Forrest Gump (1994)

“Forrest Gump” is widely considered to be one the greatest films ever made, so everything that can be said about it has been said a hundred times already. This is probably the film that I have found the most challenging to review as it has so much depth. There are dozens of themes, characters, events and moments which all interlock and crossover, making this a very arduous movie to unpack.

As everyone who has seen “Forrest Gump” knows, its cast, direction and screenplay are all outstanding!

Tom Hanks absolutely deserved the “Best Actor” Oscar for portraying Forrest; he brings an innocence and likeability to a character that could so easily have become intensely grating. As Forrest begins telling strangers his unbelievable life story, the audience immediately warms to him and is engaged in his story. From the more humorous scenes to the deeply heartfelt moments, Hanks’ performance never falters.

Forrest’s “girl”, Jenny, could have been utterly hateable if written, played or directed by less competent people, due to her poor treatment of Forrest. However, actress Robin Wright and director Robert Zemeckis did a perfect job of making the audience understand why Jenny is so damaged and the motivation behind her less understandable choices.

Speaking of the director, Zemeckis (who also won a well-earned Academy Award for “Forrest Gump”) did a stellar job of balancing Forrest’s flashbacks with his conversations on the now iconic bench (which gave a solid performance.) The pacing is top-notch; the film is “like a box of chocolates, you never know what” is going to happen next! Even if everybody on planet Earth knows that “Back to the Future” is Robert Zemeckis’ masterpiece, “Forrest Gump” is still good enough to be deemed worthy of being a runner-up!

Although “Forrest Gump” has been praised endlessly for its visual effects, some of them have sadly not aged well. Whilst the famous feather and the shots of Forrest’s inclusion into historical footage are astonishing, the dubbing of historic figures speaking are dreadful.

The script is superb, whilst the film can become devastating without warning; there are still plenty of enjoyable moments that prevent “Forrest Gump” from drowning the audience in sorrow and misery. The movie is filled with quotable (and meme worthy) lines of dialogue. Even though I had previously seen hundreds of parodies of the “Run, Forrest! Run!” scene, it was still an effecting and strangely inspiring moment.

“Forrest Gump” is an exceedingly complex film, not because it has shocking plot twist or a convoluted story, but because of its messages and subtexts. After watching the film I spent a long time pondering a very simple, yet mystifying question: “What is “Forrest Gump” really about?”

I understand the plot but I couldn’t work out what the film was trying to say. Is it about love? Does the film revolve around the American Dream? Were the filmmakers trying to educate audiences about Learning Disabilities?

In my opinion, “Forrest Gump” is about how simple innocence can live through a changing political climate and horrific situations. Whereas all of his loved ones are weathered by the sands of time, Forrest remains almost exactly the same. He stays true to himself and still treats those around him with kindness, regardless of how they treat him.

In conclusion, “Forrest Gump” is a heart-warming, heart-breaking and poignant drama that I thoroughly recommend! “And that’s all I have to say about that!”