Finding Forrester, by Mike Rich - 10 out of 10

Finding Forrester, by Mike Rich
10 out of 10


Finding Forrester is one of the rare, superb, inspirational motion pictures that could be used in schools and universities to teach values:

Loyalty, friendship, genius, dedication, pride and more.

When Jamal Wallace aka the formidable Rob Brown and the Pulitzer Prize Winner William Forrester aka the iconic Sean Connery become friends, this is a spectacle like few other.
Jamal Wallace is a tremendously gifted teenager, who is intellectually superior to most in his group age and outside it, who has a surreal memory...when provoked by the owner of a BMW, the youngster proves that he knows the history of the company in detail, how they used to make airplanes and thus they have the logo of the propeller against the blue sky.
The first impression of William Forrester is that he is a peculiar, aging man, who spies the neighborhood with his binoculars and his strange manner make the young people talk about a 'dare'.

This is the occasion of the first contact between Jamal and the reclusive, isolated man, with a period of hostility followed by some annotations on the notebook left with the backpack in the apartment of the intriguing gentleman.
Gradually, tentatively the two protagonists, and antagonists to begin with, get to know each other...when he hears the name of his guest, Forrester says that 'it sounds like some kind of marmalade'.

He provokes the young man, saying that given that he is 16 and black, he is remarkable, only to explain later that this was an attempt to see 'how much bulshit Jamal is ready to take'
The teenager and the public would learn that this is no ordinary hermit, but the author of a magical work, Avalon Landing, awarded the Pulitzer Prize and immensely popular with readers...indeed, when Jamal would try to borrow it from the library, he would see that the many copies are all out and there is a waiting list.

The great writer has many memorable statements and amusing habits and lines...'I keep all these many books to impress my visitors...socks should be worn inside out...people have public readings to get laid...'

There are other, serious pronouncements...'an expression is worth one thousand words...superstition is like prayer...people are most afraid of what they don't understand...don't start a sentence with a conjunction '

Albeit the last rule is contested and debated between younger and older writer.
The fantastic Jamal Wallace has a dispute with the arrogant, frustrated professor Robert Crawford aka the Oscar Winner for the classic Salieri in Amadeus, F. Murray Abraham.

The professor does not believe in the extraordinary talent of his pupil and after they clash over the quotes that prove what a divine memory the student has, Crawford wants revenge and ultimately, the expulsion of the one who had demonstrated his limitations.
The professor uses farther, when he should have used further and consequently, instead of recognizing his mistake and praising the one who had noticed it, he becomes ever more infuriated and vengeful.

A dramatic step and an intervention would be needed from...William Forrester.
This is a phenomenal, magnificent motion picture!