Reviews of Forrest Gump
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tuyabid
21Jun12
“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. Lt. 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. Lt. 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 story is beautiful and will inspire everyone to go the distance and see the world like Forrest did and will never give up on their dreams.
- Currently 5.0/5 Stars.
Roscoe
19Aug09
The movie is a cheap easy dodge, a piece of feel-good easy self-congratulation that panders to its audience. FORREST GUMP’s rewriting of history is be nauseating and dishonest and disrespectful, and the sentimentality is absolutely revolting.
There’s something dishonest about the movie, best shown during the scene at the Vietnam rally. Forrest stands up at the Vietnam rally to deliver his “thoughts” on Vietnam. Of course, the sound system is sabotaged and we never hear what he says, but the film goes out of its way to have Abbie Hoffman embrace Forrest and say something like “Great man, you’ve said it all better than I could.”
Getting the implied endorsement of Abbie Hoffman without giving me Forrest’s thoughts about Vietnam is a deliberate and over-elaborate dodge away from having to come up with a real position. Think about it. Since FORREST GUMP is narrated by Forrest, why does the sabotage of the sound system matter? Why didn’t they just let us, the audience, hear what Forrest has to say?
God knows the movie goes out of its way to show us other things that Forrest doesn’t participate in, like Jenny’s suicide attempt. Why does it dodge Forrest’s thoughts on Vietnam, the very ideas that earn him an embrace from Abbie Hoffman?
I stand by what I wrote, I really hated FORREST GUMP and the whole Zemeckis thing of re-assigning historic acts to his heroes gets a bit irritating, like having Chuck Berry get the idea for JOHNNY B. GOODE by listening to Michael J. Fox. Ha ha ha.
I can appreciate a lot of the acting in GUMP. There’s part of me that always grins when Hanks says, “My name’s Forrest Gump. Folks call me Forrest Gump.” And Gary Sinise is remarkable as Capt. Dan. Their considerable talents almost manage to make the film watchable.
- Currently 2.0/5 Stars.