Forrest Gump [M]

At a bus stop sits Forrest Gump, a simple-minded man waiting for a bus. As various people sit next to him waiting for their buses, he fills the time by making small talk and regaling them with stories from his life. Whilst some don’t believe that he fought in the Vietnam War, is a millionaire, met John Lennon, and impressed President Nixon, the truth of Forrest’s stories remains to be seen. But it’s not about the stories, or even how well he tells them; it’s about the lessons of life that each one entails. 

I’ve seen this movie once before when I was younger and I remember really not liking it. Not. One. Bit. I chalked it down to being too young and ignorant to grasp the film’s true meaning and brilliance after all, this is a movie that everyone knows and it’s one that I think is universally recognised as a piece of cinematic artwork you must see before you die. But watching it now as an adult, I still can’t stand it. To me, the experience of watching Forrest Gump is like wading through a swamp of syrup: there are worse things to have to wade through, but it’s still going to be tough! Iconic for the lines “run, Forrest, run” and “life is like a box of chocolates”, Robert Zemeckis’ film about the innocent, simple-minded everyman just doesn’t work for me, but this is not to say that it’s a bad film (it did win 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture after all). 

At a bus stop sits Forrest Gump, a simple-minded man waiting for a bus. As various people sit next to him waiting for their buses, he fills the time by making small talk and regaling them with stories from his life. Whilst some don’t believe that he fought in the Vietnam War, is a millionaire, met John Lennon, and impressed President Nixon, the truth of Forrest’s stories remains to be seen. But it’s not about the stories, or even how well he tells them; it’s about the lessons of life that each one entails. 

I think my major beef with this film, the reason why I can’t seem to bring myself to enjoy it, is the fact that it’s obvious! Obviousness works for a number of genres, but for a drama like this, which is dealing with a lot of different emotional themes such as unreciprocated awkward love, alienation, hope, and happy endings, it just hits a level of sugar-coating that ruins it for me. There are numerous motifs and other poetic devices used in this movie and the blatant obviousness of them just turns me off. The film begins and ends with the same feather floating blissfully in the breeze against the soundtrack of a melodious Alan Silvestri theme that sounds like something out of a family comedy. Need I say more? 

To give credit where credit is due though, there is a rather nice level of comedy that creeps into the writing. Most of the historic events that Forrest Gump seems to be somehow connected to are mentioned in passing with such nonchalance that it makes the whole thing quite funny; case in point Forrest’s phone call to maintenance which unwittingly leads to the public reveal of the Watergate scandal. The most important historical events in 20^th century American history are depicted through the eyes of Forrest, which makes the film something else and the clever technological wizardry of placing Tom Hanks in vintage footage with Kennedy is possibly another reason why this movie is so iconic. The entire film does have this certain naivety and innocence about it and the way that it’s written and shot does make it seem as though we are seeing the world through Forrest’s eyes. Even the scenes set against the horror of the Vietnam War are sugar coated somewhat! 

I suppose I do have to mention Tom Hank’s performance here too. With his slow and broad southern accent that still managed eloquent articulation, Tom manages to be annoying but sweet at the same time, like a puppy that won’t stop pining. He did really well and I suppose he deserved the Academy Award for Best Actor (I don’t know what the competition was to be fair). 

Starring Robin Wright Penn (keep an ear out for her Princess Bride allusion), Gary Sinise, Mykelti, Williamson, Rebecca Williams, Michael Conner Humphreys, Harold G. Herthum, John Randall, George Kelly, Bob Penny, San Anderson, Margo Moorer, Ione M. Telech, Christine Seabrook, and Sally Field, Forrest Gump is an obviously poetic movie that more than once put me in mind of Being There. Filled with action, drama, romance, and comedy. Many people in the world love this movie and sing its praise so don’t let my opinion of it deter you. At the end of the day, I have to say it’s not a bad movie it’s just too obvious and sugary for my taste.