Forrest Gump

According to Wikipedia, “Forrest Gump” is classified as an epic comedy-drama romance. With that big a description, the movie is either amazing or too convoluted. It is without a doubt the former. Because of the success of “Rain Man”, this movie was delayed in its development and I am thankful for that. When this movie did come out, I was 11 years old. Deep down I knew it was fiction but thanks to Robert Zemeckis’ direction, I was completely sold on the believable story regardless of how fantastic it was. Because the world was real, Forrest became real himself. The special effects, music and acting all worked together to make “Forrest Gump” one of the most amazing movies from the early 90’s and more than worthy of the Oscar for Best Picture. The narration throughout the film is the best that Hollywood as turned out. The film has a lot of themes but even the story structure of the film reflects its main theme.

The movie feels like we are being carried in the breeze from one episode of Forrest’s journey to the next but still, there is structure or destiny if you will. Despite its episodic nature, the film is organized into three acts. The first act is where we are introduced to the characters and environment of the movie. In the first scene with Forrest on the bus bench, two of the themes of the movie are introduced. The first thing we might notice about Forrest is his muddy shoes. A few moments later, he mentions to the uninterested woman how much you can tell about a person because of their shoes. The smart people in the audience would then start to infer things about Forrest because of his shoes. The items in his briefcase are first depicted as inconsequential but in reality, they are additional clues as to who Forrest is and what he has done. Because of the direction of Zemeckis and Tom Hanks’ ability to portray the everyman, we think that Forrest his nothing but a unintelligent man but this creates intense & sincere drama as we come to realize throughout the film that Forrest has done so much & been so many places. He is anything but unintelligent because of his life experiences. One reason why I like Forrest Gump as a character is that he is a moral man living in a society that is becoming immoral. He is much like Curious George because of his naivety. The other theme introduced in the opening scene is that “life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” I think this line is #40 on the American Film Institute’s list of movie quotes because of how cute it is but also how it is reprised when Mama passes away. We become sympathetic to Forrest because of his hard childhood and Jenny’s friendship. Act two of the movie begins when Forrest’s leg braces come off. I love the football games that Forrest is in because of the humor of Forrest crashing through the marching band and out of the stadium. The second game is very funny as the fans are used to Forrest and help him know when to run & then stop. similar to traditional chants at the school games. Also, the stadium starts to celebrate Forrest’s second touchdown in the movie only after he stops running. Scoring the points are easy, getting Forrest to stop is the hard part. About 20 years after I first saw "Forrest Gump", I saw another movie called "Jackie" and it was then I learned how the Kennedy Administration got the nickname "Camelot". Then, it was a happy surprise while rewatching "Forrest Gump" to realize that the President Kennedy scenes were underscored by the musical theme of "Camelot". I love Forrest’s drill sergeant. He is so intimidating but overly vocal about how well Forrest does in the army. Normally, a person like Forrest would have a hard time in the army but it is Forrest’s obedient nature that makes him a perfect fit. I love the ironic moment when the sun comes out and all heck breaks loose in Vietnam. The scene when Bubba dies has an interesting moment when Forrest as the narrator sets up Bubba’s last words by saying: “Then Bubba said something I won’t ever forget.” They end up being so simple that we are left to wonder why Forrest won’t forget them: “I wanna go home.” It is kind of sad when Forrest gets the returned letters he sent to Jenny. In the scene when Forrest first plays ping-pong, the scene starts out as minor but becomes yet another plot point in taking Forrest on yet another adventure. Ping Pong comes natural to Forrest because of how obedient he is in never taking his eye off the ball.

