...The American drama film entitled Finding Forrester is directed by an award winning director Gus Van Sant and is written by Mike Rich. It was released in theaters on December 2000 and it garnered mostly positive feedbacks. The two stars of the film was Sean Connery, who played as William Forrester, and Rob Brown, who played as Jamal Wallace. Sean Connery was also the film’s producer. The film was about William Forrester, a reclusive writer, who wrote “The Great Twentieth Century Novel”. This earned him a Pulitzer prize but after gaining fame he shut his world to the public and settle in an apartment in South Bronx, New York. He was befriended by Jamal Wallace, a talented basketball player and an intelligent sixteen year old teenager. Jamal hides his intelligence in writing from his friends because he fears that they might make fun of him and put him out of place. One night, Jamal sneak into the apartment of William. Out of fear he accidentally left his bag in the apartment. Jamal talked to the delivery man of the apartment and showed his knowledge discussing the history of BMW. The delivery man left and his bag was dropped down from the apartment. He finds that the man read his journals and made notes in them. He asked the man to help him in his works, but he was told to write 5000 words on why he should stay out of his home, which Jamal completes and submit to the man. That’s when he started going to the man’s apartment. A...
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...Finding Forrester addresses the lives of two people, Jamal Wallace; a brilliant young African-American high school student and basketball player, and William Forrester; an author who became reclusive after the death of his alcoholic brother and also his parents. Forrester is an award winning author who wrote only one book four decades ago before the incident that made him start living a reclusive life. On the other hand, Wallace is a high school student whom after getting high scores on his test and also his brilliance on the court gets noticed by an elite Manhattan prep school; Mailor-Callow who offers him a scholarship to study at their school and also play basketball. Wallace has a bad first encounter with Forrester after a challenge by his friends go wrong and he leaves Forrester’s apartment in a hurry out of fear and ends up forgetting his backpack in the apartment. His backpack is later returned to him and he sees that Forrester had put comments and reviewed his write-ups. Wallace decides to go to Forrester’s apartment to apologize and also to ask Forrester to review his works. Initially, Forrester is reluctant to help out the young writer but changes his mind after he tells Wallace to write an essay of five thousand words on “Why he should stay out of his house” and the latter actually writes it. The two quickly develop a bond which is easy because they both share a love for writing and Wallace associates the role of mentor, role model and friend...
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...As I sat watching “Finding Forrester,” I found myself vacillating between contradictory thoughts and feelings. I felt that I was not supposed to enjoy or appreciate the movie because I have trained myself to question sincerity of a movie about Black life, directed and produced by a very famous White male actor, and in this case one who also plays the leading role in the movie. I am automatically suspicious and, perhaps, offended by a movie in which a White person mentors a Black person. Because of the historical relationship between Blacks and Whites, I programmatically expect to see a movie in which James Earl Jones or Whoopi Goldberg mentor a young White child or adolescent. Despite these thoughts, I found myself totally engaged in the...
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... Dela Cruz I – 1 S 8-12 AM I. Forrester says “do you know what people are most afraid of to what they don’t understand. And when we don’t understand, we turn to our assumptions.” What are some of the assumptions that adults make about Jamal? - Some assumptions that adults make of Jamal are, they think that he is not smart enough to write as well as he does, that a 16 year old black basketball player from the Bronx couldn’t possibly write like he did, they said it was too good. A. What do these assumptions reflect about biases related to race, class, intelligence and honesty? - These assumptions were very stereotypical. That since Jamal was a colored boy from a lower class place who was good at sports that he couldn’t possibly be good at something like writing. B. Have you ever been subject to assumptions about who you are? - I haven’t been subject to assumptions about who I am. C. How does one overcome these assumptions? - I am not completely sure how to overcome these assumptions, but to keep doing what I do, like Jamal, and become a good person, no matter what some may assume. II. How do you describe the relationship between Forrester and Jamal? Are they friends and equals or a teacher and his student? What evidence from the film can you provide to support your opinion? - Both Forrester and Jamal were very interested with writing. Together they talked about different subjects within writing and reading. Forrester happened to be an author, and he knew...
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...Review of Finding Forrester Brandon 12-1-12 The movie Finding Forrester is about a young sixteen year old African American boy named Jamal Wallace, who one night accepts a challenge from his friends to break into the apartment of a man who they refer to as The Window. It is soon revealed to Jamal that The Window is actually the famous author William Forrester and not only that but Forrester agrees to help Jamal with his writing as long as he never takes anything out of Forrester’s apartment and as long as he never asks Forrester about himself or his family and friends. This is great for Jamal because around the same time, due to his test scores and basketball skills he is accepted into one of the top private schools in New York. However, at the new school Jamal has a whole new set of problems; not only does he have to deal with sharing the spot light with the school’s star basketball player, but he also has to put up with a teacher who insults him and questions his writing abilities because his writing just seems to be too good. The movie was directed by Gus Van Sant and it received 7.2 stars. However, unlike most modern movies that receive a lot of stars this movie did not star any really famous Hollywood actors, for example, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, or Adam Sandler and it did not include a lot of special effects. The movie also did not vary its locations that much either; about 75% of the movie took place in the school, Forrester’s apartment, or Jamal’s...
