvard normally disallows filming on its property, but permitted limited filming by the project after intervention by Harvard alumnus John Lithgow . Likewise, only the exterior shots of Bunker Hill Community College were filmed in Boston; however, Sean's office was built in Toronto as an exact replica of one at the college. The interior bar scenes set in "Southie" were shot on location at Woody's L Street Tavern . Meanwhile,
7980-513: The action thriller Green Zone , which flopped commercially and received a score of 53% on Rotten Tomatoes and ambivalent reception from critics. He appeared as a guest star in an episode of Arthur , titled "The Making of Arthur", as himself. During season 5 of 30 Rock , he appeared as a guest star in the role of Liz Lemon 's boyfriend in the episodes " I Do Do ", " The Fabian Strategy ", " Live Show ", and " Double-edged Sword ". Damon's 2010 projects included Clint Eastwood's Hereafter and
8113-407: The audience jump through a series of mental "hoops"; it is not uncommon for the crime drama to use verbal gymnastics to keep the audience and the protagonist on their toes. Examples of crime dramas include: The Godfather (1972), Chinatown (1974), Goodfellas (1990), The Usual Suspects (1995), The Big Short (2015), and Udta Punjab (2016). According to Eric R. Williams ,
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#17328518677928246-643: The biographical film Oppenheimer , playing Leslie Groves , the director of the Manhattan Project . The film was a critical and commercial success. Damon will work with Nolan once again in an as-yet untitled film. Damon, alongside George Clooney , Brad Pitt , Don Cheadle , David Pressman , and Jerry Weintraub , is one of the founders of Not On Our Watch Project , an organization that focuses global attention and resources to stop and prevent mass atrocities such as in Darfur . Damon supports One Campaign, which
8379-424: The blackboard: state Cayley's formula and "draw all the homeomorphically irreducible trees with n = 10 {\displaystyle n=10} ". Will writes eight of the ten trees correctly before Lambeau interrupts. In the film's opening weekend in limited release, it grossed $ 272,912. When it opened nationwide in January 1998, it grossed $ 10,261,471 for the weekend. It went on to gross $ 138,433,435 in
8512-521: The boy cursed with genius." Peter Stack of the San Francisco Chronicle was equally positive, writing, "The glow goes well beyond a radiant performance by Matt Damon ... Intimate, heartfelt and wickedly funny, it's a movie whose impact lingers." Owen Gleiberman , writing for Entertainment Weekly , gave the film a "B", stating, " Good Will Hunting is stuffed – indeed, overstuffed – with heart, soul, audacity, and blarney. You may not believe
8645-472: The brief title role in the 1998 World War II film Saving Private Ryan . He co-starred with Edward Norton in the 1998 poker film Rounders , where he plays a reformed gambler in law school who must return to playing high-stakes poker to help a friend pay off loan sharks . Despite meager earnings at the box-office, it is considered one of the best poker movies of all time. Damon then portrayed antihero Tom Ripley in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999),
8778-412: The broader sense if their storytelling is achieved by means of actors who represent ( mimesis ) characters . In this broader sense, drama is a mode distinct from novels, short stories , and narrative poetry or songs . In the modern era, before the birth of cinema or television, "drama" within theatre was a type of play that was neither a comedy nor a tragedy . It is this narrower sense that
8911-547: The calls were solely to reassure her of Lombardo's professional qualifications in the film industry. Waxman endorsed Damon's statement on Twitter hours later. Also during this time, Damon said that he had heard a story from Ben Affleck that Gwyneth Paltrow , a co-worker on a feature film of his, had been harassed by Weinstein in 1996, but thought "she had handled it" because they continued to work together, and Weinstein "treated her incredibly respectfully". In another series of interviews during December 2017, Damon advocated for
9044-429: The character he's playing". That same year saw the release of the historical drama The Last Duel , which he starred in and co-wrote alongside Ben Affleck . The film, set in medieval France and based on the book of the same name , focuses on the true story of a knight, Jean de Carrouges , portrayed by Damon, who challenges his former friend to a judicial duel after he's accused of raping his wife. It premiered at
9177-533: The characters' inner life and psychological problems. Examples: Requiem for a Dream (2000), Oldboy (2003), Babel (2006), Whiplash (2014), and Anomalisa (2015) Satire can involve humor, but the result is typically sharp social commentary that is anything but funny. Satire often uses irony or exaggeration to expose faults in society or individuals that influence social ideology. Examples: Thank You for Smoking (2005) and Idiocracy (2006). Straight drama applies to those that do not attempt