The nighttime talk is finally where Lieutenant Dan expresses himself. He is not really angry with Forrest in my opinion but rather sad with no one to talk to. Despite the fact that Forrest isn’t very smart, he has wise sayings throughout the show such as in this scene when he says, “You’re still Lieutenant Dan” and later when he says, “Sometimes, I guess there just aren’t enough rocks.” Forrest saves Lieutenant Dan’s life once in Vietnam and again later when he gives him a purpose in life. Whenever screenwriter Eric Roth got stuck in adapting the story, the solution would become a memorable part of the movie. There are two examples of this and the first is with Forrest’s Vietnam speech. Roth did not know what to have Forrest say so Zemeckis suggested pulling the plug on him. Forrest runs into Jenny in Washington in the most amazing way. The final shot of that scene is almost perfectly balanced visually and all the cheering people make it such a huge moment of the whole film. As a side note, I wonder why Wesley, Jenny's boyfriend, wasn't played by Cary Elwes. I like the subsequent scene where everyone is watching Forrest play ping-pong and no one is watching the moon landing. I also love the moment in New York where Lieutenant Dan stands up for Forrest about being called stupid. It is quite out of his character. When Forrest goes to help Lieutenant Dan and he says no, it is not in disrespect. That is a dramatic moment for both characters. I find it funny when Forrest talks about meeting Nixon because he is so used to meeting the President. The really funny moment however comes right after at the Watergate. I really love how Forrest is the one who helps Frank Wills catch those breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters. Another reason why I find it very funny is because the scene was filmed at the Watergate hotel and the room that the lawbreakers are in is the actual room that was broken into back in the 70’s. The use of the Star Spangled Banner adds irony to the joke as well. Forrest then sets off to keep his promise to Bubba by buying a shrimp boat. Forrest knows all lot about shrimping thanks to his time with Bubba in the army so he isn’t completely on his own. Once Forrest names his boat “Jenny”, we are fully behind him as an audience. Why does Lieutenant Dan come to Forrest to be his first mate? Yes, he is fulfilling his “promise” to Forrest but I think it is more than that. It is a first step in finding “peace with God.” I love the line “After that, shrimpin’ was easy” because it becomes an understatement. When Forrest asks Jenny to marry him and she says no, Forrest reminds us of what Jenny told him before Vietnam (“You don’t know what love is”) when he says “I may not be a smart man, but I know what love is.” Eric Roth definitely deserved his Oscar not because of the callback itself but how it was inconsequential before where as now it means everything. The second example of Roth having trouble with the script was Forrest’s run across America. He didn’t really know where he was going with the writing, hence lines such as “I figured, since I run this far…” When Forrest starts running in that sequence, the preceding silence and the music cue leaves us no doubt that this is an important moment. We just don’t yet realize how big this moment is. Ironically, Forrest is running for no reason. It is only by retrospect that Forrest understands why he did it. By this point in the film, I was amazed as a kid by all the things Forrest had done and been through in his life. As Forrest ran across America, he became more than a movie character in my eyes. He became a iconic folk hero. The sequence has great costumes and makeup to make Forrest look like he has been everywhere. Then, the running is suddenly over just as randomly as it started. When Forrest finally gets to why he is sitting on the bus bench, we almost can’t imagine the movie without his narration. Funny enough, there was no reason for him to sit on that bus bench in the first place because he could have ran to Jenny’s house. It might be quite stupid story-wise in any other movie but as Mama always said “Stupid is as stupid does.” Thus begins act three.

By this time in the film, it is obvious that Jenny’s life choices have brought her nothing but sadness. I like it when movies portray drugs and sex in a bad light. Jenny invites Forrest to Savannah because she is going to die and little Forrest will need a parent. Hanks’ acting when Forrest finds out he has a son is perfect. It is so wonderful when Lieutenant Dan arrives at Forrest’s wedding. He is walking and has his fiancée with him. I like how Lieutenant Dan's new legs are made out of what they use on the space shuttle because it recalls the sarcastic remark that the day Forrest becomes a shrimp boat captain is the day that Lieutenant Dan becomes an astronaut. Lieutenant Dan has become a great friend to Forrest. I love the scene where Jenny is in bed and Forrest has some retrospective moments. I find it pretty bold to show Jenny’s old house being bulldozed down in the middle of a sad scene. The framing of the shot makes it very funny and it feels weird to laugh while crying. However, this is a comedy drama after all. Because of Forrest’s final monologue, we understand the symbolism of the feather. I personally believe much of what Forrest says about life. We have a destiny but we still have our agency. Sometimes it may seem like we are blowing in the wind but in reality, we are in the hands of a Greater Authority. As mentioned, the structure of the movie reflects this theme in that it is episodic and at the same time organized.