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...amazing thing that could happen to anyone. Finding Forrester is a movie that was released on December 19, 2000. It is a movie about a young, black teenage boy, named Jamal Wallace. Jamal has the tendency to act unintelligent around his basketball buddies so that they will continue to accept him, even though he has outstanding test scores and is an amazing writer. While on the basketball court, the boys talk about the older man that stands in the window watching them, so they gave him the name “The Window” . Rumor has it that “The Window” has killed someone before. One night, Jamal’s friends dare him to sneak into the “The Window’s” house and steal something out of it, proving that he has actually completed the dare. As Jamal was in the apartment,...
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...willing to give freely. In the movie Finding Forrester, William Forrester learns to share his trust with a boy named Jamal when they connect through writing. Forrester is closed off and mean at first, but slowly opens up to Jamal throughout the movie. When he finally lets Jamal in, he starts to teach him how to write and talks to him about his life before Jamal. When Forrester is able to do this, they form a trust and friendship that stays strong even when they are separated. Whether that is by distance, as they go their separate ways or in death, or when Forrester leaves this earth at the end of the movie. Due to the strong sense of trust they have, when Forrester dies he is able to leave...
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...The American drama film entitled Finding Forrester is directed by an award winning director Gus Van Sant and is written by Mike Rich. It was released in theaters on December 2000 and it garnered mostly positive feedbacks. The two stars of the film was Sean Connery, who played as William Forrester, and Rob Brown, who played as Jamal Wallace. Sean Connery was also the film’s producer. The film was about William Forrester, a reclusive writer, who wrote “The Great Twentieth Century Novel”. This earned him a Pulitzer prize but after gaining fame he shut his world to the public and settle in an apartment in South Bronx, New York. He was befriended by Jamal Wallace, a talented basketball player and an intelligent sixteen year old teenager. Jamal hides his intelligence in writing from his friends because he fears that they might make fun of him and put him out of place. One night, Jamal sneak into the apartment of William. Out of fear he accidentally left his bag in the apartment. Jamal talked to the delivery man of the apartment and showed his knowledge discussing the history of BMW. The delivery man left and his bag was dropped down from the apartment. He finds that the man read his journals and made notes in them. He asked the man to help him in his works, but he was told to write 5000 words on why he should stay out of his home, which Jamal completes and submit to the man. That’s when he started going to the man’s apartment. A...
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...“Finding Forrester” is a pleasant story of friendship between an old man and a young boy. The relation develops between an eccentric novelist William Forrester and Jamal Wallace a young gifted scholar athlete. Jamal Wallace (Rob Brown) was a black sixteen year old boy that lived in the Bronx of New York. Jamal was faced with the normal woes of black males brought up in an underprivileged lifestyle with very little opportunities to leave. Although Jamal had intellectual talent for writing, quite contrary to his stereotyped ghetto friends. After taking an academic test. his high results in the test lead to an offer of a life time. An opportunity to have a fully paid scholarship to one of the most prestigious schools in New York. A fully paid scholarship with an option to play basketball....
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...Finding Forrester Assignment 1. Jamal refused to recite the poem and say he has not read it because; he did not want his friends to make fun of him. 2. Jamal turned to reading and writing after his father abandoned his family because, he knew that learning things to make him smarter will help him become a better person when older, so he would not do something like this which his father did. 3. When Jamal finds his backpack in the street he discovers comment in red ink in his journals. Forrester had read his journals and made editorial notes in them. 4. When Forrester says “constipated thinking” about Jamal’s writings he is criticizing his work, saying it is not clear. 5. Jamal takes up the challenge to write 5,000 words on why he should stay away because; he wanted to prove to Forrester he is worthy to come in. 6. Some assumptions that adults make of Jamal are they think that he is not smart enough to write as well as he does, that a 16 year old black basketball player from the Bronx couldn’t possibly write like he did, they said it was too good. 7. These assumptions were very stereotypical. That since Jamal was a colored boy from a lower class place who was good at sports that he couldn’t possibly be good at something like writing. Myself I have been subject to assumptions about who I am. I have high functioning autism and other kids think I am strange and weird, but they do not know that I suffer from social anxiety and find...
