Young-adult Ficton Week 5

Today we were watching the movie-- Finding Forrester

Finding Forrester is a 2000 American drama film written by Mike Rich and directed by Gus Van Sant. In the film, an African-American teenager, Jamal Wallace (Rob Brown), is invited to attend a prestigious private high school. By chance, Jamal befriends a reclusive writer, William Forrester (Sean Connery), through whom he refines his talent for writing and comes to terms with his identity. Anna Paquin, F. Murray Abraham, Michael Pitt, Glenn Fitzgerald, April Grace and Busta Rhymes star in supporting roles.

Although the film is not based on a true story, film critics have compared the character portrayed by Connery with real life writer J. D. Salinger. Connery later acknowledged that the inspiration for his role was indeed Salinger.

In Finding Forrester, Jamal Wallace (Rob Brown), a young African American high school student at the Bronx, is invited to join an exclusive private high school because of his high tests scores. One day, Jamal's basketball friends dare him to walk into the Widow's house. The Widow is actually William Forrester (Sean Connery), a well known author that is thought to be dead or missing. William Forrester lives as a recluse; when Jamal walks into William's house, William scares Jamal with a knife and Jamal runs off, leaving his backpack behind. 

When Jamal returns to retrieve his backpack, he finds that all his pieces of writing were commented on. After Jamal's attempt to retrieve his backpack, Jamal goes and asks William if William could help improve his writing skills. William made a deal that if he helped Jamal with his writing, Jamal would keep William's identity a secret, never to take the writing that he does out of his house, and never ask anything about William's family.

Throughout this movie, Jamal and William get to know each other better and they become friends. At Jamal's new school, the exclusive private school, he is accused of plagiarism by his English teacher The English teacher highly doubted that Jamal's piece of writing was really his and not plagiarized.

Overall, Finding Forrester is a great movie that interlace with the theme of friendship. The time Jamal spent with William made them trust each other to keep promises, such as Williams'. 

 Rob Brown plays Jamal, an african american student living in the Bronx. After being dared to go into the apartment of "The Window" Jamal learns more about himself and his writing. Sean Connery plays William Forrester, the man behind "The Window". While in Forrester's apartment Jamal gets spooked and leaves his backpack behind. After getting it back he finds his notebooks have been commented on. He goes back to the apartment to see if he can bring more stuff for Forester to read. After promising to keep Forester's identity secret, leave all that's written in the apartment there, and to not ask any questions about Forrester, Forrester agrees to help Jamal in his writing. Jamal's writing is soon questioned by a teacher at the private school he attends. The meetings between Forrester and Jamal teach them a lot about themselves and others. 

 Jamal Wallace is an academically underachieving basketball player in the Bronx. High test scores give him a chance to attend an exclusive private school, although everyone presumes he's there just to win games. Jamal encounters a reclusive writer whose first and only novel won the Pulitzer back in 1953, and who helps Jamal with his creative writing skills. A nice white girl from a wealthy family befriends him, and a literature teacher can't believe his abilities and charges Jamal with plagiarism. A surprisingly sweet movie from Gus Van Sant; leisurely and much too pat (the youthful hero is too perfect and does everything right), but pleasant. Connery is delightful as always, unknown Rob Brown quite good as Jamal, Anna Paquin sweet as Claire, and the rest of the supporting cast is swell. For trivia fans, Matt Damon turns up in a small cameo near the end, and Joey Buttafuoco (yes, THAT one) appears very briefly as a night watchman.

 Street-wise kid from the Bronx, Jamal Wallace, meets Pulitzer Prize-winning author-turned recluse William Forrester. Forrester teaches Wallace about writing and life, and they form a bond.

 A heart-warming tale about a reclusive author (Connery) of a pulitz prize winning book, from the 1960s) teaches a young black man (Brown), a genius, to harness his writing skills. As time goes on, they learn from each other as they conquer something significant in their lives. This is a great film that should be seen by all. It features a talented young actor in Brown- not bad for his first film.