Will Hunting (Matt Damon) is wicked smart (He’s from south Boston, so he says wicked a lot). Will works blue-collar gigs, drinks lots of beer and likes to cause a ruckus. He’s also a genius who likes to pass the time by solving obscure mathematical equations. This Oscar-winning film, written by future stars Ben Affleck and Matt Damon and directed by Gus van Sant, seems to suggest that serious emotional problems can be solved by the love of a good woman, a solid cry and a hug from Robin Williams.
Top 10 Troubled Genius Films
Hollywood seems incapable of making a movie about super smart or talented people without saddling them with emotional or mental problems. TIME looks at the best.