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...FINDING FORRESTER TEACHERS’ NOTES Finding Forrester is a film about the inspirational relationship between a street-wise black teenager and a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist. This study guide is for pupils of GCSE and A level English and Media Studies. The areas of study include starting points for creative writing, writing a critique, what makes great writing, representation and mise en scène. SYNOPSIS He was a vibrant personality who wrote a Pulitzer Prize-winning classic novel four decades ago. And that is the last word heard of William Forrester (Sean Connery). That is until Jamal Wallace (Rob Brown), a brash sixteen-year-old with writing aspirations of his own, cracks the veneer of Forrester’s sheltered existence and re-ignites the dreams of this literary legend in the winter of his life. Known as the neighbourhood recluse, silver-haired Forrester is a man whose mystery and eccentricity border on the mythical. When he discovers that Jamal - a talented African-American scholar-athlete who is recruited by an elite Manhattan school for his brilliance on and off the basketball court - has sneaked into his apartment and left his backpack full of writings behind, they both get something unexpected in return. Forced to look past skin colour and suppositions, Jamal encounters not only his first fan, but a mentor who will challenge and change him forever, and Forrester has his first reason in years to emerge from his self-imposed solitude. Visit www.columbiatrlstar.co.uk/forrester...
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...Secondly Jamal’s relationship with Forrester also grew because they were each able to have a voice and were actually able to talk to each other. No one voice would overpower the other voice it was an equal friendship. Though they did still have some tough moments. As I said in my last paragraph Jamal lashed out on Forrester and it ended up helping their friendship and made the movie even more enjoyable. This movie had real emphasis on a new life and starting over. Jamal had to do that exact thing he had to start a new life at a new school. That is difficult for everyone especially when you’re new school is full of white kids and you’re an African American. It was also a new life for Forrester once he got involved with Jamal it really helped...
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...The movie “Finding Forrester” does a good job of defining what it means to be an outsider. There are many instances in the film where Jamal is shown to be an outsider by both his friends and his classmates and teachers. Jamal Wallace is a bright young black student from the inner city who is afraid to let his friends know that he is smart. He gets by with average grades but excels in basketball at his inner city school. Jamal and his friends pass the time shooting hoops and making fun of the reclusive man watching them through the window of the apartment above the court. One day, Jamal’s friends dare him to break into the man’s apartment. Afraid of not being liked by his friends, Jamal accepts the dare. After being caught by the man, Jamal leaves the apartment, forgetting to take his backpack with him. When he goes back to retrieve the backpack, an unlikely friendship begins to form. The man, William Forrester, soon starts helping Jamal with his writing. Jamal hides this from his friends. The film demonstrates that we often change our behavior in order to try to fit in, even though the behavior might not be a bad thing. Shortly after befriending Forrester, Jamal’s principal invites Jamal’s mother for a meeting at the school, she has no idea what to expect, fearing Jamal may be in some sort of trouble. She is surprised to learn that Jamal’s above average standardized test scores do not reflect his grades in school. When Jamal is offered a full scholarship to a prestigious...
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...movie “Finding Forrester” there are many chances and times were there are bumpy roads that may take you one way or take a way where there is no change for the better. There are moment‘s were others try to prevent others from their success, but it is the way that it is handle that shows were your true destiny lies and this is what occurs to Jamal it is up to him to make the right decision as to where he belongs. The setting of this young man’s life is in a middle class neighborhood in the Bronx were many don’t live up to what life has to offer. It is a neighborhood where others don’t really expect much from them but Jamal prove the contrary he was a very intelligent, bright, and talented young man who had the abilities that many wouldn’t expect from a neighborhood from which he was raise. His talent lied far beyond the basketball court in lied in the love for writing and reading and he truly captivated many with his capabilities. In the movie “Finding Forrester” the meaning of basketball signified many things to me it signify escape, refuge, two separate worlds were life is different this was a sort of world for Jamal were he could bond with his friends and could have a connection between one another but to me it also meant a barrier between success and staying were others thought you belonged. In the movie books the love for literature and writing was to me, books meant opportunity, learning, adventure, uniqueness, and most the passion and love that both Jamal and Forrester had...
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...told by Jamal’s English teacher that her son is a C student who received an A on the state assessment? 3. Does Jamal’s peer acceptance depend entirely on basketball? 4. When Jamal first knocks on Forrester’s door, why does he take up the challenge to write 5000 words on why he should stay away? 5. What do you learn about Jamal as a result of his interaction with the gentleman regarding BMW? 6. When Jamal asks if Forrester will keep helping him with his writing, why does Forrester agree only if Jamal asks no questions about him, his family, or why he wrote only one book? 7. What does Forrester mean when he says that "The first step to writing is writing--not thinking about what you are going to write"? 8. What does Forrester mean when he says to write the first draft with your heart but then to rewrite with your head"? 9. How does Forrester’s having Jamal type out a copy of his "A Season of Faith’s Perfection" help Jamal to "discover his own words"? 10. What has Jamal learned from Forrester and Forrester from Jamal? 11. Why is Jamal presented with the choice of winning a championship to retain his scholarship? Do you think he intentionally missed his foul shots? 12. Why...
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