Finding Forrester A Movie Review	MPAA Rated - PG-13 It's 2:13 Long A Review by The Dude on the Right

"Finding Forrester" brings us Jamal (Rob Brown). He’s an inner city kid who loves basketball but also loves literature and writing. At school he can’t show this, and for good reason, so his grades are mediocre, but when it comes to standardized tests, well, Jamal shines. This catches notice of a prep school looking for their next basketball star, giving Jamal a free ride because of his grades but they would be grateful if he helped out the basketball team. Meanwhile, back in the Bronx, in a secluded apartment, a mysterious man peers out at the world around him and when old people peer out at the world around them, well, the kids make up stories of a murderer, witch, crazy person, etc., and just tend to leave the old people alone. But, one day, Jamal takes a dare and breaks into the old man’s apartment, the old man scaring him, and Jamal leaving his backpack with some of his writings behind

Jamal is bummed he lost his backpack but the old man drops it to him one day and Jamal finds that the old man looked at his writings and added some helpful hints. Intrigued, Jamal goes back to the apartment to find William Forrester (Sean Connery), and asks for help with his writings. Thus the bond develops between pupil and teacher, and the two become friends.

Now, meanwhile, back at the prep school, Jamal has a problem, and it really isn’t even the fact that he is starting to have a relationship with Claire, the white daughter of one of the school’s benefactors. It seems one of the professors believes Jamal might be plagiarizing his work because there is no way a basketball player from the ghetto could turn in such great writings.  Jamal is stuck having to prove the work is his own when he shouldn’t have to. In the end it is up to William to support Jamal, coming out of hiding and back to his old alma mater, and shoving it down the professor’s throat one more time.

"Finding Forrester" is one of those movies where you can’t help but get wrapped up in the characters. You know there is a reason William has become a recluse and wait for the answer to come out. You root for Jamal because he has the will to succeed yet keeps getting dissed by the man. You get mad at William because after all Jamal has done for him, well, he goes back, even just for little while, to being the crotchety old man again and that pisses you off. You want Jamal to make the free throws at the big game even knowing he won’t. And you want the movie to have a feel-good ending. You get most of all of the above and it’s for the reason you don’t that I really liked the movie. It doesn’t get sappy; it doesn’t get preachy; it just tells a great story of overcoming adversity at any age.

Most critics have been likening "Finding Forrester" to Good Will Hunting" and with some good reason. You have the smart kid who doesn’t know if he wants to be smart being mentored by the genius who doesn’t want to be a genius. You’ve also got Gus Van Sant directing and a cameo by Matt Damon to remind you. But for me "Finding Forrester" really reminded me more of "Field of Dreams" when the Kevin Costner character goes in search of the secluded writer character, James Earl Jones, both of them learning off of the other that there are still great things to accomplish. Maybe I’m just weird.

So, finally, a movie that lived up to its hype. It’s 5 stars out of 5 for "Finding Forrester."

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!