Finding Forrester Review

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 and no insincere emotional humbug. In an age where feel-good dramas rule the industry, a movie like this is a refreshing and welcome change.

Jamal Wallace (Rob Brown) is a 16-year-old with a talent for basketball and for the written word. William Forrester (Sean Connery), a Pulitzer prize winning one time writer with more phantoms in his life than you would care for, lives in the same locality as Wallace, watches the world go by from his window, and doesn't venture out. When Jamal's work accidentally falls into his hands, he sends it back with more than a few strong comments and thus begins a rather unusual but nourishing relationship.

Jamal's high test scores get him admitted into a private school, where the management seems more interested in his skills on the basketball field rather than off. When Jamal's class is assigned to read "Avalon Landing", Forrester's only book, and Jamal realizes who the reclusive crazy man really is, Forrester makes a pact with Jamal: he will continue to help Jamal with his writing if Jamal promises him that he would tell no one about Forrester and ask no personal questions.

Promise made, the two launch into almost-daily discussions about different authors, writing and the use of conjunctions. At school, Jamal encounters the charmingly cynical Claire and the not so charming Robert Crawford, a teacher of literature and an unpublished writer. Bitter and highly sarcastic, Crawford refuses to believe in Jamal's capacity and accuses him of plagiarism. The rest of the movie is about how the two fight their demons and find their way.

The script is all dialogue, and depends largely on performances and the chemistry between the two actors, and both Sean Connery and first time actor Rob Brown do not fail it. Brown is so understated that at times you wonder what the fuss is all about. You soon find out. Connery is just brilliant.

Having said all this, Finding Forrester is not everyone's kind of movie. If you do not enjoy intense dialogue-baazi and dark backgrounds, you'd do good to stay away. But if you like long conversations, ideas and a story well-told, don't miss this.