Finding Forrester tells a story about a teenager from The Bronx, Jamal Wallace, who has passion for basketball and perhaps an even greater passion for writing. Near the basketball court where  Jamal and the other kids from The Bronx played, there was a mysterious man in the apartment on the top floor who was always watching them and never left his house.

One day Jamal is dared to go up there and break in to his house. He later discovers that the man in the window is the great William Forrester who wrote the greatest novel of the 20th century, “Avalon Landing”. Jamal promises to keep his secret, in return Jamal asks for help with his writing. William agrees and the two become friends. Throughout the story Jamal deals with racist comments towards him, which makes racism a very common topic throughout the film. Especially when Jamal gets accused of plagiarizing essays and stories. Jamal claims that if he was white then he wouldn’t have this problem  with the teacher’s accusations. This moment in the film really shows what it was like to be a kid from The Bronx going to better school than everyone else. It was also at this moment in the film where William really tried to convey his true emotions toward Jamal. It was at this moment where William saw Jamal as a friend and not as a writing accomplice. Shortly after, Jamal takes William out to a baseball field for his birthday. It's at this moment that he reveals what happened to him in his past that made him go into hiding. His whole family past away but it was his brother’s passing that hit home. When collecting the body the nurse was talking about how successful he was and ignoring the fact that his brother just died. It was at this point in his life that he shut out the world and lived in his apartment in The Bronx and never left. This is where the film does an amazing job getting the viewer emotionally engaged and they can show empathy or sympathy towards William. With the final scenes taking place shortly after, William breaks his bounds and goes into public and stands up for Jamal at the story reading for his school. William reads a prompt that everyone is amazed by and he then tells the audience it was written by “his friend” Jamal Wallace. This is a turning point in the story, previously the two got into an argument and Jamal never wanted to speak to William again. It’s at this point where the audience is at an all time emotional climax even though the story is at it’s resolution. Everything is well between the two and the go their own ways. It’s not until Jamal is in his senior year and he receives word of William’s death due to cancer. Although it was a sad death, it was a necessary one for the plot. And this is where the story comes to a full circle. Overall, this film is amazing at getting the viewer enticed and intrigued and it does a good job at getting the emotions flowing. However, this film has a lot of aspects that are a cliché. Like the stereotypical main character who overcomes his greatest problem. Or, the kid that deals with racism overcomes the bully. These aspects make the movie a lot more like any other movie anyone has ever seen, making it a lot more bland and very similar to   others in it’s genre so overall, this film is kind of mediocre at best.