Writing Assignment #1: The Letter

8850 Saline-Milan Rd

Saline, MI, 48176

September 21, 2014

Gus Van Sant

9601 Wilshire Blvd.
Beverly Hills, CA 90210-5213

Dear Mr.  Gus Van Sant

My name is Morgan VanOtteren and I am a senior at Saline High School. I am writing to praise you for your incredible directing in Good Will Hunting.

The first thing I would like to praise you for is the way you developed the theme through the title. The theme of the movie is that no one is really a bad person, and the fact that the title is “Good Will Hunting” seems ironic at the beginning because Will seems like a bad kid, but by the end it makes sense as he realizes it isn’t his fault. Before I watched the film, I thought it was going to be about a guy named Will who goes hunting. As the film progressed I began to think that Will was going to change his ways and become a perfect person, but by the end I realized it was really about how Will views himself.

Another thing I really liked about your directing was your use of foreshadowing. One specific example is when about three quarters of the way through the movie Will is working at the constructing site and his friend told him that every day as he is walking up to Will’s house he has a few seconds when he hopes Will has just up and left without any goodbye. When I heard this I was a little confused, but then Will’s friend explained to him that he wasn’t using all of his potential. At the end of the movie, Will’s friends get to Will’s house to pick him up and this time Will really isn’t there. Although I did see it coming, this use of foreshadowing was great because it also included a turning point in Will’s life.

The last thing I would like to compliment you on is the development of the theme through the protagonist, or in this specific case, Will. As I stated earlier, the theme is about how everyone can be a good person, depending on how you look at things. Throughout the film you see Will go through the transformation between being a cocky criminal, to a caring businessman. Through the help of his psychiatrist he realizes that the way he grew up and the way he is isn’t his fault and he also finds the capacity to love. This is Will’s profound mental change and also the theme of the movie.

Again, I praise you for your great directing and thank you for your time.

Best regards,

 

Morgan VanOtteren