Finding Forrester

Finding Forrester .







Academy Award Winner Sean Connery stars in this powerful and unforgettable drama from acclaimed director Gus Van Sant .

True genius is certainly an intangible concept, one that is unable to be fully analyzed or understood. But that still doesn't keep many from challenging their own ability to comprehend. Some people will spend hours upon hours of analyticalthought, trying to decipher what an artist "meant" while reaching into their own solitary soul of passion and expressing themselves through some form of art.

Jamal Wallance ( Rob Brown ) is a talented 16 year old basketball player in New York City whose secret passion is writing .

William Forrester ( Sean Connery ) is a reclusive Pulitzer Prize Winning novelist who never gave the world asecond novel.

Finding Forrester" is a very intelligent movie that carefully examines both sides of this idea, not only showing us the behavioral patterns of those with a distinctive hidden talent, but also how individuals with slightly less talent can easily slip into a swamp of self-loathing behavior.
 
Two geniuses hold the center of the story. One is a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer; abelletristic talent who penned a classic novel four decades ago, then curiously went into hiding having never published another word. The other is a brash teen from the South Bronx; a genuine talent on the basketball court, but who has also read books most kids his age haven't even heard of. Whenever he gets the chance, he subtly pulls out his notebook and scribes his thoughts ... simple, true, andput into words that echo pure pulchritude.
 
Jamal Wallace ( Rob Brown) and his friends ritually meet at the basketball court every day, releasing their concerns in a sport that frees their minds and invigorates their spirits. While at the very same moment, far above the court through a socially fissile window, the curious eyes of William Forrester (Sean Connery) look on. The boys are keenly awarethat he may be watching, but they have no idea who he really is. Only through a plethora of myths do they acknowledge him. He is referred to as "The Window" and is attached to various rumors, one that claimed he's a killer, another one has him as a socially inept post-war presence.
 
One night on a dare, Jamal sneaks into the old man's apartment through the partially open window and after aquick exploration of his abode, accidentally leaves behind his backpack; inside rests his notebook full of writings. The next day, his pack is tossed to the street below. But to Jamal's shock, his notebook has been inundated with ink marks, some critical of his writing style, others captivated with the poetic meaning behind Jamal's conjoined words.
 
He returns to the man's apartment (this time ina more practical manner, going to the front door), and asks him if he wouldn't mind offering his opinion on some of his other writings. After overcoming their initial hesitation in allowing each other into their lives, the two strangers finally break down the communication barriers and set the first building blocks of a lasting friendship in place.
 
Meanwhile, Jamal's test scores have made himvery appealing to a private school in Manhattan, one that has a marvelous academic program, but that coincidentally needs a star basketball player to possibly facilitate a championship. Jamal decides to attend, more for academic reasons, and while there, must fight to overcome prejudicial attitudes from some who question his talent, and others who are suspicious of his background. He encountersboth a close friend; the intelligent, perceptive Claire Spence (Anna Paquin) who sees the good in him immediately, and a vociferous adversary; the autocratic Professor Crawford (F. Murray Abraham), a brilliant man with some questionable motives.
 
When Jamal's self-respect and future both rest upon a tenuous line, both he and the reclusive William Forrester must reach deep within themselves to...