Click to read the article
Finding Forrester (2000)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
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
Get This Movie
Reviews for Finding Forrester
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.
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.
A conventional stew of overblown, bogus emotion and rigged catharsis.
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.
A transparent attempt by director Gus Van Sant to repeat the Oscar success of his earlier Good Will Hunting.
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.
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.
Warm and likable -- and, during the holidays, warm and likable is often what moviegoers want.
The story is schematic and the hero/villain matchup a little too obvious, but never underestimate the charisma of Connery.
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.
Finding Forrester manages to take the cerebral act of literary creation and make it exciting, sexy even.
[Van Sant's] visual lyricism and uncondescending attitude toward almost everyone on screen ensure that the film won't succumb to formula.
Latest News for Finding Forrester
March 16, 2007:
The Weekly Ketchup: "Spider-Man" Sans Tobey Maguire(?), "Transformers," "Superman Returns" Sequel, And More!
In this week's Ketchup, producer Avi Arad talks "Spider-Man"'s future, with or without Tobey Maguire, Shia LaBeouf explains how "Transformers" avoided an R... More...
March 17, 2006:
New Line's "Nativity" Nabs Whale Rider
New Line Cinema is venturing into Biblical territory with "Nativity," a baby Jesus prequel, to star "Whale Rider" ingenue Keisha Castle-Hughes. More...
November 11, 2005:
Sean Connery Earns AFI's Highest Honor
Thanks to ComingSoon.net for sharing a press release from the American Film Institute: Sir Sean Connery has been selected by the American Film Institute's (AFI) Board of... More...
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 15% 15% | The Ugly Truth |
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 45% 45% | Shorts |
RT On Current TV
DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
CloseSponsored Links
Around The Network
- Finding Forrester at Rotten Tomatoes
- Finding Forrester at IGN
- Finding Forrester at AskMen
Fresh Links
Featured

The director talks about puppetry perfection and his film, Fantastic Mr. Fox

Hollywood.com ponders whether or not an animated film could win Best Picture.

Richard Corliss previews the season's best offerings and hottest tickets.

The AV Club's Mike D'Angelo airs his beefs with Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men.
Promos

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!



Top Critic



