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Good Will Hunting is an excellent movie. It's woven into the historical fabric of Boston and the greater New England region. The smash hit launched the Hollywood careers of Boston natives Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. I would say there's a certain level of optimism for all 32 NFL fan bases at this time of year, but if you're a Patriots stan, and you're being honest with yourself, you'll probably be longing for your Tom Brady-Bill Belichick glory days for at least another year.
Not saying the Pats can't come out and pull off a stunning playoff appearance like the Houston Texans did last season. If Drake Maye turns out to be their equivalent of C.J. Stroud, hey, much crazier things have happened.
But in any event, Patriots legends of yesteryear
Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski took center stage in an ambitious schedule release video that parodies the aforementioned cinematic classic, titled
Good Jules Hunting.
In the process, I'm sure Jules and Gronk brought plenty of joy to Patriots Nation:
https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/1790894935471751504
The consensus does seem to be that New England fans really love this good-natured spoof. Jules stars as Damon's titular character, except instead of being a janitor at MIT, he's doing similar grit work at Patriots HQ and solving the complex equation that is the precise NFL schedule before it even comes out. Nobody's supposed to be able to do that. In this short film, Jules does!
Gronk costars as the Affleck prototype. The former Patriots pass-catchers faithfully recreate iconic scenes from
Good Will Hunting, from the "It's not your fault" exchange that helped Robin Williams win an Oscar to Affleck's "RETAINER!" refrain and all the other
good stuff in between (IYKYK).
Sorry to burst the bubble of any Patriots diehards with this, but I gotta say, the acting from Jules and Gronk leaves something to be desired. Sure, they fill their characters out just fine and are serviceable.
But like...maybe they should've taken some notes from the GOAT before this? Tommy Boy high-key kills his big scene in
80 for Brady.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkd3RW1iSuU
The real scene-stealer is Ernie Adams, the wise old sage who served as the Patriots' "football research director" from 2000 through 2020. If anyone's actually analogous to Will Hunting, it's that man. A total genius who was instrumental behind the scenes in New England's six Super Bowl victories. Do I know exactly what he did? No. All I know is
his relationship with Belichick goes back to 1970 and the best coach ever had him as his closest confidant. That's where I draw the conclusion that Adams played a more pivotal role in the Pats' raging success than any of us outsiders will ever comprehend.
Speaking of pivotal roles, Adams saves this schedule release video going completely off the rails in my opinion. There's another nod to Affleck's Boston-set bank heist film
The Town right at the end that I also quite enjoyed. Still have to give
the schedule release trophy, yet again, to the Los Angeles Chargers.
To reiterate, I'm sure New Englanders will cherish
Good Jules Hunting for a long time. If I'm being 100% honest, though, it's an A+ video idea with excellent production quality but B- execution by the main on-camera talent. That's graded on a curve, too, since they aren't, you know, professional actors.
It's OK. I just wanted a
little more from Jules and Gronk since they're such charismatic personalities. Overall, this project was a bold risk and a big win for both of them. Now check out the proper "my boy's wicked smart" scene as a palate cleanser.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIdsjNGCGz4