9310-501: The company's projects was the short-lived mystery-hybrid series Push, Nevada . Damon's attempts at leading characters in romantic dramas such as 2000's All the Pretty Horses and The Legend of Bagger Vance were commercially and critically unsuccessful. Variety said of his work in All the Pretty Horses : "[Damon] just doesn't quite seem like a young man who's spent his life amidst
9443-473: The course of the film. Thematically, horror films often serve as morality tales, with the killer serving up violent penance for the victims' past sins. Metaphorically, these become battles of Good vs. Evil or Purity vs. Sin. Psycho (1960), Halloween (1978), The Shining (1980), The Conjuring (2013), It (2017), mother! (2017), and Hereditary (2018) are examples of horror drama films. Day-in-the-life films takes small events in
9576-538: The cryptocurrency trading platform Crypto.com , under which Crypto.com was to make a $ 1 million donation to Water.org. In the announcement, Damon said, "Crypto.com gave us this great donation, which is amazing. The money that I make for the commercials to promote them, I give 100% of that to Water.org as well. So, it's millions of dollars coming in to us." Damon's Crypto.com commercial started rolling out in cinemas late in 2021, and then on television in January 2022, mainly during sports programming such as NFL games. Once it
9709-596: The documentary which he narrated, American Teacher , opened in New York before national screening. Also in 2011, he voiced a krill named Bill in the animated film Happy Feet Two . In January 2012, Damon signed a multiyear deal to be the voice of TD Ameritrade advertisements, replacing Sam Waterston as the discount brokerage's spokesman. Damon donated all fees from the advertisements to charity. In April 2012, Damon filmed Promised Land , directed by Gus Van Sant , which Damon co-wrote with John Krasinski . Damon's next film with frequent collaborator Steven Soderbergh
9842-487: The dust and dung of a Texas cattle ranch. Nor does he strike any sparks with [Penelope] Cruz ." He was similarly deemed "uncomfortable being the center" of Robert Redford 's The Legend of Bagger Vance by Peter Rainer of New York magazine. During this period, Damon joined two lucrative film series— Ocean's Trilogy (2001–2007) and Bourne (2002–2016)—and produced the television series Project Greenlight (2001–2005, 2015). He co-starred as thief Linus Caldwell in
9975-466: The early 1990s, Damon and Affleck wrote Good Will Hunting (1997), a screenplay about a young mathematics genius, an extension of a screenplay he wrote for an assignment at Harvard, having integrated advice from director Rob Reiner , screenwriter William Goldman , and writer/director Kevin Smith . He asked Affleck to perform the scenes with him in front of the class and, when Damon later moved into Affleck's Los Angeles apartment, they began working on
10108-625: The face of advertising campaigns to promote Water.org in conjunction with products from major sponsors. In October 2011, Water.org received an $ 8 million grant from the PepsiCo Foundation to scale up WaterCredit, which provides microloans to families throughout India. Damon has been part of promoting those efforts, tying in with the Aquafina and Ethos Water brands of bottled water owned by PepsiCo and Starbucks . Since 2015, Damon has promoted Anheuser-Busch InBev 's Stella Artois beer brand as
10241-481: The family as a whole reacts to a central challenge. There are four micro-genres for the family drama: Family Bond , Family Feud , Family Loss , and Family Rift . A sub-type of drama films that uses plots that appeal to the heightened emotions of the audience. Melodramatic plots often deal with "crises of human emotion, failed romance or friendship, strained familial situations, tragedy, illness, neuroses, or emotional and physical hardship". Film critics sometimes use
10374-604: The film Manchester by the Sea (2016). Damon has performed voice-over work in both animated and documentary films as well as established two production companies with Affleck, Artists Equity , and the former, Pearl Street Films . He has been involved in charitable work with organizations including the One Campaign , H2O Africa Foundation , Feeding America , and Water.org . Damon was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts , on October 8, 1970,
10507-470: The film "a brisk, engrossing and intelligent thriller", adding, "Damon is one hell of an action hero. He does a lot with very little, imbuing his limited dialogue with both rage and sorrow, looking harder and more haunted as the picture progresses". For the film, he earned an Empire Award for Best Actor ; the award's presenter Empire attributed Damon's win to his "astute, underplayed performance, through which he totally eschews movie star vanity". He played
