Finding Forrester (2000)

IMDb plot summary: A young writing prodigy finds a mentor in a reclusive author.
Directed by Gus Van Sant. Starring Sean Connery, Rob Brown, F. Murray Abraham, and Anna Paquin.

(Mild spoilers.)

This is a nice, if forgettable, little inspirational movie. One of the things I appreciate most is that, despite Connery's character being named in the title and having the most poster space, it's obviously 16-year-old Jamal who is the center of this story. Jamal doesn't need Forrester to convince him of his own worth or rescue him from his life. He teaches him a little writing, but it's clear that Jamal does far for for him than he does for the teenager. When Forrester steps in the end, it's only to shut down someone who wouldn't have listened to Jamal anyway and then retreat quietly away. In a genre that very often veers into White Savior territory, this is a nice change.

The movie itself feels a little off, though, providing snippets of the story and leaving several unfinished. Characters launch into their tough back stories at the *weirdest* moments. A lot of characterization doesn't feel quite... there. And I highly doubt I'll remember I saw this movie a year from now. It's a nice flick to watch once, but there's no particular reason to see it again.

3 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Finding Forrester > Where the Wild Things Are
Finding Forrester < Argo
Finding Forrester > Manhattan
Finding Forrester < Mr. Deeds Goes To Town
Finding Forrester > Don Jon
Finding Forrester > Neighbors
Finding Forrester < The Jungle Book (1967)
Finding Forrester < 2001: A Space Odyssey
Finding Forrester < Diabolique
Finding Forrester < Snowpiercer
Finding Forrester > Steamboat Bill, Jr.
Final spot: #769 out of 2351, which is probably a bit too high. I blame Neighbors, which is way higher than it should be.