Good Will Hunting · written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck · 1997

Will rejects the NSA's offer, refusing to let an institution decide how his intelligence will be used.

Scene 83 of 127 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act two

Midpoint
Five-Act Structure: Climax
Save the Cat: Midpoint
Will
Dytress

Act oneAct two

Begins 1:41 into a 2:11 film

The story so farBefore scene 83

When MIT professor Gerald Lambeau discovers that janitor Will Hunting is a gifted mathematician, a court deal lets Will work with Lambeau and therapist Sean Maguire; Will must risk intimacy and choose a life beyond the defenses that have kept him safe.

Scenes 1–16
Will is a brilliant janitor, fiercely loyal to his South Boston friends and protected by routine.
Scenes 17–31
Lambeau's discovery and the court deal confront Will with an ability and a future he cannot keep hidden.
Scenes 32–46
Will enters therapy and the academic world while beginning a relationship with Skylar.
Scenes 47–82
He tests intimacy and professional opportunity while using jokes, anger and silence to stay in control.
Just before
Scene 80
Will waits in Lambeau's office as the next career decision approaches.
Scene 81
Skylar asks Will to come to California with her, and he conceals the truth about his family.
Scene 82
Will leaves Skylar's dorm after their confrontation, ending the night without resolving their future.
Scene 83
This scene

83INT. NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY, OFFICE -- DAY

Will sits across from two N.S.A. AGENTS, OLIVER DYTRESS and ROBERT TAVANO. These guys ar smug, clean cut, gung-ho and looking sharp in twin navy blue suits.

WILL

So why do you think I should work for

the National Security Agency?

DYTRESS

Well, you'd be working on the cutting

edge. You'd be exposed to the kind of

technology you couldn't see anywhere

else because we've classified it.

Super string theory, Chaos Math,

Advanced algorithms--

WILL

Codebreaking.

DYTRESS

That's one aspect of what we do.

WILL

Come on, that's what you do. You handle

more than eighty percent of the

intelligence workload. You're seven

times the size of the C.I.A.

DYTRESS

That's exactly right, Will. So the

question as I see it isn't "why should

you work for N.S.A." it's "why

shouldn't you?"

WILL

Why shouldn't I work for the National

Security Agency? That's a tough one.

Will bites his tongue, trying to make this work.

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