Finding Forrester

To tell a story, and to tell it well, is probably the only universal ethic of film-making, and any film-maker who can create on screen a picture of reality that rings true in his audiences' minds can be said to have done his job. And you can say Gus Van Sant does his job in Finding Forrester, a tale of a reclusive writer and a sixteen-year-old black boy who teaches him the value of life even as he learns from him the worth of words.

Sounds a little saccharine? Well, it isn't. Finding Forrester is a tale sparingly told, with no pretense of preaching a....