Everyone behind this movie made it special and unique. Having just won an Oscar for “Philadelphia”, the public knew that Tom Hanks could act dramatically. “Forrest Gump” proved just how much talent he had. Not only does Forrest make you laugh and cry but he is an everyman in many ways despite all he goes through. This movie showed that Tom Hanks was Hollywood’s ultimate everyman. One line I love of his in this movie is “You know what I think. I think you should go home to Greenbow, Alabama!” This was my first Tom Hanks movie and it is still my favorite live action film of his. It was not until a year after the release of the film that I found out that Hanks’ accent on “Forrest Gump” wasn’t his real one. This movie also introduced me to Robin Wright and Gary Sinise. I had seen other Sally Field movies before this but her performance was so good that I didn't even recognize her first time around. It is fitting that Michael Conner Humphreys, who played the young Forrest, served in Iraq. This was also my first time seeing future Oscar-nominee Haley Joel Osmond, just like the rest of the world. As mentioned, director Robert Zemeckis created a level of accuracy and believability using special effects & period songs, which made “Forrest Gump”, come to life like no other movie. “Back to the Future” was the farthest thing from my mind while I saw this movie for the first time and that is a compliment. By the time “Cast Away” came out, I began to notice two common characteristics of Zemeckis’ film. The first are long shots and he really went to town with these in the motion capture films he later made. The second characteristic is seamless and/or groundbreaking special effects. In many of Zemeckis' movies like “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” and “Back to the Future Part II”, the special effects are astounding to behold. In other films such as “Back to the Future Part III” and the aforementioned “Cast Away”, the special effects are so good that you might not notice them. “Forrest Gump” has both of these qualities in the special effects. When meeting the presidents or celebrities, different tricks are used. That way, you can’t tell exactly how they did things and thus the special effects are really good. Sometimes Hanks is put digitally into old footage and other times, only John Lennon is put into the scene. Another great achievement is the digital removal of Lieutenant Dan’s legs. Many people thought that he really did lose his legs. Being 11 years old, I just thought that his legs were bent and tucked inside his pants. Either that, or I didn’t even think about it. The Academy not only awarded “Forrest Gump” Best Picture & Best Adapted Screenplay but Best Visual Effects, Best Editing and Tom Hanks won Best Actor for the second year in a row. I wish Gary Sinise had won Best Supporting Actor. AFI has this movie on more lists than the one already mentioned. It is #37 on the list of the most inspirational movies and #76 on the list of the top 100 movies of all time.

“Forrest Gump” was my introduction to historical events such as Vietnam, Watergate and the Kennedy assassination. The movie now has quite a legacy in that one year after the release of the film, Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurants came into being. Fifty years from now, I am betting people will think the restaurant came first because of all the other origin stories we see in “Forrest Gump”. At Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina, a part of the road is named “Forrest Gump Curve”. From the director to the visual effects people who altered the mouth of John F. Kennedy, this movie was created by some of talented artists. Eric Roth did very well in this movie but it is a shame that he can’t seem to step away from these kinds of movies. I would like him to adapt something more unique these days. Repeating lines from the narration was a really nice touch however in this movie. “Forrest Gump” has some of the greatest narration that has come out of Hollywood. There are some bad parts in this film such as the scene in Jenny’s dorm room and it is unfortunate that they are in the movie. As a kid, the realism of the film did its job. I could almost believe that Forrest Gump was a real person. As an adult, the themes of this movie are very powerful because of how they are portrayed. It is always entertaining to view this movie “and that’s all I have to say about that.”

5 Stars out of 5