Featured Audience Ratings

• danny d

  
  partially inspired by salinger, connery's performance was wonderful and the screenplay was stellar. this is the film that put me on to writing.

• Lenny M

  
  A bit slow and dreary, still filled with life and literary shenanigans! You're the man now dog (Scottish accent).

• Tsubaki S

  
  What the fuck is this shit, dawg?

• Jason O

  
  Jamal Wallace (Rob Brown), a black teen who is from the Bronx, is at a difficult path in his life. First of all, he's from one of the toughest places in the country, the Bronx. But, he is getting to the age where he wants to actually do something with his life. Jamal is a… More
  Jamal Wallace (Rob Brown), a black teen who is from the Bronx, is at a difficult path in his life. First of all, he's from one of the toughest places in the country, the Bronx. But, he is getting to the age where he wants to actually do something with his life. Jamal is a polished basketball player, but he has just as much skill and fondness in writing. Call it coincedence, but Jamal happens to meet and even become friends with a troubled, but famous author by the name of William Forrester (Sean Connery). Mr. Forrester only wrote one book, and that book was written over 40 years ago, but it is still very widely acclaimed. Jamal has a strong interest in touching up his great writing skills and he thinks that Mr. Forrester just might be able to help him on his path. Like some of the other reviewers mentioned, "Finding Forrester" is a bit cliched, heartwarming, and so on, but that's not to take away from it being a great movie. As always, Sean Connery does a spectacular job of acting, and Rob Brown did a good job of playing as the ambitious Jamal Wallace. Even as cliched and formulaic as "Finding Forrester" might be, it is still a great movie. If you're like me and you don't really care about how smart a movie is or how original it is in its innovations with plots, scripts, and so on, give "Finding Forrester" a chance. It's well worth it. It's a great movie of inspiration, tough times, and finding the fire inside to be the best you can be. NOTE: That was my Amazon review from the year 2001. I always love self-discovery and coming of age movies!

• Coxxie M

  
  8th grade. dont remember. Sean Connery can act the pants off a virgin. Gus Van Sant still needs a biography, flixster.

• Lorenzo v

  
  <i>"In an ordinary place, he found the one person to make his life extraordinary."</i> An afro-american teen writing prodigy finds a mentor in a reclusive author. <center><font size=+2 face="Century… More
  <i>"In an ordinary place, he found the one person to make his life extraordinary."</i> An afro-american teen writing prodigy finds a mentor in a reclusive author. <center><font size=+2 face="Century Schoolbook"><b><u>REVIEW</u></b></font></center> Authentic, high-concept, the film refreshes with its wonderful storytelling through setting and rich characterization, sold perfectly by an outstanding core of actors. The character of Jamal played brilliantly by an unknown, Rob Brown; he manages to make me wonder whether he really isn't Jamal. Sean Connery is wonderful to watch as an eccentric Salinger-type author, F. Murray Abraham played this as perfect as anything seen, and every supporting actor performed such that we are never disturbed from the story. And the director certainly gets credit for balancing high-concept with the constraints. Whatever style he used to guide his cast, it surely let them shine and sold the movie. Upon second watching, the evocative soundtrack provides deep storytelling wonder not found in even many of the prominent great films which relied on the soundtrack to reverberate emotionally--not provide more story elements. What still stays with me is the haunting closing with a beautiful song medley, arranged such that the overplayed songs are given new life and totally different candor, and a camera angle that my slow wit only picked up on the second time: the shot was from the apartment.

• Red L

  
  I saw this for the second time today. I am a sucker for movies of self-discovery, and this movie fits that bill - for both Jamal and Forrester. Much of the movie is spent in Forrester's condo where the two of them become friends while writing stories. I enjoyed their… More
  I saw this for the second time today. I am a sucker for movies of self-discovery, and this movie fits that bill - for both Jamal and Forrester. Much of the movie is spent in Forrester's condo where the two of them become friends while writing stories. I enjoyed their performances, and also Anna Paquin's role as a student who takes Jamal under her wing. If you like inspirational movies, watch this one.

• Candy R

  
  Movie about two different people - a novelist recluse and a teenage basketball player.

• Mike S

  
  Being somewhat of a writer myself, and currently partaking in a writing course in college, I found this movie to be particularily compelling. Connery is very believable as the reclusive writer that he plays here and the story was very interesting throughout, even though it moved a bit… More
  Being somewhat of a writer myself, and currently partaking in a writing course in college, I found this movie to be particularily compelling. Connery is very believable as the reclusive writer that he plays here and the story was very interesting throughout, even though it moved a bit slowly at times. Altogether a good cup of inspiration for anyone with the slightest interest in becoming a writer, in whatever field that may be. And even if you're not, you might just like it anyway. A solid 3½ stars from me :-) "You write your first draft with your heart. You rewrite with your head."

• Jason S

  
  As a writer I enjoyed this movie. The main actors worked well together and the story was interesting.

• Drew S

  
  Mentor movies strike me as rather dull, frankly. Good Will Hunting made it work - this did not. Though it's been five years since I've seen this movie, nothing in it has stuck with me - it may seem like a long stretch of time, but there are many films that have left far more… More
  Mentor movies strike me as rather dull, frankly. Good Will Hunting made it work - this did not. Though it's been five years since I've seen this movie, nothing in it has stuck with me - it may seem like a long stretch of time, but there are many films that have left far more of an impact that I'd seen just as long ago. To be brief, this offers very little originality.

• Leigh R

  
  Well done.

• Jens S

  
  Good Will Hunting meets Dead Poet's Society. Not very exciting, but likeable and entertaining.

• Mike T

  
  A conventional but charming inspirational drama competently directed by Gus Van Sant. I watched it for Michael Pitt's role, which is miniscule. Sean Connery is fantastic.

• Nicolas K

  
  A familiar story well told.

• Chosen 7

  
  Good film.

• Eduardo C

  
  With a plot structure as old as film itself, this could have turned out to be a saccharin, maudlin little tale the likes of which we've seen a hundred times. Oh wait, it did anyways. Still, it's direction is understated enough (courtesy of Mr. Van Sant) and he performances… More
  With a plot structure as old as film itself, this could have turned out to be a saccharin, maudlin little tale the likes of which we've seen a hundred times. Oh wait, it did anyways. Still, it's direction is understated enough (courtesy of Mr. Van Sant) and he performances are strong enough (Sean Connery does what he always does, but newcomer Rob Brown is quite good, Anna Paquin always is and F. Murray Abraham makes for a wonderful villain) to make it work. I liked how observant the film is about the act of writing, and how reverent it is to the written word itself. It is also very cynical (rightly so, most likely) about the inner workings of elite prep schools. Yes, Jamal is very gifted (think Good Will Hunting, but in terms of writing as opposed to mathematics and physics) but it is his basketball skills that get him recruited. His skill in the classroom is an afterthought. After it is verified he meets the minimum standards, it is forgotten about until his ability eventually comes into question by a professor who simply cannot believe that a black basketball player from the Bronx could write so sublimely. Yes, the ending is trite and there are some cringe inducing moments ("PUNCH THE KEYS!") but there are enough subtleties and nuances to maintain this above the level of a purely commercial product. Fun fact: Connery's delivery of the line "You're the man now, dawg!" is what inspired the creation of the popular www.ytmnd.com website.

• Anthony V

  
  What the hell happened to Gus Van Sant?

Read all 18 featured audience ratings