10640-410: The film a "beautifully realized tale ... engaging and often quite touching". He felt that the film's visual style showcased Van Sant's talent, but the plot was "quite predictable". Several scholars have examined the role of class, religion and the cultural geography of Boston in the film. Jeffrey Herlihy-Mera observed that the residual Catholic–Protestant tensions in Boston are an important backdrop in
10773-409: The film and television industries, along with film studies , adopted. " Radio drama " has been used in both senses—originally transmitted in a live performance, it has also been used to describe the more high-brow and serious end of the dramatic output of radio . The Screenwriters Taxonomy contends that film genres are fundamentally based upon a film's atmosphere, character and story, and therefore
10906-469: The film grossed over $ 225 million at the worldwide box office. The two later parodied their roles from the film in Kevin Smith's 2001 movie Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back . Speaking of his "overnight success" through Good Will Hunting , Damon said by that time he had been working in the cinema for 11 years, but still found the change "nearly indescribable—going from total obscurity to walking down
11039-405: The film, as Irish Catholics from Southie are aligned against ostensibly Protestant characters who are affiliated with Harvard and MIT . Emmett Winn has argued that character interactions show class conflict and stunted social mobility, while, similarly, David Lipset commented that class inequality is a driving subtext. Drama (film and television) In film and television , drama
11172-451: The film. Weinstein asked that a few scenes be removed, including an out-of-place, mid-script oral sex scene that Damon and Affleck added to trick executives who were not looking closely. After buying the rights from Castle Rock Entertainment, Miramax Films put the film into production. Several well-known filmmakers were originally considered to direct, including Mel Gibson and Michael Mann . Originally, Affleck asked Kevin Smith whether he
11305-401: The first part of the question, Will chalks up an adjacency matrix : To answer the second part, he determines the number of 3-step walks in the graph, and finds the third power matrix: The third and fourth parts of the question concern generating functions . The other characters are astounded that a janitor shows such facility with matrices . Lambeau subsequently poses a new challenge on
11438-476: The first time. The Baskin-Robbins / Dunkin' Donuts featured in the "How do you like them apples?" scene was next door to the pub at the time of the film's release. The Harvard Bar interior scenes were filmed at the Upfront Bar and Grill on Front St. E. in Toronto. The Tasty , at the corner of JFK and Brattle Streets, was the scene of Will and Skylar's first kiss. The Au Bon Pain , where Will and Skylar discuss
11571-405: The former's photographic memory , was at the corner of Dunster Street and Mass Ave. The Boston Public Garden bench on which Will and Sean sat for a scene in the film became a temporary shrine after Williams's death in 2014. The film's end-credits roll over a since-famous, continuous shot of the car Hunting is driving to California, with the songs "Miss Misery" and "Afternoon Delight" playing on
11704-534: The former's first installment, Steven Soderbergh 's 2001 ensemble film Ocean's Eleven , a remake of the Rat Pack 's Ocean's 11 (1960). The role was originally meant for Mark Wahlberg , who refused it in favor of other projects. The film grossed $ 450 million on a budget of $ 83 million. Damon, alongside Affleck and others, produced the documentary series Project Greenlight , aired on HBO and later Bravo , which helped newcomers develop their first film. The series
11837-491: The fourth film in the Bourne film series , Damon reprised his role in 2016's Jason Bourne , reuniting with Paul Greengrass. In 2017, Damon played the lead role in Zhang Yimou 's The Great Wall , a hit internationally and a disappointment at the domestic box office. The film, and Damon's casting, were not well received by critics. Later in 2017, he starred in two satires, George Clooney's 1950s-set Suburbicon , which
11970-416: The future of humanity; this unknown may be represented by a villain with incomprehensible powers, a creature we do not understand, or a scientific scenario that threatens to change the world; the science fiction story forces the audience to consider the nature of human beings, the confines of time or space or the concepts of human existence in general. Examples include: Metropolis (1927), Planet of
12103-575: The geopolitical thriller Syriana alongside George Clooney and Jeffrey Wright . The film focuses on petroleum politics and the global influence of the oil industry. Damon says starring in the film broadened his understanding of the oil industry and that he hoped the people would talk about the film afterward. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone was mainly impressed with Clooney's acting, but also found Damon's performance "whiplash". In 2006, Damon joined Robert De Niro in The Good Shepherd as
