Good Will Hunting
1997 film
Bill Simmons · Ryen Russillo · Chris Ryan · Sean Fennessey
Aired April 1, 2025
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Good Will Hunting
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Film credit
Cole Hauser
Also referred to as Colehauser, Kohlhauser, Cole, Hauser
Stats
- Episodes featuring their films
- 5
- Movies in this archive
- 4
Rewatchables episodes featuring Cole Hauser’s films
Good Will Hunting
1997 film
Bill Simmons · Shea Serrano · Chris Ryan · Sean Fennessey
Aired January 25, 2018
Displaying all 5 episodes
Mentioned in discussions
In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:23:37Read transcript
- De Niro in Goodfellas is the unique10 benchmark, Cole Hauser’s Goodwill Hunt entrance about9.7, and Ledger9.5 for convincing cigarette handling. — Bill Simmons
- Gyllenhaal is around7.5 to8, including the shared postcoital smoking; Cruise, Roberts and Reeves in Hardball are unconvincing comparisons. — Bill Simmons
The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance
Hauser is preferred among several brief performers.
In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:20:16Read transcript
- Carmine, the briefly named Hervey, the Boston girl, George Plimpton and Jimmy Flynn the judge are candidates.
- Hauser receives support for staying restrained beside the local actors and making limited material count.
In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:05:41Read transcript
- Damon receives a ten-out-of-ten smoking assessment. — Sean Fennessey
- Hauser finishes a cigarette, signals the car gift and orders beers in one fluid bar gesture. — Sean Fennessey
Recasting Couch
Josh: Norton or Hamilton; Jimmy: Affleck or Damon; Lee, Hauser, Casey Affleck and Sean Astin considered; star-casting jokes
In the discussion (15)
Approx. transcript time · 01:18:42Read transcript
- Affleck is considered for Josh but may be too conventionally handsome; his Mallrats persona is closer to Des. — Sean Fennessey
- Norton is endorsed for Josh. — Sean Fennessey
- Jason Lee is considered closer to the Eigeman role. — Bill Simmons
- Affleck is preferred over Mackenzie Astin despite praise for the existing performance. — Sean Fennessey
- Damon is another proposal for the Astin role.
- Tom Hanks is a joking escalation of the star-heavy casting suggestions.
- Denzel Washington is another joking escalation.
- Cole Hauser is considered too gritty for the part.
- Casey Affleck is proposed then dismissed as too young; the stated age is a conversational estimate.
- Sean Astin is another suggestion.
- Josh Hamilton is endorsed over Keeslar for empathy and a reunion with Eigeman.
- Washington replacing Keeslar is a joking counterproposal.
- Newman’s availability is jokingly raised.
- Sidney Poitier as Josh continues the star-casting joke.
- Denzel Washington in the Mackenzie Astin role continues the star-casting joke.
Recasting Couch
Ben Affleck as Antonio
In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:18:59Read transcript
- Cole Hauser, Damon, Affleck or DiCaprio could have strengthened the young ensemble. — Bill Simmons
- Damon’s absence is especially surprising given his later commitment to roles involving starvation. — Bill Simmons
- Affleck as Antonio is the strongest recasting proposal.
- A young DiCaprio is proposed for an ensemble role. — Bill Simmons
- Adding a future star such as Pitt, DiCaprio, Affleck or Damon is desired. — Bill Simmons
- Pitt is imagined as Tintin or Nando instead.
- Replacing Hawke is challenged, and Hamilton’s secondary role is defended. — Chris Ryan
Apex Mountain
Randall Batinkoff; qualified Amy Locane
In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 01:28:34Read transcript
- Fraser is rejected in favor of The Mummy. — Juliet Litman
- Damon is rejected. — Bill Simmons
- Hauser is rejected. — Bill Simmons
- Affleck is rejected. — Bill Simmons
- Batinkoff receives a yes with Buffy in the same year. — Bill Simmons
- Eastern Promises is preferred for naked shower fights. — Bill Simmons
- Movies about casual antisemitism are considered high on the list, with Swing Kids as a companion comparison. — Bill Simmons
- Locane is described as both at an Apex and a low point because of her later firing from Melrose Place and declining career. — Bill Simmons
- Dead Poets Society is preferred for New England boarding-school movies. — Bill Simmons
- French class is rejected as an Apex. — Bill Simmons
What’s Aged the Best?
