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| Finding Forrester | 
 enlarge | Director: Gus Van Sant
Actors: Sean Connery, Rob Brown, F. Murray Abraham, Anna Paquin, Matt Damon
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.95
Buy Used: $2.00
You Save: $7.95 (80%)
New (49) Used (51) Collectible (2) from $2.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  217 reviews
Sales Rank: 1767
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), French (Dubbed)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 136
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5 x 0.6
MPN: D05989D
ISBN: 0767861434
UPC: 043396059894
EAN: 9780767861434
ASIN: B00005ASOC
Theatrical Release Date: December 19, 2000
Release Date: April 24, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: ex-rental, but the disc itself is flawless. the liner notes got a little crumpled.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Finding Forrester could have been a shallow variant of The Karate Kid, congratulating itself for featuring a 16-year-old black kid from the South Bronx who's a brilliant scholar-athlete. Instead, director Gus Van Sant plays it matter-of-fact and totally real, casting a nonactor (Rob Brown) as Jamal, a basketball player and gifted student whose writing talent is nurtured by a famously reclusive author. William Forrester (Sean Connery) became a literary icon four decades earlier with a Pulitzer-winning novel, then disappeared (like J.D. Salinger) into his dark, book-filled apartment, agoraphobic and withdrawn from publishing, but as passionate as ever about writing. On a dare, Jamal sneaks into Forrester's musty sanctuary, and what might have been a condescending cliché--homeboy rescued by wiser white mentor--turns into an inspiring meeting of minds, with mutual respect and intelligence erasing boundaries of culture and generation. Comparisons to Van Sant's Good Will Hunting are inevitable, but Finding Forrester is more honest and less prone to touchy-feely sentiment, as in the way Jamal and a private-school classmate (Anna Paquin) develop a mutual attraction that remains almost entirely unspoken. The film takes a conventional turn when Jamal must defend his integrity (with Forrester's help) in a writing contest judged by a skeptical teacher (F. Murray Abraham), but this ethical subplot is a credible catalyst for Forrester's most dramatic display of friendship. It's one of many fine moments for Connery and Brown (a screen natural), in a memorable film that transcends issues of race to embrace the joy of learning. --Jeff Shannon
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| Customer Reviews: Read 212 more reviews...
Great Message June 9, 2008
Liked the message in the movie. Bought it as an inspirational piece for my younger family members.
 You're the man now, dog! May 29, 2008
Honestly, does it get any funnier than Sean Connery yelling out, "You're the man now, dog!" That's priceless. Not only is it funny because it's Connery using modern day slang, it's also because the usage of the word "dog" went out of style faster than...well, it never was cool to say. The saying, however, is as timeless as "more cowbell" and "My name is Inigo Montoya..." - it just gets better each time it's heard.
Another classic line is when Connery belts out, "PUNCH the keys for God's sake!" It's not quite up to YTMND standards, but PTKFGS is nonetheless hilarious.
The movie itself is highly inspirational and entertaining. William Forrester (Connery) is a reclusive, agoraphobic, Pulitzer Prize winning author living in Harlem. He's somewhat of a neighborhood boogeyman, and one day a prodigous yet troubled talent named Jamal Wallace (Rob Brown) dares to sneak into the apartment. Forrester scares him away, and in his haste, Wallace drops his backpack with his writings. Some time later the work is returned, but all the papers are edited and reviewed. In no time at all, the two are friends, Forrester is reviewing all of Wallace's work, and the two famous lines are uttered.
The struggle and relationship between student and teacher is truly fabulous to watch in this movie. And when Wallace attempts to help his teacher, or to coax out any sort of information, there is a palpable tension. The true battle eventually unfolds between Wallace, his school, and his professor, where someone must sacrifice in order to help the other.
I highly recommend this movie in every circumstance. It's a feel good movie with true life-lessons.
A Classic May 27, 2008
In the twilight of his career, Sean Connery proved he still had it all and gave it all in this awesome tale. While many people will not immediately connect with the characters, it is a story that can grab you when you least expect and truly open your eyes to so many of the truths that are overlooked in our society today.
Connery plays a writer turned recluse named William Forester, who is a real author, and he lives in New York City. He remains in the home of his youth, despite the fact that over time it has changed from a middle class white neighborhood into a overall low income area in which the Black families that live in the area are struggling just to get by.
He meets a prodigy by the name of Jamaal, a young Black man who is in the prime of his High School career and is both a great athlete as he is a great writer. Jamaal suffers from what many other youth suffer from, he fears to be alienated simply because he is smart and enjoys literature. Jamaal is given a scholarship to a top tier NY private school and learns that life is not as different as many thought between the white and black worlds, just different means to the same ends.
Jamaal becomes Connery's pupil and learns to truly express himself via his writing, and while he learns about himself, he forces Connery's to do the same and the two not only become friends, but conquer some of the true challenge's that life presents.
This is a great film, something everyone could enjoy. It will certainly go down as a classic, and one of the best performances Connery graced us with.
GUS VAN SANT, OPUS 8 December 19, 2007
***** 2000. Directed by Gus Van Sant. A cloistered writer becomes the mentor of a young man from the Bronx. Sean -Salinger- Connery, during a brilliant and almost mystical scene, literally passes on his talent to his disciple by making him re-write one of his unpublished essays. Masterpiece.
Great movie! October 17, 2007
This is a great teaching movie! While there is an excessive amount of swearing, the true message of the film gets through. Pick it up if you want a great story!
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