12236-416: The hallmark of fantasy drama films is "a sense of wonderment, typically played out in a visually intense world inhabited by mythic creatures, magic or superhuman characters. Props and costumes within these films often belie a sense of mythology and folklore – whether ancient, futuristic, or other-worldly. The costumes, as well as the exotic world, reflect the personal, inner struggles that the hero faces in
12369-482: The homes of Will (190 West 6th Street) and Sean (259 E Street), although portrayed as some distance apart in the film, are actually next door to each other on Bowen Street, the narrow street that Chuckie drives on to walk up to Will's back door. The Bow and Arrow Pub, which was located at the corner of Bow Street and Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge , doubled as the exterior of the Harvard bar in which Will meets Skylar for
12502-408: The labels "drama" and "comedy" are too broad to be considered a genre. Instead, the taxonomy contends that film dramas are a "Type" of film; listing at least ten different sub-types of film and television drama. Docudramas are dramatized adaptations of real-life events. While not always completely accurate, the general facts are more-or-less true. The difference between a docudrama and a documentary
12635-499: The last of which is his highest-grossing feature. On television, Damon portrayed Scott Thorson in the HBO biopic Behind the Candelabra (2013), for which he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award . He was Emmy-nominated for his guest role in 30 Rock in 2011 and hosting Saturday Night Live in 2019. He also produced the reality series Project Greenlight (2001–2015) as well as
12768-449: The legal system. Films that focus on dramatic events in history. Focuses on doctors, nurses, hospital staff, and ambulance saving victims and the interactions of their daily lives. Focuses on teenage characters, especially where a secondary school setting plays a role. Matt Damon Matthew Paige Damon ( / ˈ d eɪ m ə n / DAY -mən ; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. He
12901-749: The long-standing feud and having been bumped from years of shows. It involved celebrities who were previously involved in the "feud", including Robin Williams, Ben Affleck, and Sarah Silverman . Damon met his Argentine wife, Luciana Bozán, while filming Stuck on You in Miami in April 2003. They became engaged in September 2005 and married in a private civil ceremony at the Manhattan Marriage Bureau on December 9, 2005. They have three daughters together born in June 2006, August 2008, and October 2010. He also has
13034-473: The original bidding war for the screenplay turned the pair down, taking meetings with Affleck and Damon only to tell them this to their face. As a last resort, Affleck passed the script to his Chasing Amy director Kevin Smith, who read it and promised to walk the script directly into Harvey Weinstein 's office at Miramax Films . Weinstein read the script, loved it, and paid Castle Rock Entertainment their due, while also agreeing to let Damon and Affleck star in
13167-485: The other therapists, Sean actually challenges Will's defense mechanisms. During the first session, Will insults his deceased wife, and Sean threatens him, but after a few unproductive sessions, Will finally begins to open up. Will is particularly struck by Sean's story of how he met his wife, who later died of cancer, by giving up his ticket to the historic game six of the 1975 World Series after falling in love at first sight. Sean's explanation for surrendering his ticket
13300-526: The positions he interviews for, telling him he owes it to his friends to make the most of opportunities they will never have, even if it means leaving one day. He then tells Will that the best part of his day is the brief moment when he waits at his doorstep, thinking Will has moved on to something greater. Will walks in on a heated argument between Sean and Lambeau over Will's potential. Lambeau leaves, and Sean and Will talk and it comes to light that they were both victims of child abuse. Sean helps him see that he
13433-816: The problem but solving it, asks the campus maintenance staff his whereabouts, but is informed he did not turn up for work. Lambeau learns Will was placed at MIT by a parole program, and obtains his parole officer's details. Will and his friends have started a fight with a gang that includes a member who used to bully Will as a child. Will is arrested after he attacks a responding police officer. Lambeau sits in on his court appearance and watches Will defend himself. He arranges for Will to avoid jail time if he agrees to study mathematics under Lambeau's supervision and participate in psychotherapy sessions. Will agrees but treats his therapists with mockery. In desperation, Lambeau calls on Dr. Sean Maguire, his college roommate, who now teaches psychology at Bunker Hill Community College . Unlike
