I just finished reading the screenplay of Good Will Hunting and am glad I decided to read it. As I was going thru the script I remembered every scene and could associate it with the written text… This is not actually surprising as I must have seen the movie over a dozen times :P What was beautiful to realize was exactly what the director and the actors put into the script and what was put in ad-lib

I cant count the number of lessons with respect to script writing this read gave me. There is just so much difference in what you feel is great in a script and what turns out great in the film. Some of the best scenes in the movie are not even present in the script… The cool jokes are different and some important lines have scenes written around them that were simply omitted keeping just the dialog.

I think I am going to make it a habit of reading screenplays from now on… It takes very little time(average screenplay is about 50 pages) and is very fruitful for someone who enjoys writing as much as me :P

Ps: That final dialog “Son of Bitch, Stole my line!” said by Robbin Williams(Sean) was added impromptu! So was that entire story of how his wife used to fart in her sleep!!!