Opening Image

We see a shot of Will Hunting at his house. Apart from a considerable number of books, he doesn’t really have anything else, nothing that really makes it a home. Right now Will is content being locked away behind his four walls, with no dreams, no ambitions and no plans to go anywhere.

Set Up

Professor Gerald Lambeau proposes a challenge to his students, a really complex math problem. Solving said problem would obviously prove one’s intellectual superiority.

Theme

Will, who is the janitor at that college, notices the problem and is drawn to it. Later on when hanging out with his friends, he chooses to leave so he can work on solving the problem. Further on, in the movie we will see him try to figure out what he can do with his intellect as well as the obstacles he will face along the way.

Catalyst

Gerald finds out that the problem’s been solved but it wasn’t one of his students who did it.

Will and his friends get into a petty fight with another group, highlighting how he’s just wasting his life with his friends. It ends with Will being arrested.

Debate

After no one owns up to solving the problem, Gerald puts forward another problem. This one took the staff itself two years to solve.

Break Into Two

Will is told that his arraignment in court has been scheduled for next week. Back at the college, Gerald notices Will writing on the board which had the math problem and is surprised to see that it’s been solved.

B Story

Chuckie tries to talk to two girls at a bar by pretending to be a student at Harvard. He’s interrupted by another guy who’s actually a student and calls his bluff. Will swoops in and manages to outsmart the guy, impressing everyone. Before leaving Skylar, one of the girls, hands him her number.

This aspect of the story deals with Will’s relationship with Skylar and his inability to let her into his life due to his past experiences.

Fun and Games

Despite being extremely intelligent, after all is said and done, Will goes back to his dead end life.

Gerald finds out Will’s name and manages to track him in court where he sees him defend himself with ease. But then he also hears his long list of offences. When the judge mentions physical abuse, it clearly bothers Will. Gerald manages to strike a deal with the judge for Will’s freedom, provided Will works with him and sees a therapist regularly.

Will proves to be uncooperative and outwits every therapist he meets. Before accepting defeat, Gerald decides to reach out to one more person who can help him, Sean Maguire.

Ever the smart ass, Will tries to make a fool of Sean, but surprisingly he is able to counter Will at every turn. Will keeps jumping from one topic to another hoping to find a weak spot and when he can’t find it, he starts to get personal by insulting Sean’s wife, which gets a rise out of him. However, despite it all, Sean agrees to meet with Will again. Meanwhile, Will and Skylar go on a date and begin to bond.

At their second session, Sean asks Will if he’s ever been out of Boston and Will says no, but if they were to talk about art, Will would have plenty to contribute. The point being that despite being so smart, Will has never left the safety of his small life. Sean moves on to use women as an example. He’s sure Will has had sex many times but he knows that Will has no idea what it’s like to wake up next to a woman and be truly happy. Moving over to war, Sean would expect Will to quote Shakespeare regarding the subject, but he has never experienced the true hardships that come with it. At the end of it all, for the first time, Will is left speechless.

It’s evident that Sean’s words have had an impact on Will as despite heavy rain, he still heads to a phone booth and attempts to talk to Skylar again. However, at the last second he chickens out and walks away.

The third session is spent in complete silence, Sean just sits there waiting for Will to open up. On the other hand, Will makes excellent progress with Gerald, by continuing to impress him with the intelligence.

The next session with Sean plays out the same way. However, after some time, Will finally makes the first move. He tells Sean about his date with Skylar and how it went well. But when Sean asks him to call her again, he makes an excuse just to avoid talking about it. Sean tells him about how his wife used to fart loudly in her sleep and they both laugh over it. He tries to explain to Will that it’s the little things shared between two people that makes it a true relationship. He tells Will that he shouldn’t be holding back, the little things aren’t imperfections, it’s what makes the person who they are. Will turns it around on Sean when he tells him to open up as well, now that his wife is no more.

With the new found motivation, Will goes to see Skylar and thus takes the first step outside his comfort zone. When Skylar tells him that she can’t go out, Will was ready to accept defeat and walk away, but she actually meant that he has assignments to deal with. Refusing to take no for an answer, Will finishes it for her in no time so they can head out.

Skylar tries to get to know more about Will but his defensive mechanism kicks in. He lies about his brothers to prevent letting her in.