13566-406: The profits for the film, which went on to become the most successful of all time. Damon said later: "I will go down in history… you will never meet an actor who turned down more money." He made a guest appearance in 2009 on the sixth-season finale of Entourage as himself, where he tries to pressure Vincent Chase ( Adrian Grenier ) into donating to his real foundation ONEXONE . His next role
13699-479: The release. " Afternoon Delight " by the Starland Vocal Band was featured in the film but did not appear on the soundtrack album. A limited-edition soundtrack album featuring Elfman's complete score from the film was released by Music Box Records on March 3, 2014. The soundtrack, issued in 1500 copies, includes all of Elfman's cues (including music not featured on the rare Miramax Academy promo) and contains
13832-531: The role of Spirit in the animated film Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) and later played a conjoined twin in Stuck on You (2003), which received a mixed critical reception. His major releases in 2004 included starring roles in the sequels The Bourne Supremacy and Ocean's Twelve . Both films earned more than $ 280 million at the box-office. In a review for The Bourne Supremacy , BBC 's Nev Pierce called
13965-604: The school in 1992, a semester (12 credits) shy of completing his Bachelor of Arts in English to feature in Geronimo: An American Legend in Los Angeles, erroneously expecting the movie to become a big success. Damon next appeared as an opiate -addicted soldier in 1996's Courage Under Fire , for which he lost 40 pounds (18 kg) in 100 days on a self-prescribed diet and fitness regimen. Courage Under Fire gained him critical notice, when The Washington Post labeled his performance "impressive". During
14098-408: The screen." The Departed received critical acclaim and won the Academy Award for Best Picture . According to Forbes in August 2007, Damon was the most bankable star of the actors reviewed, his last three films at that time averaged US$ 29 at the box office for every dollar he earned. Two of his major releases in 2007 were the films Ocean's Thirteen and The Bourne Ultimatum , which were
14231-506: The script in 1994. At first, it was written as a thriller about a young man in the rough-and-tumble streets of South Boston who possesses a superior intelligence and is targeted by the government with heavy-handed recruitment. Castle Rock Entertainment bought the script for $ 675,000 against $ 775,000, meaning that Damon and Affleck would earn an additional $ 100,000 if the film was produced, and they retained sole writing credit. Castle Rock Entertainment president Rob Reiner urged them to drop
14364-562: The script more seriously. The film, which they wrote mainly during improvisation sessions, was set partly in their hometown of Cambridge, and drew from their own experiences. They sold the screenplay to Castle Rock in 1994, but after a conflict with the company, they convinced Miramax to purchase the script. The film received critical praise; Quentin Curtis of The Daily Telegraph found "real wit and vigour, and some depth" in their writing and Emanuel Levy of Variety wrote that Damon "gives
14497-409: The second son of Kent Telfer Damon (1942–2017), a stockbroker, and Nancy Carlsson-Paige (b. 1946), an early childhood education professor at Lesley University . His father had English and Scottish ancestry, while his mother is of Finnish and Swedish descent; her family surname had been changed from Pajari to Paige. Damon and his family moved to Newton for two years. His parents divorced when he
14630-544: The songs by Elliott Smith. One of the tracks is Smith's songs with Elfman's arrangements added to the mix. In an early version of the script, Will Hunting was going to be a physics prodigy, but Nobel Laureate in Physics Sheldon Glashow at Harvard told Damon that the subject should be math instead of physics. Glashow referred Damon to his brother-in-law, Daniel Kleitman , a mathematics professor at MIT. Columbia University physics and math professor Brian Greene at
14763-632: The soundtrack. It was shot on a stretch of the Massachusetts Turnpike . The car eventually disappears down the road after passing under the bridge carrying the West Stockbridge Road . The musical score for Good Will Hunting was composed by Danny Elfman , who had previously collaborated with Gus Van Sant on To Die For and would go on to score many of Van Sant's other films. The film also features many songs written and recorded by singer-songwriter Elliott Smith . His song " Miss Misery "
14896-530: The story does not always have to involve a team. The story could also be about an individual athlete or the story could focus on an individual playing on a team. Examples of this genre/type include: The Hustler (1961), Hoosiers (1986), Remember the Titans (2000), and Moneyball (2011). War films typically tells the story of a small group of isolated individuals who – one by one – get killed (literally or metaphorically) by an outside force until there
