Prime Video movie of the day: Good Will Hunting will make your heart three sizes bigger

A still from the movie Good Will Hunting of Matt Damon and Robin Williams.
(Image credit: Miramax Films)
Movie of the day

We cut through the bottomless list of streaming options and recommend something to watch. See all our Netflix movie of the day picks, or our Prime Video movie of the day choices.

With a different cast, Good Will Hunting might not have been a success: its 97% Rotten Tomatoes critical rating is due largely to Robin Williams' incredible performance. Stars Matt Damon and Ben Affleck do a decent job in their cinema debut, which they co-wrote, but make no mistake: this is Robin Williams' movie, and a reminder of what we've so sadly lost.

The plot of Good Will Hunting is simple, and like its title it's a bit silly: the titular Will Hunting is a genius working as a janitor, but when he solves a hugely complex math problem he's taken under the wing of professor Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgard).

When Will gets into an altercation with a cop, Lambeau strikes a deal: Will can stay at MIT if he gets therapy from Sean Maguire, played by Williams. And that therapy is where the huge heart of one of the best Prime Video movies resides.

GOOD WILL HUNTING Official Trailer [1997] - YouTube GOOD WILL HUNTING Official Trailer [1997] - YouTube
Watch On

Why Good Will Hunting is, well, good

Will is "the most likably recalcitrant coming-of-age character this side of Gilbert Grape," the New York Times' Janet Maslin wrote. "What it does beautifully is to develop a doctor-patient sparring that becomes affecting and important to both parties. Edgy and sarcastic as he is, Will works overtime to locate the doctor's raw nerves, and the actors play this out passionately. Williams is wonderfully strong and substantial here; Damon, very much the supernova, is mercurial in ways that keep his character steadily surprising."

Some of the film is very, very sad; there's a scene in particular that'll stay with you for a long time.

As Roxana Hadadi of RogerEbert.com says in an incredibly detailed retrospective, "Good Will Hunting is actually really damn good. Right now, when the world around us feels particularly overwhelming and the pressures of our everyday routines seem outside of our control, the healing nature of Good Will Hunting is a balm."

The movie is "a melancholy, affecting thing... The catharsis provided by Damon and Affleck’s best film has gotten more bittersweet with time, but it hasn’t faded." Empire gave the movie all five stars. "Good Will Hunting is, simply, as good as movies get".

You might also like:

Carrie Marshall
Contributor

Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than a dozen books. Her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, is on sale now and her next book, about pop music, is out in 2025. She is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind.

Read more
After Hours
Prime Video movie of the day: After Hours is a classic comedy with a very dark sense of humor
A still of Kate Hudson during the movie Almost Famous
Prime Video movie of the day: Almost Famous is a gorgeous, heartwarming coming of age movie that really rocks
Kid looking down at something in Monkey Man
The 25 best Prime Video movies to stream in March 2025
Fargo
3 new movies on Prime Video with over 95% on Rotten Tomatoes
A still from the movie Captain Phillips
4 new Prime Video movies with over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes that I recommend watching
Die Hard
Prime Video movie of the day: Die Hard is a Christmas movie and I won't hear otherwise
Latest in Amazon Prime Video
David running in the desert in House of David.
Prime Video’s hit new historical drama will continue its reign for another season as House of David gets renewed
Elayne, Egwene, and Nynaeve dressed regally and on horseback in The Wheel of Time season 3
The Wheel of Time season 3 is Prime Video's #2 show – here are 3 more fantasy series with over 85% on Rotten Tomatoes
Dan Burn holds up the Carabao Cup trophy at the 2025 final
I'm rewatching We Are Newcastle United on Prime Video after my club's exhilarating Carabao Cup win
Disappointed by The Electric State? Here's 4 reasons you should watch Tales From the Loop on Prime Video
Reacher looking down at another character from the Prime Video TV series Reacher
Reacher season 3 becomes Prime Video’s biggest returning show thanks to Hollywood’s biggest heavyweight
Anora sitting on Ivan's lap in a casino in her self-titled film, one of the best new Hulu movies in March 2025
5 new Prime Video movies with over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes I think you should stream in March
Latest in Features
Basset Hound Puppies
The ultimate AI search face-off - I pitted Claude's new search tool against ChatGPT Search, Perplexity, and Gemini, the results might surprise you
Resident Evil 4 Remake Ashley
Forget the Steam Spring Sale that's just ended, these are the six best deals that are still available and I've got in my basket right now
Dream Machine on a laptop.
What is Dream Machine: everything you need to know about the AI video generator
Star Wars BDX Droids walking in Galaxy's Edge.
‘We only build technology in the interest of storytelling’ – Disney’s associate lab director of Robotics on the Star Wars BDX Droids and what lies ahead
Google Gemini Canvas
Is Gemini Canvas better than ChatGPT Canvas? I tested out both AI writing tools to find out which is king
Siri
Siri thinks the president is Keir Starmer, and 4 other examples of incompetency that make me yearn for an Apple Intelligence upgrade