Intermission: 'Finding Forrester' likely to garner Oscar recognition

"Finding Forrester"

Directed by: Gus Van Sant

Starring: Sean Connery, Rob Brown, Anna Paquin, F. Murray Abraham

Rated: PG-13

On the heels of Steven Soderbergh's "Traffic" comes a film by another former Hollywood "young turk" who has climbed to the ranks of A-list directors. Fans familiar with Gus Van Sant's entire catalog are likely to be divided on "Finding Forrester." Let me just say that this film is closer to "Good Will Hunting" than "Drugstore Cowboy." In some circles this is seen as a good thing; in others, not.

One thing's for certain, though: Here's a film that critics and moral watchdogs may finally agree upon. It's well-made for me there's not a wasted scene in the film and it also proves that Hollywood is indeed capable of putting out something with a "positive message." That the message is based on the slimmest strands of reality is beside the point. Movies have always been about fantasy. I have no trouble suspending my disbelief for any given film, but sometimes if a story is trying to seem pertinent to today's climate, it can be a bit off-putting to swallow a pill that is a little on the sugar-coated side.

Overall I loved "Finding Forrester," and as mentioned above, Van Sant's ability to make every scene count is one of his strongest traits. On the other hand, a 16-year-old kid living in the Bronx is surely going to be faced with more (or at least different) problems than Jamal played by the outstanding newcomer Rob Brown faces here. There are also several jumps in logic that have to be absorbed, but I may just be nit-picking.

Jamal is a sharp kid, a scholastic whiz and voracious reader. In school however, he does just enough to maintain a C average. It seems it's just not cool to be an academic in the neighborhood he's from. What is cool is to be good at basketball, which Jamal excels at, as well.

He and his group of friends shoot hoops every day across the street from an apartment building that houses a neighborhood legend known as "the window." For years people have noticed the man on the top floor of the building peering out his window with binoculars and telescopes, and many stories have arisen about the mysterious figure and his life. On a dare, Jamal enters the apartment to have a look around. Frightened off, the kid later realizes he's left his backpack there. A backpack containing journals filled with writing.

A few days later, the pack lands behind Jamal as he's crossing the street. When he begins looking through his journals, he finds editorial comments written throughout. Intrigued, Jamal makes another attempt, this one somewhat less clandestine, to enter the mysterious apartment.

While all of this is going on, the school contacts Jamal's mother. It seems his SAT scores have come back and they are quite remarkable. With this, and the fact that he's a whiz on the basketball court, Jamal is courted by an upscale New York City private school. They offer him a scholarship.

After he accepts, troubles arise because of his race, as well as the fact that one of his professors in particular doesn't believe Jamal is actually writing the brilliant work he's turning in. After all, he's a basketball player ... from the Bronx.

Unbeknownst to the professor, and everyone else for that matter, is the fact that helping him develop his natural abilities as a writer is the mysterious window man. This mentor turns out to be William Forrester, a J.D. Salinger-inspired recluse who penned the greatest novel of the 20th century, dropped from sight and hasn't published a book since.

Sean Connery, as Forrester, breaks new ground for himself as an actor and is surely in line for an Academy Award nomination (as are Rob Brown and Van Sant, no doubt.)

The friendship that ensues between Forrester and Jamal is poignant indeed, if lacking in degrees of authenticity. Forrester pushes Jamal ever forward in honing his craft while Jamal gradually coaxes his mentor into venturing into the outside world.

The conflict of the film revolves around Jamal's hard-nosed professor (who has some connections to Forrester, as well) and his belief that the boy's writing is just a little too good to be believed.

While "Finding Forrester" ignores a lot of harsh realities, it's an incredibly well-crafted film and quite an uplifting story. It will surely be one of the BIG winners at Oscar time.

I must apologize for a grave factual mistake that appeared in my review of "Cast Away." As pointed out to me by my old friend Steve Polaski, proprietor of Springfield's finest indoor volleyball center, the "Wilson" character in the film is a volleyball not a soccer ball as stated in the review. I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this error may have caused. In researching "Finding Forrester," I made darned sure the game Jamal and his friends were playing was indeed basketball ...

(Jim Wunderle works at Associated Video Producers and is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician.)