15029-514: The story." Examples of fantasy dramas include The Lord of the Rings (2001–2003), Pan's Labyrinth (2006), Where the Wild Things Are (2009), and Life of Pi (2012). Horror dramas often involve the central characters isolated from the rest of society. These characters are often teenagers or people in their early twenties (the genre's central audience) and are eventually killed off during
15162-573: The team won the 2007 World Series , he narrated the commemorative DVD release of the event. He has competed in several World Series of Poker (WSOP) events, including the 2010 World Series of Poker main event. He was eliminated from the 1998 WSOP by poker professional Doyle Brunson . While discussing the Iraq War on Hardball with Chris Matthews in December 2006, Damon expressed concern about inequities across socioeconomic classes with regard to who
15295-578: The term "pejoratively to connote an unrealistic, pathos-filled, camp tale of romance or domestic situations with stereotypical characters (often including a central female character) that would directly appeal to feminine audiences". Also called "women's movies", "weepies", tearjerkers, or "chick flicks". If they are targeted to a male audience, then they are called "guy cry" films. Often considered "soap-opera" drama. Focuses on religious characters, mystery play, beliefs, and respect. Character development based on themes involving criminals, law enforcement and
15428-590: The third installments of their respective film series. Both films earned more than $ 300 million at the box-office. Damon had an uncredited cameo in Francis Ford Coppola 's Youth Without Youth (2007) and another cameo in the 2008 Che Guevara biopic Che . While he was working on the Bourne films, Damon declined an offer from James Cameron to star in his upcoming film Avatar , as he did not want to break his Bourne contract. Cameron offered Damon 10% of
15561-438: The thriller aspect of the story and to focus on the relationship between Will and his therapist. Terrence Malick told Affleck and Damon over dinner that the film ought to end with Will's decision to follow his girlfriend Skylar to California, not them leaving together. At Reiner's request, screenwriter William Goldman read the script. Goldman consistently denied the persistent rumor that he wrote Good Will Hunting or acted as
15694-436: The viewer from "classroom to dorm room to neighborhood bar", in a small setting. Quentin Curtis of The Daily Telegraph opined that Williams's performance brought "sharpness and tenderness", calling the film a "crowd-pleaser, with bags of charm to spare. It doesn't bear thinking too much about its message ... Damon and Affleck's writing has real wit and vigour, and some depth." Andrew O'Hehir of Salon stated that despite
15827-488: The word "comedy" or "drama" are not recognized by the Screenwriters Taxonomy as either a film genre or a film type. For instance, "Melodrama" and "Screwball Comedy" are considered Pathways, while "romantic comedy" and "family drama" are macro-genres. A macro-genre in the Screenwriters Taxonomy. These films tell a story in which many of the central characters are related. The story revolves around how
15960-500: Was Behind the Candelabra , a drama about the life of pianist/entertainer Liberace (played by Michael Douglas ) with Damon playing Liberace's longtime partner Scott Thorson . The film premiered on HBO on May 26, 2013. Damon starred in the science fiction film Elysium (2013), where he played former car-thief-turned-factory-worker Max DeCosta. He also appeared in the science fiction movie The Zero Theorem in 2013, directed by Terry Gilliam . That same year, Damon appeared in
16093-457: Was Steven Soderbergh's dark comedy The Informant! (2009), in which his Golden Globe-nominated work was described by Entertainment Weekly as such: "The star – who has quietly and steadily turned into a great Everyman actor – is in nimble control as he reveals his character's deep crazies." Also in 2009, Damon portrayed South Africa national rugby union team captain François Pienaar in
16226-511: Was a good student. He acted in several high-school theater productions, and has credited his drama teacher, Gerry Speca, as having had an important artistic influence on him, although noting wryly that Speca had given Ben Affleck (Damon's close friend and schoolmate) the "biggest roles and longest speeches". He attended Harvard University as a member of the class of 1992, residing in Lowell House , but left before receiving his degree to take
16359-776: Was broadcast widely on television, it sparked much criticism, as did its accompanying "making of" featurette. In The Independent , Nathan Place wrote, "Twitter is cringing after a TV commercial starring Matt Damon compared trading cryptocurrency to mankind's greatest achievements. In the ad, which aired during Sunday night’s NFL games, Mr Damon makes an abstract plug for crypto.com – a platform for exchanging digital currencies like Bitcoin – while striding past images of explorers and astronauts. The New Zealand Herald published an article by Lexie Cartwright summing up viewer reaction: "Matt Damon's new commercial plugging cryptocurrency has been absolutely savaged on social media, with viewers dubbing it 'insulting' and 'disgusting'." The story included
