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Forrest Gump Customer Reviews (91 - 93 of 133 Reviews)

Typical Hollywood. Typical America.
Forrest Gump is the story of the life of a retarded man who lives through epic events in American history: JFK, Nixon, Vietnam War, etc. His life touches most of these significant ways, such as by accidentally discovering Watergate. He becomes famous after rescuing several soldiers in the Vietnam War, and achieving remarkable success in international ping pong. But his heart's desire is his childhood friend Jenny, who is one of the few who shows compassion to him.

The insight into the life of a retarded man is wonderful. And the acting, particularly of Tom Hanks in acting Forrest Gump, is remarkable. Some of the special effects (eg the ping pong playing, the inclusion of Forrest Gump in real newscasts of US presidents, John Lennon, etc) are astounding. The DVD features an explanation of how these special effects were accomplished, and they truly are outstanding. The concept is great, but the way it is worked out is a typical Hollywood disappointment.

Because these are the only positives about the movie. Several concerns:
1. Adult themes. The rating is only PG 13, but there are many scenes with violence, drugs, nudity and sex, themes inappropriate for children. The language is mostly reasonable, but there are multiple incidences of strong blasphemy and foul language.
2. Lack of moral absolutes. Forrest Gump represents innocence and naivity, but yet he is corrupted by Jenny, whom he eventually sleeps with. Even after he fathers her child outside of wedlock, she assures him that he has done nothing wrong. Jenny's death is apparently due to her lifestyle (due to her drug problems, STDs or AIDS?), and yet the dangerous consequences of an ungodly lifestyle are never connected or clearly spelled out. She seems to represent all the dangerous things of the sixties.
3. Atheism. Gump is one of the few individuals who believes in God, but this is presented as part of his retarded thinking, which like in other areas, is out of date and inaccurate. This is especially clear in a blasphemous scene where his friend challenges God to sink his boat. As it turns out, God loses, because every boat is sunk except theirs, and they become millionaires as a result. Christianity is clearly presented as irrelevant for modern life.
4. Self-determinism. The movie starts and ends with a fluttering feather. It's a very religious symbol, as the movie itself explains with several discussions about "destiny". Destiny is partly the random fluttering of fate, and what you make of it yourself. Forrest partly triumphs by his character, but also the whims of fate (eg the success of his shrimping company is pure "chance" after all other boats sink). God's involvement in the world is clearly rejected in favour of self-determinism. This is a strong theme in the movie, and a dangerous one.
5. Trivialization. Key events of American history are presented through Gump's eyes. While it gives insight into a retarded man, at the same time these key events are downplayed and presented as trite and almost laughable. Some of the most important and emotional events of the 20th century are trivialized. This reflects the failure of most Americans to treat life with the seriousness it deserves.

All in all, while this movie had aspects of warm humour, it also showed the spiritual bankruptcy of a modern America that has rejected God and is no longer rooted to moral absolutes. The fact that this was awarded the Best Picture in 1993 and received a bag-load of Academy Awards just proves that it is indeed representative of modern thinking. Interestingly some critics believe that this movie is an attack on liberalism, lambasting promiscuity, atheism, and the entire counter-culture of the 60s. I wish it was, but the very fact of its immense popularity among modern viewers suggests that - sadly - this is not the case. It's a sad reflection of modern American, and its popularity just confirms how accurate this portrait really is.

Hanks is Brilliant
Forrest Gump is a rare movie that succeeded on all levels. It was a box office smash ranking among the top five highest grossing movies of all time. But it was also a critical darling, garnering across the board praise and a truckload of awards. The movie became a cultural phenomenon, spawning cook books, quote books, a top ten soundtrack album and lines like "stupid is as stupid does" and "life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get" have permeated our dialect. The movie has a nostalgic, feel good vibe thanks to the dimwitted Forrest's trek through 60's and 70's touchstone events. Underneath all those warm feelings lies a darkness. Bad things happen to just about everyone Forrest comes in contact with. His best friend Bubba is killed in Vietnam, his other friend Lt. Dan loses both his legs, his mother dies of cancer and his beloved Jenny dies of AIDS. Even the famous people Forrest comes across meet with disaster, President Kennedy & John Lennon are assassinated, George Wallace is shot and Elvis Presley dies young. There are superb performances all around. Sally Field is feisty as Forrest's mama, Mykelti Williamson is funny as Bubba, Gary Sinese as Lt. Dan is a perfect rough edged foil to Forrest and Robin Wright as Jenny portrays the confusion that young people of the times felt perfectly. While all those performances are of high quality, Forrest Gump is Tom Hanks' tour de force. He is utterly brilliant as Forrest. He is in virtually every scene of the movie and never once does he fail to astound. He becomes Forrest and makes you care what happens to him. Mr. Hanks deservedly won his second consecutive Best Actor Oscar for the role and cemented himself as the best actor of his generation and one of the best of all time.

Through The Eyes...
It had been quite some time since I last saw FORREST GUMP, when I sat down recently to watch the film, I had forgotten jist how "feel good" the movie was. It is basically, a first person account, by Gump (Tom Hanks), through several decades of history. Along the way, viewers are treated to life changing events, both public and private, in Forrest's life. Director Robert Zemeckis and his crew used cutting edge (at the time ) F/X to put the title character in the midst of war, meeting Presidents, and other pivitol events. Thanks to the performances of Hanks, Robin Wright-Penn, as Jenny, and Sally Field, as Mrs. Gump, the film stays pretty grounded, despite the technical wizzardry of everything else.

As for the extras on the 2 disc set, I was somewhat disappointed, and here's why. The Group commentary by Zemeckis and others was recorded and pieced together later. Consequently, it was, at times, rather dry, since they were not in the same room for this. The 2nd commentary from producer Wendy Finerman was eaqually dry. Each one offered some interesting gems but it took quite a bit to wade through the other stuff to find them. I was suprised that most of the other features concentratrated so much on the F/X in the film, instead of the more humanistic patrs of the film. Don't get me wrong, I find that stuff more cool than most folks, I just wonder why, for a film like this, the features were still somewhat lacking.

FORREST GUMP is a good drama, that strikes a proper balance, between story and F/X. I just wish that the bonus material were presented the same way. After all, Gump is not supposed to be about that stuff anyway. Still, it has my vote, and is recommended.

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