Director Gus Van Sant has returned to familiar territory with Finding Forrester. At first glance, the film seems an awful lot like Van Sant’s hugely successful Good Will Hunting and, given his quiet but respectable career, it seems logical that the director would return to such fertile, albeit repetitive, ground. Both films offer up similar themes – underprivileged kid is inspired by mentor – and both are most effective when they focus on the scenes between student and teacher. Luckily, with its more urban issues and two strong performances from the principle actors, Finding Forrester stakes its own claim as a powerful film about age and youth, knowledge and ignorance, growth and stagnation.

Ironically, as is often the case, it is the teacher who grows the most in this story. Bitter recluse William Forrester (Sean Connery) is a sort of modern J. D. Salinger, a man who wrote the definitive American novel, only to have it re-defined by critics. In response, Forrester disappeared into the fabric of American life, never writing again. He still lives in the same apartment he lived in when he was a young man with his life ahead of him; now, life has passed him by and a new world has grown up around him, a world of the New York projects.

The projects are the center of the universe for Jamal (Rob Brown), a sensitive African American kid with two disparate gifts: He can play basketball like a pro and he can use language like a true wordsmith. As his teacher tells his mother, “basketball is where he gets his acceptance”, but Jamal’s test scores reveal his intellectual gifts. And so, after playing ball with his pals after school, he races home to record his most private thoughts in a pile of notebooks. After a dare from his friends that leads him to sneak into Forrester’s apartment, Jamal accidentally leaves behind his bookbag full of notebooks. And so, the worlds of Jamal and William Forrester collide.

When the would-be writer reclaims his notebooks, he is at first outraged and then enlightened by the rabid red pen markings made by Forrester. The phrase that really catches his attention and leads him to call on the mysterious recluse is this: “Where are you taking me?” With this phrase, Jamal knows that Forrester has really read his words and can help him focus his thoughts into a more coherent form.

This query – where are you taking me? – could very well be asked of the film itself, which wanders somewhat aimlessly for the first half hour. The story truly comes alive when Jamal and Forrester finally meet face to face. Newcomer Rob Brown is more than up to the task of his role, offering a solid counterpoint to the formidable presence of Connery. As to Connery, he’s at his curmudgeon-y best, by turns fiery and meek, capturing the tragedy of lost youth and the wisdom that comes with age.

Forrester sees a future genius in Jamal, while Jamal finds the father figure and intellectual guide he so desperately needs. It’s Forrester who urges Jamal to take a scholarship to a posh Manhattan prep school; it’s Forrester who shows the young man to find his inner writer’s voice. And, it’s Forrester who eventually shows the world his pupil’s brilliance, a brilliance that is put in jeopardy after a jealous teacher (F. Murray Abraham) decides that no underprivileged black youth could write as Jamal does. It’s Jamal’s desire to prove himself and Forrester’s decision to help the teen do so that form the most affecting and insightful moments in the film, offering both characters their salvation.

The inspirational moments, the witticisms about life and art, the emotional tango of the old and the young – these are all arcs that have been explored in other films. Yet, in the middle of all this familiarity is a central message worth hearing and one that Van Sant and writer Mike Rich bring to the fore. Beyond its uplifting urban themes, Finding Forrester is a parable of how youth and age go hand in hand, drawing strength and wisdom from each other.