Film: Finding Forrester (2000) Director: Gus Van Sant Genre: Drama/coming of age film
Actors: Sean Connery .... William Forrester
Robert Brown .... Jamal Wallace
F. Murray Abraham .... Professor Henry Crawford
Anna Paquin .... Claire Spence
Busta Rhymes .... Terrell
April Grace .... Ms. Joyce
Michael Pitt .... Coleridge
Cinematography: Harris Savides Music: Bill Brown
Tagline: In an ordinary place, he found the one person to make his life extraordinary.
William Forrester, once a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist, now spends his days as an unkempt recluse who sits in his window spying on boys playing basketball in the schoolyard below. One of those boys, Jamal Wallace, is an exceptional athlete whose ticket out of the projects is only partially due to his talents on the court. When not showboating for his pals, Jamal is a closet genius whose astronomical test scores earn him a free ride at a top Manhattan prep school. When the boys dare Jamal to break into nosy Forrester's window, Jamal accepts the challenge, but in his haste to escape, he leaves behind his knapsack, filled with his personal writing journals. The next day, via the window, Jamal gets his journals back -- filled with corrections and editorial comments. After much resistance, Jamal allows the literary legend to mentor him and help battle a haughty professor who not only accuses him of plagiarism but seems to have an axe to grind with Forrester himself.
The film deals with a wide range of black/white relational issues (prejudicial stereotypes, interracial dating, exploitation of athletic ability, etc.),. It deals with creativity, mentoring, racism, rich and poor, young and old, justice, the exploitation of jocks, the meaning of family. Rob Brown brings a credible and palpable sense of what young black men go through every day and he wins viewers over to the rightness of Jamal's cause as he goes about curiously handling the accusation brought against him and fights to achieve his dreams.
Film: Finding Forrester (2000)
Director: Gus Van Sant
Genre: Drama/coming of age film
Actors: Sean Connery .... William Forrester
Robert Brown .... Jamal Wallace
F. Murray Abraham .... Professor Henry Crawford
Anna Paquin .... Claire Spence
Busta Rhymes .... Terrell
April Grace .... Ms. Joyce
Michael Pitt .... Coleridge
Cinematography: Harris Savides
Music: Bill Brown
Tagline: In an ordinary place, he found the one person to make his life extraordinary.
William Forrester, once a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist, now spends his days as an unkempt recluse who sits in his window spying on boys playing basketball in the schoolyard below. One of those boys, Jamal Wallace, is an exceptional athlete whose ticket out of the projects is only partially due to his talents on the court. When not showboating for his pals, Jamal is a closet genius whose astronomical test scores earn him a free ride at a top Manhattan prep school. When the boys dare Jamal to break into nosy Forrester's window, Jamal accepts the challenge, but in his haste to escape, he leaves behind his knapsack, filled with his personal writing journals. The next day, via the window, Jamal gets his journals back -- filled with corrections and editorial comments. After much resistance, Jamal allows the literary legend to mentor him and help battle a haughty professor who not only accuses him of plagiarism but seems to have an axe to grind with Forrester himself.
The film deals with a wide range of black/white relational issues (prejudicial stereotypes, interracial dating, exploitation of athletic ability, etc.),. It deals with creativity, mentoring, racism, rich and poor, young and old, justice, the exploitation of jocks, the meaning of family. Rob Brown brings a credible and palpable sense of what young black men go through every day and he wins viewers over to the rightness of Jamal's cause as he goes about curiously handling the accusation brought against him and fights to achieve his dreams.