WILL Hunting (played by Matt Damon, the new hunk on the Hollywood block) is a janitor at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston. He is also gifted with a brilliant mind. So much so, that while doing his mop round, he stops to secretively chalk up on the college blackboard the solutions to mathematical problems that have been baffling the world's top eggheads for years. Why the furtiveness? Well, Hunting, who we discover has a history of abuse, is no ordinary brain-box. In fact, putting college professors to shame with his astounding grasp of mathmatical formulae is something of a power trip for him. Besides he has brain cells enough to waste on his other recreational pastimes, fist fighting and getting drunk with his white trash friends.

This scenario may sound improbable - and certainly at times the breadth of Hunting's knowledge strains belief - but it does help make a good story. Particularly, when we reach the crux of the story - unlocking Will's painful past and taming his frighteningly aggressive intellect. This job falls to Robin Williams, who here appears in a refreshingly understated role (well, for Williams anyway) as a rumpled, maverick psychotherapist, who like Hunting grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. The ongoing battle of wits between the two is by far the most exciting part of a film that abounds with an ambitious array of subplots and inter-relationships. Sparks fly when Williams' and Damon's characters lock horns on screen. Watching them is more like watching an all out boxing match rather than what is a series of therapy sessions.

The feel-good conclusion ties up all the intricacies of the plot in a rather too neat manner, typical of much Hollywood fare. And when you start looking more closely at the film, it is easy to pick holes (weak love-interest, unanswered questions about the nature of genius and so on). However, it would be wrong to overstate the down points. As well as fine lead performances, this has lots going for it: pathos, humour and tension. It should keep you gripped from beginning to end.