Forrest Gump (1994)

Forrest Gump (1994)

**** (out of 4)

Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks), a slow but simple man from Alabama takes us through decades of his life, which includes various historical settings but all the while his heart is on Jenny (Robin Wright Penn), a childhood friend.

FORREST GUMP was released and quickly became a huge hit and ended up winning many Oscars. Today, for whatever reason, the film seems to be hated by many people because of the movies it beat out. I've never really understood putting too much importance on Oscars or any other award show and I really don't understand why one movie must take a beating just because of what films it beat out. ORDINARY PEOPLE takes a beating because it beat RAGING BULL. Something like DANCES WITH WOLVES takes a beating because it beat GOODFELLAS. Then there's FORREST GUMP that takes a beating because it beat out PULP FICTION or THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION.

As far as the film itself goes I think this is a great one. I've always liked how the film took a look at a simple person's life and a simple person who is always in very big situations yet never really understands it. There are countless bits of dialogue that are remembered by mans and they've entered the public IQ but the one dealing with knowing what love is is the one that always caught my attention as far as what this film is about. To me Gump goes through all these historic things yet it's always his love for Jenny that is the heart of the picture.

I thought the story itself was quite great and especially how we take a look at American history through the 60s, 70s and 80s. I know some people make this a political movie but I've always found that to be rather foolish. The film has a wonderful soundtrack to highlight the various eras that are shown and we also get some clever use of CGI to put Gump in the presence of people like JFK and Richard Nixon. The screenplay hits all the right notes and there's no question that technically speaking the film is impressive.

Then there are the performances that really make the movie. Hanks picked up his second Best Actor award and while I personally would have given it to Paul Newman for his performance in NOBODY'S FOOL, there's no question that Hanks is great here. He certainly nailed that "simple" man and there's not a false moment in the performance. Gary Sinise is wonderful in his role as is Mykelti Williamson in his small bit. Robin Wright Penn is the perfect opposite to Hank's character and Sally Field is good as well.

No matter what people say, FORREST GUMP is still a wonderful little gem that has a lot of great things in it.

Fmovies: I've seen most of the top-voted 30 or 40 movies here at IMDb, and Forrest Gump probably wins my vote for the single best movie ever made.

This is not a conclusion I came to the first time I saw this film, or the second. The more you understand about this movie, the more you like it. And in terms of understanding it, my wife and I both were still gaining new understanding the 5th or 6th time we watched it. (For example: Why does Jenny behave exactly as she does throughout the movie? It'll take a lot of thinking to =fully= understand her.)

Just the fact that we've seen it at least half a dozen times says a lot. There are few movies that I ever even give a second viewing.

Like many of the truly good movies, there are people out there who see it once and consider it to be a waste of time. Such people are usually just looking for the most "action," gore and sex they can find, and haven't a clue about films that actually involve thought, ideas, and life.

Did I mention the script is absolutely brilliant? There are a lot of =truly= funny moments. And the music rocks. But those are only specific aspects of a movie that has just about everything else right about it as well.

See it, enjoy it, think about it, see it again. Think about it some more. Forrest Gump is one of the greatest movies -- if not THE greatest -- ever made.

He may have been good in Philadelphia but be is excellent in Forrest Gump.Tom Hanks delivers another great performance in his career by portraying the lovable,king yet not so intelligent character Forrest Gump.It is also Tom Hanks' second straight win for the Best Actor Oscar which he becomes the second man to do said accomplishment after Spencer Tracy.Whilst not as dramatic as Philadelphia,Tom Hanks' performance is just as great in this movie and this movie could possibly be the film of Tom Hanks' career as he used to be a comedy guy who turned to drama in a way which would paved for future stars such as Jim Carrey(The Truman Show),Reese Witherspoon(Walk the Line) and Will Ferrell(Stranger Than Fiction) to name a few.Also staring in this great movie classic are Robin Wright-Penn who plays Jenny,Gary Sinise who was nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of Lieutenant Dan Taylor,Mykelti Williamson as Forrest's best friend and shrimper Benjamin Buford"Bubba" Blue and Sally Field as Mrs.Gump.This film was nominated for a total of thirteen Academy Awards but won six of them which include Best Film Editing,Best Visual Effects,Best Adapted Screenplay,Best Picture,Best Director-Robert Zemeckis and Best Actor-Tom Hanks.This is one masterpiece of a movie that will not be forgotten about in a long time.Bravo!

