With Honors (1994)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
A Harvard student's senior thesis is held hostage by a homeless man, leading to an unexpected bond between the two.
The story
Montgomery "Monty" Kessler is a senior majoring in Government at Harvard University who lives with three friends. While working on his senior thesis, a power outage and a subsequent accident cause Monty to drop his thesis into a boiler room. There, he encounters a homeless man named Simon Wilder, who is burning the paper. After Monty pays a fine for Simon's arrest, the two strike a deal: for every service Monty provides, Simon will return one page of the thesis. Monty allows Simon to stay in a broken-down van in his backyard, beginning a journey of mutual discovery and friendship.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Montgomery "Monty" Kessler, a Harvard senior, loses his thesis in a boiler room where he meets Simon Wilder, a homeless man burning the pages. After Monty pays Simon's legal fines, they agree that Simon will return one page of the thesis for every service Monty performs. Simon moves into a van in Monty's backyard, and the two become close friends. Monty confides in Simon about his absent father, while Simon helps Monty see the humanity in the poor. Monty's roommates—Courtney, Everett, and Jeff—mostly accept Simon, though Jeff is initially resistant. After a conflict where Simon leaves, Monty eventually allows him to move into the house. As Simon's health declines due to asbestos exposure from his time in the Merchant Marines, Monty decides to rewrite his thesis to a more optimistic subject. Simon writes his obituary, revealing his past, and Monty encourages him to confess his love to Courtney, which she reciprocates. Monty drives Simon to visit his abandoned son, Frank, who rejects him. On the return trip, Simon dies while the roommates read Walt Whitman to him. At the funeral, Monty reads Simon's obituary, which calls the roommates his family. Monty eventually meets his mentor, Professor Pitkannan, and explains his change in thesis topic. Although he doesn't graduate with honors due to lateness, Monty finds peace, begins his own collection of memory stones, and returns a book to the library.
- First release year
- 1994
- Runtime (minutes)
- 103
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Alek Keshishian
- Writers
- William Mastrosimone · writer
- Cast and characters
- Joe Pesci · Simon B. Wilder; Brendan Fraser · Montgomery "Monty" Kessler; Moira Kelly · Courtney Blumenthal; Patrick Dempsey · Everett Calloway; Josh Hamilton · Jeffrey Hawkes; Gore Vidal · Professor Pitkannan; James Deuter · Judge; Mara Brock Akil · Ms. Moore
- Genres
- comedy-drama
- Themes
- homelessness; friendship; humanity; forgiveness; legacy
- Tone and mood
- casual charm; sentimental; comedic-drama
- Premise and plot tags
- buddy comedy-drama; coming-of-age; homelessness; university life
- Reception
- The film received generally negative reviews from critics, though it was praised for its cast. Audiences gave it an average grade of 'A–' on CinemaScore.
- Reported review scores
- CinemaScore · score: A– · scale: A+ to F
- Production trivia
- The film was shot at various locations including Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, and Massachusetts.; The graduation scene was shot in Illinois with artificial branches and leaves stapled on because the trees had not bloomed.; The scene where Simon and Professor Pitkannan debate the role of the president was filmed in Lincoln Hall at Northwestern Law School.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…