Finding Forrester

Date undefined

Finding Forrester (2000)

Sean Connery is William Forrester, a brilliant novelist who published one book and then stopped publishing. Newcomer Rob Brown is Jamal Wallace. He is a black kid, or man of 16 years, living in the Bronx. He lives for basketball, but is a voracious reader, and he writes in journals. He keeps them in his backpack. He thinks he is a basketball player, but he was born to be a writer.

On a dare, he is supposed to sneak into some old man's apartment, and steal something. He roams the house and takes a knife. He's about to leave when startled, he leaves his backpack behind. When he later recovers it, the writings in his journals have been red penciled. So begins an unlikely friendship. Or perhaps more of a student to teacher relationship.

Meanwhile, when he excels on his test scores, he is offered a scholarship at the top prep school. It doesn't hurt that he is good at basketball, either. F. Murray Abraham is Prof. Robert Crawford. He is a bitter failed writer himself. He doubts that a basketball player from the Bronx can write so well, and he accuses him of plagerism.

To further complicate things, Anna Paquin is Claire Spence, the daughter of a prominent faculty member. There is a lot of chemistry, biology, and physics, going on between them, if you solve my equation.

Busta Rhymes is Terrell Wallace, Jamal's brother, who dreams of rap glory, but works in a parking lot. He is keeping it real.

Sean Connery as Forrester is fabulous, always giving sage advice at unexpected times. Like this:

Forrester: The key to a woman's heart is an unexpected gift at an unexpected time.

Besides advice, the best thing Forrester does is encourage Jamal to write. He is like an athletic coach in his approach:

Forrester: Punch the keys, for God's sake!

I read somewhere that writing is the hardest thing to show in a movie, because it's not very dramatic to look at people typing. This movie breaks that rule, and gets away with it. It is the best type of typing scene since David Bowie danced on a giant typewriter in Absolute Beginners. And Forrester still with the pearls of wisdom teeth flowing:

Forrester: No thinking - that comes later. You must write your first draft with your heart. You rewrite with your head. The first key to writing is... to write, not to think!

There is a bit on Saturday Night Live with Will Ferrell as Alex Trebec, suffering through Celebrity Jeopardy, where the questions are dumbed down to the point that actors, not squirmy and obsessive fact nerds, can get them. Sean Connery is always depicted as a total bufoon. It was a recurring bit, and it always featured a parody of Sean Connery, who was always the most severly stupid contestant of a slew of Celebrity Jeopardy numbskulls. There is a scene where Forrester and Jamal are watching Jeopardy:

Jamal: I'll take poor assumptions for $800, Alex.

Such sweet, sweet, irony.

Sean Connery gave a stellar performance. Wise, sage, but also an agoraphobic curmudgeon subject to the frailties of the flesh.

Rob Brown more than kept pace with the seasoned pros. He was believable and authentic as a kid from the Bronx, on the basketball court, but he was just as believable in the classroom, as a literary enfante terrible.

F. Murray Abraham was most excellent in his portrayal of Jamal's nemesis, Prof. Robert Crawford. Bitter and disappointed about his failure of a novel, he is jealous of Jamal's talent, and accuses him of plagarism. He is like Mozart's Saleri, a man of lesser talent who yearns to bring the angel Gabriel down. A man consumed with envy. I last saw him in Might Apphrodite, a Woody Allen film, and he was good there, too.

Anna Paquin turns in her usual fantastic job as Claire Spence. There is an unspoken romance and unmistakable attraction, but nothing is ever acted on. Somehow, all the more tantalizing, but also a loose end that should have, could have, been sewn up.

