Finding Forrester

It must have galled director Gus Van Sant that Matt Damon and Ben Affleck got all the credit (and the screenwriting Oscar) for Good Will Hunting, so he decided to make it again, this time without the boys wonder. Finding Forrester substitutes creative writing for math, the South Bronx for South Boston. Otherwise, it's pretty much déjà vu all over again: Older guy helps younger guy sort through his genius and become, you know, a person. That the older guy is played here by Sean Connery certainly helps. And Rob Brown, who'd never acted before, holds the screen well enough as a kid from the projects who writes like a dream and also excels on the basketball court. Connery's character, a recluse who's holed up in an apartment Miss Havisham would have felt right at home in, is obviously based on J.D. Salinger. Alas, Salinger's story is much less inspiring, much more interesting.