Wolff rating: EXCELLENT
Plot summary: Janitor with poor impulse control has suprising math ability, and it catches the attention of MIT.
Biased, pithy comments: Although this was a star vehicle for Damon and Affleck, who came out of nearly nowhere to write and star in this humdinger middlebrow emotional potboiler, to me the real star of the show was Skarsgaard. I had a professor at Princeton (Faltings, for those of you in the back row with the orange-and-black ties on) who was a Fields medalist forced into his required undergraduate teaching. He had the same sort of arrogance, oddly stiff carriage, and accent that Lambeau had, and it rang so incredibly true that it was a pang of memory for me. Then, when we see Skaarsgard on his knees, saying ``There are a handful of people who know the difference between you and me...'', I knew that feeling too---the knowledge that as good as you are, you'll never be anything compared to this other guy who seems to do it effortlessly. Wow. Great. Also, Driver has that intelligent, loose-limbed, makeup-free charm of quite a few gals I knew in my Ivy League days. No, it's a good show all around, even as it is somewhat predictable and gets melodramatic. Definitely worth watching.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Stellan Skarsgaard, Minnie Driver.
Directed by: Gus Van Sant