Jamal Wallace In Finding Forrester

In the film Finding Forrester, set in New York in the last 1900s; the main character Jamal Wallace is an inner-city kid from the Bronx who is a talented basketball player and is a genius at writing. While always a C student, Jamal gets the attention of a prestigious New York prep school scout; when he scores highly on the standardized tests. Jamal becomes friend with Claire and it quickly becomes more; while Jamal is given a heavy load at his new school, both he and the school know that the real reason they took him on is for his prowess on the court. Jamal was helped along by Pulitzer-prize winning author and recluse William Forrester; Jamal pursues his dreams both on and off the court while overcoming obstacles placed by his bitter literature teacher. As Jamal is shaped by Forrester, he finds that he is

changing the old writer as well, forcing him to confront his past.
Jamal is a role model and someone that the audience can connect to.

He shows the audience that even if they have obstacles in their way; they can overcome them. Jamal has to overcome multiple obstacles to achieve his passion for writing. Jamal was taken from a school he was used to and was thrown into a private school that he knew nothing about. He shows the audience that they can achieve their dreams if they try. Jamal was doubted by his literature professor and was looked down on by some of his peers. Some of the audience can relate to be looked down on like Jamal. At one time; the audience all experienced the feeling of starting at a new school and not knowing anyone there.

“You write your first draft with your heart. You rewrite with your head” (Finding Forrester). This is a powerful quotation because it teaches Jamal that instead of overthinking about what to write; he needs to just go with the flow. Jamal learns when writing it is better to not overthink and just write. The first draft the writer just writes down he/she’s ideas and see where it takes them; the second draft is where the writer reads through and changes what is written down as they see

fit.
I personally thought the film was interesting and had a easy to follow storyline. I got the storyline right away. Jamal meets an old writer that helps him; Jamal also helps the writer confront his past and move on. Overall, this film was a good watch.
Why is Forrester trying to forget his past? Why did he want to keep his real identity a secret? I hope later on in the film these are answered.
The main lesson about life shown in this film was one’s identity can be brought into light by someone with the same passion. This is shown in the film when Forrester helps Jamal with his writing and Jamal helps Forrester face his past; Jamal and Forrester figure out their identity with the help of each other.
Forrester was actually found. Jamal while trying to prove himself to his friends; broke into the Window’s house. Jamal then at his new school looked at the back of Forrester’s book and realized that Window was actually Forrester.