Forrest Gump fmovies. I have seen this movie easily a half a dozen times, and I find that the beauty of the film is how Forrest Gump not only shares his innocence and purity with others, including the audience, he also manages to retain that innocence and purity through some very difficult times. As a Viet Nam veteran, and a college graduate of the late Sixties, I could of course personally relate to the various periods that Forrest Gump endures. I would only mention that the skillful and seamless blending of music, action, and period costume was enthralling. And yet it was so perfectly understated that Forrest Gump's travels through thirty five years of the stormiest and most meaningful years of American history only became clearly defined for the viewer. Even more so than the well known chocolates quote as a metaphor for life, I felt that the remark that stupid is what you do is probably more workable for most of us.

"I've made about 20 films and 5 of them are pretty good"-Tom Hanks.

"Forrest Gump" is one of the best movies of all time, guaranteed. I really just love this movie and it has such a special place in my heart. The performances are just so unforgettable and never get out of your head. The characters, I mean the actors turned into them and that's what got to me. The lines are so memorable, touching, and sometimes hilarious.

We have Forrest Gump(Tom Hanks), not the sharpest tool in the box, his I.Q. is right below the average scores. But his mama(Sally Field) believes that her boy has the same opportunities as anyone else and lets Forrest know that there's nothing that could hold him back. As a boy he is put into braces for his legs since he has a crooked back and really doesn't have too many friends. When he gets on a school bus for his first day of school, NO ONE will let him sit next to them. This scene is so heart breaking until you hear a little angel's voice "You can sit here if you want". Jenny, Forrest's best friend and crush, she looks so incredibly innocent and you love her because her and Forrest are like pea's and carrots. But we find out that there is an extremely unfortunate side to her life, she has a father that's "always kissing and touching her and her sisters". Forrest just assumes that it's a father's love since he doesn't have a dad that could show him that it's wrong.

Forrest and Jenny together walk every day from school and when these kids start throwing rocks at Forrest calling him stupid, Jenny just tells Forrest "Run, Forrest! Run!". He miraculously breaks the braces off his legs and run like the wind blows. Forrest meets many celebrities from his life that just happened to be there: Elvis Presley visited his house before hitting it big, President Kennedy honored him with a all American football award, President Johnson who honored him with a medal of honor for his actions in Vietnam, President Nixon(in which Forrest happens to discover a problem in the Water Gate Hotel because some people seem to be flashing lights around), and John Lennon through a talk show to talk about his medal of honor.

Forrest meets some interesting people along the way too that are even better than these celebrities combined; Bubba his Vietnam war friend who dreams of owning a shrimp boat one day and was born with big gums. He is just so wonderful and charming and won't stop talking about shrimp. Luteniet Dan, a leader of Forrest's army in Vietnam who gets saved by Forrest during a huge attack and looses his legs as a result. Luteniet Dan was by far my favorite character, he has so much pride and wants to die in Vietnam due to his family history tradition of dying in every single American war. He and Forrest make quite a pair. And of course there's Jenny, a very tragic figure, she gets more mean as she grows up because she knows that Forrest loves her, in some ways you can't blame her really. She was obviously abused and I think she felt that Forrest was too good for her or that he couldn't really give her the love she wanted. Robin Wright, what a beautiful and wonderful actress.

This movie is incredible and should be seen by everyone. I am not kidding, "Forrest Gump" is a remarkable movie and inspires everyone. It's not just about someone stupid who happens to be in great places and historic events just because of being in the right place at the right time. This

This is a powerful yet charming movie; fun for its special effects and profound in how it keeps you thinking long after it's over. Like others, I've seen this movie more than once. One comment I've never heard is that Forrest's simplicity is almost zen-like. I should read the novel to get the author's intention (I remember some people preferring the book and complaining that no one at the Academy Awards gave him any credit.) But rather than an implication that you should do what you're supposed to do and believe in God and you'll win in the end, I see it as zen-like, i.e., living in the moment and not having expectations or particular cravings (other than his loving Jenny.) So he ends up just stumbling into all the major historical events of the time. Granted, he achieves this only because he doesn't have the brains to think otherwise and actually have expectations, but so many of our problems are because we do have higher intellect and desires, which ironically makes us unhappy because we know what we are missing. We love our cats and dogs for the same simplicity and always being in the moment. There's a line in the movie wondering if everything is predestined or happens randomly or it's a combination of both. It is something to mull over for a long time.