Sometimes you just need on-demand counseling. Nearly 30 years after its release, 1997's Good Will Hunting remains as cathartic as ever. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck won an Oscar for co-writing the screenplay; Will (Damon), a janitor at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), is a recent parolee with Gerald Rambo (Stellan Skarsgard), a respected math professor who discovers his genius, and a therapist and Southern He will be working with two of his friends, Sean Maguire (Robin Williams, Oscar winner), who can't outrun Will.

Will's buddy Chucky (Affleck) teaches him an important life lesson: A loyal friend will do what's best for you, even if it means leaving South Boston. Meanwhile, widower Sean deals with the rest: the trauma Will suffered as a child is not his fault. He deserves a full life. And it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

For more painfully beautiful scripts, moving performances, and cathartic tears, here are seven films like Good Will Hunting.

Damon and Affleck both had the misfortune of appearing in this coming-of-age drama, which was released in 1989 and taught an entire generation the meaning of “carpe diem.” Williams was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as John Keating, an English teacher who disrupts the status quo at a 1959 Vermont boarding school, empowering the uptight boys to think for themselves and to respect poetry, beauty, romance, and love. Not only does he revive the main character's secret society, but he also gets his students to seduce a taken girl (the charming Knox, played by Josh Charles) and pursue their passions, just as the hot-headed Neil, played by Robert Sean Leonard, overcomes his father's objections to appear in “A Midsummer Night's Dream,” and Becomes.

The tragic turn of events that follows will take you by surprise. But it is the film's final moments, in which the timid Todd, played by Ethan Hawke, steps up to lead one of the most memorable tributes in film history, that will forever take your breath away.

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In this wonderfully bright Best Picture winner from 2021, teenager Ruby (Emilia Jones) is the only hearing child of the deaf in Gloucester, Massachusetts. She works as a deck hand on the family's fishing boat, interpreting for her comically enthusiastic parents (Troy Cotur and Marley Matlin) and older brother (Daniel Durant), and developing a desire to do something for herself.

Singing in the school choir, she finds her voice with the help of a supportive teacher (Ronnie Farmer) and successfully duets with her unrequited love (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo). She also auditions for the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Can her family afford to lose her to save their business? Will Ruby have the courage to stop trying to fit in and let herself shine?

At the risk of being a spoiler, I cringe every time Jones sings “You're All I Need to Get By,” especially when Ruby's father asks her to sing it (one of Cotur's Oscar-worthy scenes). If you routinely shed tears listening to Joni Mitchell's “Both Sides Now,” Ruby's climactic solo will make you burst into tears. It's a perfect four minutes.

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Pat (Bradley Cooper) has a therapist in David O. Russell's 2012 drama set in Philadelphia, but young widow Tiffany (Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence) is the one who really helps him heal. After an eight-month stay in a psychiatric hospital to treat his undiagnosed bipolar disorder, Pat returns home to live with his parents (Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver), where he decides to improve his physique and attitude and reconcile with his former lover.

In exchange for Tiffany's promise to give that ex a letter, Pat reluctantly agrees to dance with Tiffany in a freestyle pairs contest. It was the beginning of an unpredictable, unfiltered, uninhibited friendship that kept the viewer riveted. The plot gets even more complicated when the outcome of the dance contest becomes important to Pat's superstitious pop parlay wager.

The moral is here: true love means finding someone who fits your perversity, not being ashamed to suppress it. It's a good plan to look for the silver lining in any situation. De Niro needs less than 30 seconds to give life-changing advice.

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Screenwriter-director Celine Strong's 2023 meditation on fate, love, and living in the moment is a must-see for anyone old enough to remember the thrill of finding your long-lost crush on Facebook. Nominated for Best Picture, the film opens with Nora (Greta Lee), a playwright in her 30s, having drinks at a bar with two men. One is engineer Hye-sung (Teo Yoo), a classmate she left behind in Seoul 24 years ago when her family moved to Canada when she was 12.

Through flashbacks, we learn that the two met again online in their 20s, but stopped talking when the distance became too great. The other man is Arthur (John Magaro), a writer whom Nora met, fell in love with, and married shortly thereafter. He understands what Hesson was to Nora and finds it difficult to end their unfinished story.

The realistic tension and relieving comfort between Hesung and Nora is palpable. They endure the pressure of not knowing whether this reunion will heal old wounds or leave new scars. But in the end, the certainty of a bittersweet resolution is a gift. As is the hopeful feeling that comes from knowing that Nora will be cherished in this life and perhaps in the next.

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Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey are dazzling in this 20-year-old gem. However, there is a glitch in Joel's procedure, and memories mapped to his brain before they were erased are replayed. He realizes that he is still fully conscious and has moments with Clementine that he never wants to forget.

Unable to stop the process, Joel's only chance is to chase his memories around and try to hide Clementine in memories where she has no place. It's a winding, surreal ride, scripted by Charlie Kaufman and fueled by a heartfelt desperation that is all too familiar.

In “Past Lives,” Nora encourages Hesung to watch a movie, which is poignant.

“Eternal Sunshine” is ultimately about deciding whether or not to repeat a relationship knowing what the outcome will be, and appreciating those special moments that stay with you regardless of the outcome.

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Sylvester Stallone has been nominated for an Academy Award twice in his career. In this 2015 spinoff that launched its own franchise, Adonis Johnson (Michael B. Jordan), the secret son of Rocky's late rival-turned-friend Apollo Creed, quits his job in finance to convince the former champion to train him for the ring to seek out Rocky in Philadelphia.

Soon, Adonis faces two battles. A title match on the big stage using the Creed name for the first time, and convincing Rocky, a widower diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, to undergo treatment. The health crisis is not an emotional manipulation, but a tribute to all those who have battled cancer, knowing that the war may not be won, but just wanting to go the distance.

It has everything you want in a Rocky movie: a montage of epic training. Punchy, simple dialogue ("I have to prove it, ...... I'm not wrong."). Meaningful romance. The rousing trumpet. A return to those steps.

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If Will Hunting is the king of the verbal blowout, high school senior Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) is the queen. In writer/director Greta Gerwig's irreverent 2002 exploration of identity, Lady Bird's partner of choice is her mother, psychiatric nurse Marion (the equally formidable Laurie Metcalf). Marion loves her strong-willed daughter, but does not necessarily like her. Lady Bird is a typical self-centered teen, focused on leaving her hometown (Sacramento, California) and losing her virginity at all costs. She hides from her mother to apply to expensive New York colleges and ignores her best friend (Beanie Feldstein) in order to get close to the wrong guy (Timothée Chalamet).

Gerwig gives Lady Bird the grace to put aside her anger and desires and figure things out so that she can be as big-hearted as her sometimes petulant mother. Dancing to “Crash Into Me” by the Dave Matthews Band with a loved one at a Catholic school prom is not to be missed. To want to leave your childhood home and at the same time feel immense love for it.

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