Good Will Hunting
was the first in a series of roles Robin Williams took that became increasingly
dark, subversive, and at times questioning the very nature of our existence. It’s
easy to see patterns in retrospect and ascribe meaning to them, but I remember
it being clear at the time that Williams seemed intent on making a serious mark
as a dramatic actor in a range of parts in (often) independent films. The years
following Good Will Hunting saw him
chase his suicidal wife into limbo as his character negotiated his own
afterlife in What Dreams May Come.
Later he was the villain in both One Hour
Photo and Insomnia. But a lot of
that seems to point right back to Gus Van Sant’s 1997 film penned by the
wunderkinds Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. Of course the Oscar Williams finally
won likely helped earn him more interesting offers and afforded him greater
freedom to take risks. But without Sean Maguire, the widowed psychiatrist who
helps the title character find himself, he might have continued making more of Hook and Mrs. Doubtfire.