Ensemble; boarding-school setting; Damon; costumes; honor code; Scranton; cheating; diners; dances; football boosterism
In the discussion (18)
Approx. transcript time · 00:47:22Read transcript
- Rip’s shawl-collar sweaters and cardigans are praised. — Juliet Litman
- Seeing Damon, Affleck, and Hauser together before Good Will Hunting is praised. — Bill Simmons
- 1950s boarding-school movies are endorsed as a genre worth repeatedly revisiting. — Bill Simmons
- Damon’s expressions as the privileged racist villain are praised. — Bill Simmons
- Cleary’s 1950 MG is admired. — Bill Simmons
- The football uniforms’ colors, stripes, and helmets are admired, with a reservation about the body of the uniform. — Bill Simmons
- The ancient graduate from the class of 1875 is enjoyed as a link to the Civil War era, while his apparent 98-year-old vigor is questioned. — Bill Simmons
- Ed Lauter as David’s father is appreciated as a sports-film presence, with a wish that he attended the major game despite the travel distance. — Bill Simmons
- The honor code is praised as an effective dramatic device precisely because it fails under pressure. — Bill Simmons
- Scranton remains a legible hometown reference, partly because of The Office. — Juliet Litman
- Cheating is praised as a reliable source of conflict and debate. — Juliet Litman
- The tweed coats and blazers are admired. — Juliet Litman
- The Scranton youths’ James Dean styling and the Rebel Without a Cause marquee are enjoyed. — Mallory Rubin
- The luncheonette and Skip’s Diner are admired as neighborhood gathering places. — Mallory Rubin
- Youth dances and the meeting of boys’ and girls’ schools evoke record hops, enforced distance between dancers, and camp memories. — Mallory Rubin
- Dillon’s fumble, missed tackle, forced block, and despondent expression are considered ideal material for a modern meme. — Mallory Rubin
- High-school football boosterism and recruiting the player needed to defeat a rival are praised as enduring traditions; David having to work a real job is contrasted with Friday Night Lights. — Mallory Rubin
- Damon’s villainous performance is praised as an underused side of his screen persona. — Mallory Rubin
Recasting Couch
Matt Damon, Casey Affleck and Cole Hauser among the Argo Six
In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:04:53Read transcript
- Damon, Casey Affleck and Cole Houser could all have been among the Argo Six regardless of resemblance: Casey Affleck in Denham's spot, Houser with a goofy mustache, and Damon while keeping Scoot McNary. — Bill Simmons
- A sarcastic reply asks why not add Walberg and DiCaprio and the whole Departing cast. — Bill Simmons
- The idea was about the Good Will Hunting crew; at minimum Casey Affleck should have been slid in as one of the six. — Bill Simmons
- Asked "are you with me on that recasting couch," the answer is yes, it is very fun. — Bill Simmons
Recasting Couch
Cole Hauser or Casey Affleck in Clive Owen’s role; Amy Adams or the transcript-observed “Chloe 70” in Julia Stiles’s role; Al Pacino as Conklin
In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 01:02:36Read transcript
- Cole Houser is proposed as a Damon-connected replacement for Clive Owen. — Chris Ryan
- Casey Affleck is another proposal for Clive Owen's role. — Chris Ryan
- Amy Adams is proposed as a replacement for Julia Stiles. — Chris Ryan
- The Julia Stiles role is described as thankless, which makes it suitable for a stronger alternate performer. — Chris Ryan
- Chloe 70 is the observed transcript form of the preferred alternate for Julia Stiles because the role seems perfect for her. — Chris Ryan
- Al Pacino is proposed as Conklin during the period when his style was becoming self-parody. — Chris Ryan
- Pacino's ability to tackle Henry Rollins in Heat is used to answer concerns about him physically challenging Bourne. — Chris Ryan
Recasting Couch
Casey Affleck in the fourth-reporter role
In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:06:59Read transcript
- Casey Affleck is the recasting-couch pick for the fourth reporter's part. — Bill Simmons
- Cole Hauser with a mustache could also be talked into the part, joked to require a fight and a kicked-down door.
