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Movies / On DVD / Finding Forrester
Finding Forrester

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Finding Forrester (2000)

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Reviews Counted:29

Fresh:20

Rotten:9

Average Rating:6.3/10

Consensus: Despite the predictability of its plot and its similarity to Good Will Hunting, Finding Forrester has an honest, solid feel to it and good rapport between Connery and Brown.

Runtime: 2 hrs 16 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Dec 20, 2000 Limited

Box Office: $51,370,406

Synopsis: Director Gus Van Sant brings to the screen this moving story of a grizzled recluse and an inner-city teenager brought together by their shared passion for writing. Like Van Sant's Oscar-nominated... Director Gus Van Sant brings to the screen this moving story of a grizzled recluse and an inner-city teenager brought together by their shared passion for writing. Like Van Sant's Oscar-nominated GOOD WILL HUNTING, FINDING FORRESTER earnestly explores the struggles of a youthful genius whose position in society (underprivileged kid from the wrong side of the tracks) makes him seem destined for failure until he forms a relationship with a gifted but introverted mentor who helps him see the light.The youthful genius is a talented urban basketball player named Jamal Wallace (Rob Brown), who in his spare time reads everything he can get his hands on, secretly scribbling prose and poetry into a composition pad. The introverted mentor is William Forrester (Sean Connery), who took the literary world by storm with his debut novel, AVALON RISING, 50 years earlier but now spends whole days shut inside his Bronx apartment looking out the window onto a basketball court where Jamal hangs out. Buoyed by excellent performances from Connery and newcomer Brown, FINDING FORRESTER paints a compelling, alluring portrait of friendship while offering intriguing insights into the heart and soul of the dedicated writer. [More]

Starring: Sean Connery, Rob Brown, Anna Paquin, F. Murray Abraham

Starring: Sean Connery, Rob Brown, Anna Paquin, F. Murray Abraham, Busta Rhymes, Michael Nouri, Tom Mullica, Lil' Zane

Director: Gus Van Sant

Director: Gus Van Sant
Screenwriter: Mike Rich
Producer: Laurence Mark, Sean Connery, Rhonda Tollefson
Studio: Columbia Pictures

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Release:

Apr 24, 2001

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Reviews for Finding Forrester

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
10/18/08
Ebert & Roeper
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Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
10/18/08
Susan Stark
Susan Stark
Detroit News
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If director Gus Van Sant had always been a hack it wouldn't matter so much, but personally I find this form of licking the audience's cheeks like an obsequious puppy deeply offensive.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment 3 Comments
03/25/08
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
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An anti-intellectual film about the intellectual life.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
03/19/02
Liam Lacey
Liam Lacey
Globe and Mail
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News | comment Comment
02/07/01
Robert Denerstein
Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News
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Funny and touching.

Full Review Source: Rolling Stone | comment Comment
02/06/01
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
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A rare find.

Full Review Source: CNN.com | comment Comment
01/12/01
Paul Clinton (CNN.com)
Paul Clinton (CNN.com)
CNN.com
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A rewarding exploration of the knotty and often contentious relationship between teacher and protege. Its chief pleasure is the master class in the art of acting delivered by Sean Connery.

comment Comment
01/11/01
Desmond Ryan
Desmond Ryan
Philadelphia Inquirer
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A conventional stew of overblown, bogus emotion and rigged catharsis.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
01/11/01
Laura Miller
Laura Miller
Salon.com
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When the movie conveys the light in a student's eyes, and those of his teacher, at the moment when knowledge has been shared, it's a story that can never be told often enough.

comment Comment
01/11/01
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Entertainment Weekly
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A transparent attempt by director Gus Van Sant to repeat the Oscar success of his earlier Good Will Hunting.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
12/26/00
Peter Howell
Peter Howell
Toronto Star
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A juicy and gratifying teacher movie.

comment Comment
12/26/00
Jay Carr
Jay Carr
Boston Globe
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Sure, maybe Gus has gone Hollywood, but at least he's gone there sideways -- fully aware that a soul is a terrible thing to waste.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
12/25/00
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris
San Francisco Chronicle
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It might've worked better if the film had tried harder to turn these characters into living, breathing people, instead of the bickering odd couple that's become such a stereotype.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
12/24/00
Eric Harrison
Eric Harrison
Houston Chronicle
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Warm and likable -- and, during the holidays, warm and likable is often what moviegoers want.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
12/24/00
Philip Wuntch
Philip Wuntch
Dallas Morning News
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The story is schematic and the hero/villain matchup a little too obvious, but never underestimate the charisma of Connery.

comment Comment
12/22/00
Mike Clark
Mike Clark
USA Today
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Movies about writers are notoriously hard to do, since writing by its nature is not cinematic. Finding Forrester evades that problem by giving us a man who wrote one good novel a long time ago, and now writes no more.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
12/22/00
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
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Finding Forrester manages to take the cerebral act of literary creation and make it exciting, sexy even.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
12/22/00
Michael O'Sullivan
Michael O'Sullivan
Washington Post
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A well-acted, if overly familiar, tale of an unlikely friendship.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
12/22/00
Steve Murray
Steve Murray
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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[Van Sant's] visual lyricism and uncondescending attitude toward almost everyone on screen ensure that the film won't succumb to formula.

comment Comment
12/21/00
Mark Caro
Mark Caro
Chicago Tribune
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Latest News for Finding Forrester

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