Affleck and Damon's script was prophetic genius

The following is from the movie Good Will Hunting. After reading it it was amazing how prophetic it was, especially considering the movie came out in 1997. Pretty scary.


Say I'm working at N.S.A. Somebody puts a code on my desk, something nobody else can break. So I take a shot at it and maybe I break it. And I'm real happy with myself, 'cause I did my job well. But maybe that code was the location of some rebel army in North Africa or the Middle East. Once they have that location, they bomb the village where the rebels were hiding and fifteen hundred people I never had a problem with get killed.

Now the politicians are sayin' "send in the Marines to secure the area" 'cause they don't give a shit. It
won't be their kid over there, gettin' shot. Just like it wasn't them when their number got called, 'cause they were pullin' a tour in the National Guard. It'll be some guy from Southie takin' shrapnel in the ass. And he comes home to find that the plant he used to work at got exported to the country he just got back from. And the guy who put the shrapnel in his ass got his old job, 'cause he'll work for fifteen cents a day and no bathroom breaks. Meanwhile my buddy from Southie realizes the only reason he was over there was so we could install a government that would sell us oil at a good price. And of course the oil companies used the skirmish to scare up oil prices so they could turn a quick buck. A cute, little ancillary benefit for them but it ain't helping my buddy at two-fifty a gallon. And naturally they're takin' their sweet time bringin' the oil back and maybe even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who likes to drink seven and sevens and play slalom with the icebergs and it ain't too long 'til he hits one, spills the oil, and kills all the sea-life in the North Atlantic. So my buddy's out of work and he can't afford to drive so he's got to walk to the job interviews which sucks 'cause the shrapnel in his ass is givin' him chronic hemorrhoids. And meanwhile he's starvin' 'cause every time he tries to get a bite to eat the only blue-plate special they're servin' is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State.

So what'd I think? I'm holdin' out for somethin' better. I figure I'll eliminate the middle man. Why not just shoot my buddy, take his job and give it to his sworn enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb a village, club a baby seal, hit the hash pipe and join the National Guard? Christ, I could be elected President.


Script by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck

"Script by Matt Damon with a few lines here and there by Ben Affleck"

Not to diss Affleck because he's a good guy, but Damon is the brain of that duo.

... and the one who can actually act.

I'll never forgive Affleck for his role in Deep Impact (even though no single actor could have saved that POS film), although he was pretty good in Dazed and Confused and GWH.

...because he wasn't in Deep Impact. You must be thinking of Armageddon (although I could see where you might have trouble telling them apart).

with it's often compared sister Asteroid movie. Affleck was in Armageddon (SP?), Morgan Freeman and Tea Mumbloney were in Deep Impact.

It's a thought experiment, not an effort to buy products at prices closer to wholesale. However, the turn of phrase nevertheless seems appropriate. To "eliminate the middle man" is to cut out unnecessary detail so that we can see the big picture.

Matt has his head screwed on correctly and is the real deal.

Of course, he'd have to take a helluva pay cut...

Too bad he wasn't prophetic enough to mention that Lee Raymond, the Exxon CEO who was in charge when the alcoholic skipper played slalom with the icebergs, would be getting a $400 million retirement package.

DeNiro really nailed the CIA with this film. It will shock you with its reality - especially the waterboarding/near drowning scene. All of the incidents portrayed of torture, murder & mayhem were true events. The KGB had nothing on the CIA when it came to inhumane "patriotism". Damon was excellent in a deliberately understated style.

today and was struck by it myself.

I watched the first half a couple of years ago...got bored and wandered away.

I've watched that movie at least 5 times now! I think Damon has really gotten so damn good too!

and prophetic indeed.

Has Damon ever had a comment on that line all these years later? Does anyone know if there was a good commentary track on the DVD? It might be worth checking out.

when he appeared on Hardball last week. He's much more involved politically than I had been aware of before.

"I'd like to see him under oath?" I loved that line. Very cogent.

O'Bannon rules!