The music was fantastic as well. Lots of first rate Miles Davis music compliments Finding Forrester. It's a generous sampling of Davis's early 1970s work with side helpings of Ornette Coleman and guitarist Bill Frisell. With the help of Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and Tony Williams, Miles Davis molded his second "classic" quintet into a earthshaking concoction of fonk and ruck far beyond the confines of the farthest reaches of fusion. Both "Recollections" and "Lonely Fire" are from Miles' Bitches Brew sessions and offer an atmospheric cocoon of cathedral ambience. This combined with Davis's polyrhythmic funk--"Black Satin" from On the Corner--Ornette Coleman's alto sax--and Bill Frisell & Co's artful guitar noodlings make for a pleasant soundtrack indeed.

SONG LIST OF THE SOUNDTRACK

1. Recollections - Miles Davis
2. Little Church - Miles Davis
3. Black Satin - Miles Davis
4. Under A Golden Sky - Bill Frisell
5. Happy House - Ornette Coleman
6. Over The Rainbow (Photo Book) - Bill Frisell
7. Lonely Fire (Excerpt) - Miles Davis
8. Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World - Israel "Iz" Kamakwiwo'ole
9. Vonetta - Miles Davis
10. Coffaro's Theme - Bill Frisell/Ron Miles/Curtis Fowlkes/Eyvind Kang
11. Foreigner In A Free Land - Ornette Coleman
12. Beautiful - Bill Frisell/Hank Roberts/Kermit Driscoll/Joey Baron
13. In A Silent Way (DJ Cam Remix) - Miles Davis

Finally, congratulations to the director, Mr. PutTogetherMan, Gus Van Sant. In some ways it is like Good Will Hunting, which Gus also directed, with a story of a young genius finding his mentor. Gus Van Sant did a great job at putting it all together, and he also got great performances out of his actors. He seems to have a great feel for the Bronx, even if he never lived there himself. He shows remarkable empathy for all the people, and structures his drama masterfully--and no hidden agendas. Well done, my good fellow.

TEN FILMS OF SEAN CONNERY, SEVEN OF THEM AS JAMES BOND

The Name of the Rose (1986) .... William of Baskerville
Never Say Never Again (1983) .... James Bond
Zardoz (1974) .... Zed
Diamonds Are Forever (1971) .... James Bond
You Only Live Twice (1967) .... James Bond
Thunderball (1965) .... James Bond
Goldfinger (1964) .... James Bond
From Russia With Love (1963) .... James Bond
Dr. No (1962) .... James Bond
Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959) .... Michael McBride

Jamal: Women will sleep with you if you write a book?
Forrester: Women will sleep with you if you write a bad book.

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Finding Forrester

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Liked the message in the movie. Bought it as an inspirational piece for my younger family members.

Guest

Finding Forrester

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Honestly, does it get any funnier than Sean Connery yelling out, "You're the man now, dog!" That's priceless. Not only is it funny because it's Connery using modern day slang, it's also because the usage of the word "dog" went out of style faster than...well, it never was cool to say. The saying, however, is as timeless as "more cowbell" and "My name is Inigo Montoya..." - it just gets better each time it's heard.

Another classic line is when Connery belts out, "PUNCH the keys for God's sake!" It's not quite up to YTMND standards, but PTKFGS is nonetheless hilarious.

The movie itself is highly inspirational and entertaining. William Forrester (Connery) is a reclusive, agoraphobic, Pulitzer Prize winning author living in Harlem. He's somewhat of a neighborhood boogeyman, and one day a prodigous yet troubled talent named Jamal Wallace (Rob Brown) dares to sneak into the apartment. Forrester scares him away, and in his haste, Wallace drops his backpack with his writings. Some time later the work is returned, but all the papers are edited and reviewed. In no time at all, the two are friends, Forrester is reviewing all of Wallace's work, and the two famous lines are uttered.

The struggle and relationship between student and teacher is truly fabulous to watch in this movie. And when Wallace attempts to help his teacher, or to coax out any sort of information, there is a palpable tension. The true battle eventually unfolds between Wallace, his school, and his professor, where someone must sacrifice in order to help the other.

I highly recommend this movie in every circumstance. It's a feel good movie with true life-lessons.

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