16492-417: Was interested in directing. He declined, saying that they needed a "good director", that he directed only projects that he wrote, and that he was not much of a visual director, but he still served as one of the film's co-executive producers. Damon and Affleck chose Gus Van Sant , whose work on previous films, like Drugstore Cowboy , had left a favorable impression on the fledgling screenwriters. Miramax Films
16625-475: Was jobless for six months, and many of his films during that period under-performed at the box-office. He doubted the film's financial prospects, but it proved a commercial success. Reviews for the film were also positive; Roger Ebert praised it for its ability to absorb the viewer in its "spycraft" and "Damon's ability to be focused and sincere". For his role, Entertainment Weekly named Damon among "the decade's best mixer of brawn and brains." Damon voiced
16758-458: Was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song but lost to " My Heart Will Go On " from Titanic . Elfman's score was also nominated for an Oscar but lost to Titanic as well. On September 11, 2006, The Today Show used Elfman's song "Weepy Donuts" while Matt Lauer spoke during the opening credits. A soundtrack album for the film was released by Capitol Records on November 18, 1997, although only two of Elfman's cues appear on
16891-570: Was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program in 2002, 2004, and 2005. Damon later said that he and Affleck felt proud that the show helped launch the careers of several directors; Damon later served as the executive producer of a number of projects directed by the winners of the show. Damon began 2002 with writing and starring in Gerry , a drama about two friends who forget to bring water and food when they go hiking in
17024-481: Was persuaded and hired Van Sant to direct the film. Filming took place between April and June 1997. Although the story is set in Boston, and many of the scenes were shot on location in the Greater Boston area, many of the interior shots were filmed at locations in Toronto, with the University of Toronto standing in for MIT and Harvard University. The classroom scenes were filmed at McLennan Physical Laboratories (of
17157-584: Was ranked among Forbes ' most bankable stars in 2007, and in 2010 was one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. He has received various awards and nominations , including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards , in addition to nominations for three British Academy Film Awards and seven Primetime Emmy Awards . Damon made his acting debut in the film Mystic Pizza (1988) before gaining prominence in 1997 when he and Ben Affleck wrote and starred in Good Will Hunting , which won them
17290-493: Was released in October, and Alexander Payne 's comedy Downsizing , which was released in December. In September 2018, he portrayed jurist Brett Kavanaugh on the late night sketch series Saturday Night Live . In 2019, Damon portrayed Carroll Shelby in the action biographical drama Ford v Ferrari , directed by James Mangold . As of 2021 , the films in which he had appeared had collectively earned over $ 3.88 billion at
17423-487: Was to "see about a girl", and he does not regret his decision. This encourages Will to build a relationship with Skylar, though he lies to her about his past and is reluctant to introduce her to his friends or show her his home. Will also challenges Sean to take an objective look at his own life, since Sean cannot move on from his wife's death. Lambeau sets up a number of job interviews for Will, but he scorns them by sending Chuckie as his "chief negotiator", and by turning down
17556-519: Was two years old, and he and his brother returned with their mother to Cambridge, where they lived in a six-family communal house. His brother, Kyle, is a sculptor and artist. Damon has said that, as a teenager, he had felt lonely, as if he did not belong, and that his mother's by-the-book approach to child-rearing had made it hard for him to define his own identity. Damon attended Cambridge Alternative School and Cambridge Rindge and Latin School , and
17689-428: Was working with Affleck on Mallrats , and with both Damon and Affleck on Chasing Amy . Castle Rock Entertainment put the script in turnaround and gave Damon and Affleck 30 days to find another buyer for the script who would reimburse Castle Rock Entertainment the money paid; otherwise the script would be reverted to Castle Rock Entertainment, and Damon and Affleck would be out. All of the studios that were involved in
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