Bronx high schooler Jamal Wallace (Rob Brown) likes to hang out and to play basketball with his friends in the neighborhood. But secretly, Jamal is also a voracious reader who keeps journals full of his own creative writings. Suddenly, because of his academic and athletic talents, Jamal is offered a full scholarship to Mailor-Callow, a prestigious private school in Manhattan. Here he finds stronger competition, both on the court and in the classroom.

How will he be able to survive, let alone thrive in such an environment? Fortunately, he finds an early friend in a fellow student named Claire Spence (Anna Paquin). Jamal's older brother Terrell (Busta Rhymes) and their mother are also as supportive as they can be.

Jamal gets even better advice from a most unlikely source: a recluse whom he and his friends refer to as "The Window." The old man always watches them play basketball from the top floor of a nearby apartment building. Jamal meets the man accidentally, on a dare. He turns out to be William Forrester (Sean Connery), a famous author himself. (William is as much of a J.D. Salinger-like character as Terence Mann was, when he was portrayed by James Earl Jones in Field of Dreams.) In William, Jamal meets a mentor and a kindred spirit, in spite of their differences in age, race and experience. And in return, Jamal grows to understand that William harbors his own personal challenges and struggles.

Naturally, Jamal doesn't have an easy time with his transitions. A few pseudo-villains appear on the scene: individuals who either don't believe in Jamal or who are just downright nasty. The worst one is Mailor-Callow English professor Robert Crawford (F. Murray Abraham), who often spouts condescending remarks and takes great glee in embarrassing individual students in front of the whole class. (If you remember and despised Abraham as Salieri, Mozart's nemesis in Amadeus, then you'll find it even easier to despise him here, too.) Who will come out ahead in this power play? (Oh, and then there is an important basketball game, too....)

The soundtrack features a haunting, evocative theme, as needed. A spirited refrain arrives for more light-hearted scenes. The musical choices match well the moods of the story.

Some will consider Finding Forrester to be a fish-out-of-water tale, since Jamal makes the big move from the Bronx to Manhattan, and straddles two different worlds. But it's really more about a fish FINDING his OWN water, and about a young man coming of age, being helped by an unlikely friend who is far from perfect himself.

This is a movie that anyone can enjoy, especially if they are writers. Writers are sure to find common ground here, as William and Jamal debate the nuances of the writing process. ("Why is it that the words we write for ourselves are always so much better than the words we write for others?") And be sure to pay attention for an unexpected celebrity appearance near the end of the story. Get ready to gasp a bit.