Half-Assed Internet Research
The shooting's inspiration, cast backgrounds, deliberate isolation of Rapaport, and Kristy Swanson's politics
In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:18:35Read transcript
- The campus sniper sequence is reported as based on Charles Whitman's 1966 University of Texas shooting. — Bill Simmons
- Cole Hauser and Michael Rapaport are reported as Jewish. — Bill Simmons
- Cole Hauser's family connections and early Affleck-Damon circle are noted. — Bill Simmons
- Singleton reportedly asked Rapaport to avoid much of the cast so he would feel isolated during production. — Bill Simmons
- Rapaport recalled feeling jealous while Omar Epps, Busta Rhymes, and Ice Cube listened to an early copy of Nas's Illmatic. — Bill Simmons
- Kristy Swanson is reported as a vocal Donald Trump supporter on social media. — Bill Simmons
Half-Assed Internet Research
Mitch's pitching scenes apparently needed a double; the cast lived and partied together at a Radisson; Linklater wanted Led Zeppelin's Rock and Roll for the end credits but Robert Plant refused; the beer was real except for the minors; 'man' is said 203 times; Mitch touches his nose 42 times; Linklater made character mixtapes; classmates sued over the film and lost; Wooderson's Ted Nugent t-shirt; Sean Andrews's part was phased out as McConaughey's grew
In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 00:52:22Read transcript
- The first, garbled item seems to concern Mitch's pitching scenes and a double, with the view that when you need a double for a sports scene you should hang it up; the cast all lived together at a Radisson in a free-for-all party hookup, like Survivor with showmances and alliances.
- Linklater originally wanted Led Zeppelin's Rock and Roll over the end credits; Jimmy Page agreed but Robert Plant denied him, which draws abuse for Plant as the kind of guy who likes money.
- The beer in the movie was real, though the minors did not drink; Cole Hauser's ten-second bit of trying to stand up hammered, burping and sitting back down is one of the best in the film, and he may really have been drunk.
- 'Man' is said 203 times and Mitch touches his nose 42 times, yet another arrow against Mitch Kramer; the Jovovich and Sean Andrews annulled marriage is recalled from earlier.
- Linklater made individual mixtapes for the actors' characters, Adam Goldberg's being Elo (as transcribed) and the like; he was later sued by classmates who said the film disparaged them, as someone named O'Banion might feel, and the suit was thrown out.
- Wooderson's t-shirt is a Ted Nugent album cover, and the shirt can be bought online; a host recounts two absurd days in their early twenties hunting with Nugent outside Auburn Hills, Michigan, while he hosted a hunting reality show, stocking his acres with wildlife, killing it and butchering it in real time, simultaneously the worst person the host had ever met and a really nice guy; Nugent is now a controversial hard-right figure, but his records in the film are great.
- Nugent has two songs in the film, Stranglehold and Hey Baby.
- Sean Andrews, who played Pickford and married Mila Jovovich, is key in the first 20 to 25 minutes but had his part phased out during filming because nobody in the cast liked him, he feuded with Jason London and he isolated himself with Jovovich; the film opens on the two of them in that incredible car.
- As the cast turned on him, Linklater, a who's-vibing-with-whom director willing to add scenes and ad libs, kept giving scenes to McConaughey, who was supposed to be in only two since Wooderson is not in the class but was clearly a movie star; the driving at the end and the final football-field scene were supposed to be Sean Andrews's, and McConaughey is in the last 15 minutes instead.
- Nicky Cat (as transcribed), already a pretty cool actor, stands next to McConaughey in the car-hood scene when he was basically an extra, and may have wondered about it, though they were both in A Time to Kill in 1996; the most memorable Wooderson scenes were improvised or written on set, including the spelled-out L.I.V.I.N. and the Top Notch invitation to the nerds, making Wooderson the glue and the second most important character despite not being there from the beginning.
Displaying discussions 1 - 12 of 22 in total