Later on, Will asks Sean if he regrets meeting his wife, considering he could have been spared all the pain from losing her to cancer. Sean tells him that despite all the suffering, he still cherishes all the time he spent with her. He tells Will about the time he missed a crucial game with his friends so he could be with her. This mirrors Will’s life as all he’s been doing is wasting time with his friends.

In an attempt to make more progress, Will has Skylar meet his friends. However, before leaving she wonders why she never gets to see Will’s place or meet his brothers.

Midpoint

Gerald insists that Will should pursue his career right away so he can put his mind to work. Sean argues that he isn’t ready yet, he wants Will to be able to decide what to do with his life, not Gerald. The argument creates great friction between them and thus clashes the main plot (Will’s future) with the B Story (Will’s insecurities)

Gerald sets up a job interview for Will, but he just sends Chuckie instead, showing his lack of interest.

Skylar tells Will that it isn’t fair that she just got to meet him despite being here for four years. Will doesn’t reply but he’s been here his whole life and has only just met her.

Bad Guys Close In

In this segment of the script, Will turns out to be his own worst enemy as he lets his fear and insecurities get the better of him. This results in him pushing away the three people in his life who want to see him prosper: Skylar, Gerald and Sean.

Skylar asks Will to go to California with her. Having to take such a huge step leads to his insecurities creeping back in. This makes Skylar question his love for him and calls him out on his fear of intimacy. Will makes a feeble argument and drags her money into it, she tells him that she would give all the money away to just have one more moment with her father. In a fit of rage, Will tells her that it was the abuse he endured as a child that’s made him so distant and he leaves Skylar.

The next day, he lets his anger out on Gerald as well as he refuses to cooperate. Gerald tells him that he sometimes wishes they had never met, so that he could sleep at night not knowing there’s someone out there with extreme intelligence and doing nothing with it.

Will goes back to wasting time with his friends and later confides in Sean. Sean asks him if he has anyone in his life to go to for support, Will names all the authors whose books he’s read, but Sean says that doesn’t count as he’s never met any of them. Sean asks him why he chooses to do something anyone can do rather than honing his skills and doing something only he can do. He knows that Will’s desire to be extraordinary does exist, which is why he chose to be a janitor in one of the most prestigious colleges and why he tried to solve those math problems. Will constantly refuses to give a straight answer so Sean asks him to leave.

All Is Lost

Before she leaves, Skylar tells Will she loves him, offering him a chance to fix things and make their relationship work. But Will can’t bring himself to say it back. At the airport, Skylar continues to look for Will, hoping he would show up, but he doesn’t.

Will goes back to square one, by continuing his job at the construction site. He’s thrown away all the progress he’s made and pushed away all the people who wanted to help him.

Dark Night of the Soul

Chuckie expects Will to eventually go somewhere, get a job and live up to his potential, Will says he has no such plans and plans to spend the rest of his life in Boston, hanging out with Chuckie and the others. Chuckie is taken aback and tells him that everyone would kill to have what Will has, but he himself is too much of a coward to do something with his gift. Chuckie tells Will that he hopes one day, when they come to pick him up, he won’t be there. That’ll be enough for him to know that he’s alright and he’s out there doing something good.

Sean and Gerald get into another heated argument with regard to what Will should be doing. Will comes back and hears most of what they were saying.

When Gerald leaves, Sean shows Will his file, which has photos of the abuse he underwent. Sean now understands Will and tries to console him but Will just shrugs it off each time. Sean refuses to back down and keeps moving closer until Will finally breaks. All of his defenses and all the walls that he’s built have failed him as cries while Sean embraces him.

Break Into Three

Will spends the rest of the day contemplating, at home he looks up at a light bulb knowing he can be just as bright as it. The next day, he finally accepts a job offer.

The newly reformed Will attends his last session with Sean. These meetings have had an impact on Sean as well as he decides to start a new chapter in his life and goes travelling. Before leaving Will hugs Sean, he’s no longer holding back (B story).

Finale

Will’s friends gift him a car so that he won’t have to depend upon them anymore. He’s growing up.

Gerald and Sean start to mend their friendship. Will leaves Sean a note saying that he’s going to get Skylar back.

Chuckie and the boys head to Will’s to pick him up. Chuckie looks through the window and sees that it’s empty, Will’s gone. Chuckie knows what this means and smiles with satisfaction.

Closing Image

Will no longer lives in his own little bubble. In the beginning he was stationary, just like he was all his life, but now he’s finally moving.