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Finding Forrester

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Movie propaganda

Finding Forrester

is a drama about a unique relationship between William Forrester (Sean Connery), an eccentric, reclusive novelist, and Jamal Wallace (Robert Brown), a young, black, amazingly gifted scholar-athlete.

After the novelist discovers that the young athlete is also an excellent writer and secretly takes him on as his protégé, they develop an unlikely friendship. As they learn more about each other, they learn more about themselves, and ultimately, with the help of his new mentor, the basketball star must choose the right path between following his writing dreams or his hoop dreams.

Also starring F Murray Abraham as Professor Spence, Michael Nouri as Doctor Spence, Anna Paquin as Claire, Busta Rhymes as Terrell, April Grace, Gerry Rosenthal and Joey Buttafuoco as the security guard. Written by Mike Rich, directed by Gus van Sant.

Cinematic intelligence sources

Finding Forrester official movie site
Studios and distributors:

Sony Pictures Releasing

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

Finding Forrest Gump.

Naaah! It was just too good a line to let pass.

Meanwhile, this film is written for the intellectuals among you, celebrating the student/mentor relationship that attract so many of you to a life of learning and artistic endeavour. Sean is a grumpy old fart with a Scottish accent who knows too much and Robert is a jock who's hiding his light under a bushel. When forced together by circumstance (and the script) they combine their dysfunctionalities and pull each other out of their respective mires. Everyone lives happily ever after. Inasmuch as one can during the fin de siècle.

You're an intellectual so you'll know what that means.

Further interest is added by means of contrast: black vs white, physical vs mental, rich vs poor and so forth. F Murray (why do Americans do that with their names?) provides the major source of conflict between William and Jamal by resenting both of them (those who can, do; those who can't, teach). [And those who can't but think they can, critique - Director of Intelligence.] He comes off as completely unsympathetic because he is a total prick, which might be a tad shallow. Or not. He doesn't have a nubile adolescent to stimulate his better self.

Gus manages not to swamp the script with directorial delusions of grandeur but rather lets the story lead him and his actors toward its own conclusion. There's a rich flow of subtext and subtlety that makes Finding Forrester one of his most mature films. You don't need to go any further to find a movie that stirs emotion while engaging the intellect. Partake; enjoy.

Media intelligence (DVD)

Disc: Single side, dual layer
Picture: Widescreen (2.35:1/16:9 enhanced)
Languages: English (5.1)
Subtitles: English, Greek, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Icelandic, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Turkish, Hebrew, Bulgarian, Hindi, Arabic, Croatian
Round: Rob Brown - featurette on Rob Brown and his phenomenal motion picture debut
15 minute making-of featurette
2 Deleted scenes
Talent profiles
Original movie trailers
Bonus movie trailers
Picture disc