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Actors: Sean Connery, Rob Brown
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Finding Forrester |
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Finding Forrester
In Finding Forrester, Jamal Wallace (Rob Brown), a young African American high school student at the Bronx, is invited to join an exclusive private high school because of his high tests scores. One day, Jamal's basketball friends dare him to walk into “The Widow's” house. The Widow is actually William Forrester (Sean Connery), a well known author that is thought to be dead or missing. William Forrester lives as a recluse; when Jamal walks into William's house, William scares Jamal with a knife and Jamal runs off, leaving his backpack behind.
When Jamal returns to retrieve his backpack, he finds that all his pieces of writing were commented on. After Jamal's attempt to retrieve his backpack, Jamal goes and asks William if William could help improve his writing skills. William made a deal that if he helped Jamal with his writing, Jamal would keep William's identity a secret, never to take the writing that he does out of his house, and never ask anything about William's family.
Throughout this movie, Jamal and William get to know each other better and they become friends. At Jamal's new school, the exclusive private school, he is accused of plagiarism by his English teacher The English teacher highly doubted that Jamal's piece of writing was really his and not plagiarized.
Overall, Finding Forrester is a great movie that interlace with the theme of friendship. The time Jamal spent with William made them trust each other to keep promises, such as Williams'.
--vincent pun, Resident Scholar
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Rob Brown plays Jamal, an african american student living in the Bronx. After being dared to go into the apartment of "The Window" Jamal learns more about himself and his writing. Sean Connery plays William Forrester, the man behind "The Window". While in Forrester's apartment Jamal gets spooked and leaves his backpack behind. After getting it back he finds his notebooks have been commented on. He goes back to the apartment to see if he can bring more stuff for Forester to read. After promising to keep Forester's identity secret, leave all that's written in the apartment there, and to not ask any questions about Forrester, Forrester agrees to help Jamal in his writing. Jamal's writing is soon questioned by a teacher at the private school he attends. The meetings between Forrester and Jamal teach them a lot about themselves and others.
--Elizabeth Norton, Resident Scholar
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Jamal Wallace is an academically underachieving basketball player in the Bronx. High test scores give him a chance to attend an exclusive private school, although everyone presumes he's there just to win games. Jamal encounters a reclusive writer whose first and only novel won the Pulitzer back in 1953, and who helps Jamal with his creative writing skills. A nice white girl from a wealthy family befriends him, and a literature teacher can't believe his abilities and charges Jamal with plagiarism. A surprisingly sweet movie from Gus Van Sant; leisurely and much too pat (the youthful hero is too perfect and does everything right), but pleasant. Connery is delightful as always, unknown Rob Brown quite good as Jamal, Anna Paquin sweet as Claire, and the rest of the supporting cast is swell. For trivia fans, Matt Damon turns up in a small cameo near the end, and Joey Buttafuoco (yes, THAT one) appears very briefly as a night watchman.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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Street-wise kid from the Bronx, Jamal Wallace, meets Pulitzer Prize-winning author-turned recluse William Forrester. Forrester teaches Wallace about writing and life, and they form a bond.
--Emily, Resident Scholar
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A heart-warming tale about a reclusive author (Connery) of a pulitz prize winning book, from the 1960s) teaches a young black man (Brown), a genius, to harness his writing skills. As time goes on, they learn from each other as they conquer something significant in their lives. This is a great film that should be seen by all. It features a talented young actor in Brown- not bad for his first film.
--Brian Oliver, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Finding Forrester |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about
books by breaking them down into many different literary
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 1980's-1999
Ethnic/Regional/Gender story?
Yes
Main Char. ethnic: (if not US Caucasian)
- Black
Woman/class/friends story?
- story of lower class
Story of city/rural life?
- Big City
Culture clash?
- visiting a different culture
Culture of surrounding area:
- American Black
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- student
Age:
- a teen
- 60's-90's
Hair color?
- brunette (Black)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard curly
Body type
- (man) average
Events of movie makes character more...
- caring
- happy
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Black
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Hair color
- white/grey
Hair style
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) average build
How much in movie?
- 80%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- teacher/professor
Eccentric:
Yes
- obsessed
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 90%-100%
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) skinny
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- mean, arrogant
Physique
- average physique
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
City?
Yes
City:
- New York
- dirty, grimy (like New York)
- dangerous
- wealthy
- rude people
Misc setting
- school
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
Movie makes you feel...
- encouraged
Any profanity?
- Occasional swearing
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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