Forrest Gump
Itās amazing how sometimes a movie can mean different things at different times in a personās life, that from being a cynical representation of success in this world and in this country, to being an uplifting, life affirming paeon of how being true to yourself and what you believe in can change your fortunes and the lives of others and maybe back again. And this film which came out in 1994, a seminal year of American cinema that also saw the releases of Pulp Fiction and Shawshank Redemption among others, had by far the biggest heart out of all of them, if not for all time. Tom Hanks as the star had already nabbed a Best Actor win for an obvious Oscar bait performance the year before, and then picked up a second straight one that this time was actually deserved, one where the former comedy star had so completely immersed himself in his character that we would literally forget that we were watching the wiseacre 80s comedy star of Splash and Bachelor Party or the purveyor of serious dramas such as Saving Private Ryan and Road To Perdition with the beautiful thing being nonetheless given the nature of this character, Hanks was able to utilize both his comedic and dramatic skills in the part to make us both laugh and cry, to both love and yet still ponder the strange nature of this man whom weāre watching, and thus create one of the most indelible lead characters of all time in a film where Robert Zemeckis (after a decade of audience pleasing comedy classics) just managed to direct the shit out of this whole thing and scored his first ever Best Director Oscar, cementing his rep as a major player in Hollywood akin to Spielberg before going downhill ever since with badly done tripe like Contact and animated trifles like Polar Express. But this film almost plays at times like one that was commissioned by Almighty God Himself (Christian values are often espoused throughout) with so many shots and scenes of such absolute sheer beauty through either the acting, writing, or cinematography that it sometimes seems like a near record for inspiring, uplifting moments all in one movie, but at the end of the day all the talk must go back to that lead character played by Hanks: Forrest Gump is (putting it gently) a mildly retarded man raised by his mother (Sally Field) to believe that nothing is impossible for him in this world, so even though he is not at all capable of coherent or abstract thought, he manages to use what he does have to make the best of things in his life, which turns out to be far better and more exciting than any ten real peopleās lives, all while practicing his simple yet gentle values which includes politeness, not questioning authority, and completely trusting those whom he calls friends. Of course this does lead to others taking advantage of him upon seeing that he is basically just a sweet natured idiot, but the biggest issue that some people take up is the fact that Gump achieves fame and fortune in his life by more or less ALWAYS doing what heās told to do by others, but maybe the true genius of the character is that heās actually smart enough to know never to think for himself and to be totally secure and comfortable in his own skin for who he is. And itās that almost total lack of ego on Gumpās part that makes him endearing to some and an object of contempt and scorn for others, almost understandable since the character at face value resembles no known human being to have ever existed in this day and age (which is why the script and Hanks bringing him so believably to life is a feat of great awe), made even more prevalent by an almost complete lack of sex drive or interest of any kind in the opposite sex except for that one special girl since childhood, that being Jenny as played by Robin Wright, to the casual observer a victim of sexual abuse as a child at her fatherās hands, who used that as an excuse upon adulthood to utterly destroy herself through promiscuity and drug use (including heroin) along with running away from Forrestās loving arms every chance she gets until the spectre of death draws near as payback for her sordid lifestyle, leading to the two of them getting married. But again, this reflects the sheer inner beauty of Gump himself, showing absolute, unbreakable, unconditional love for this virtual fuck up of a human being, always letting her know that heās there for her no matter what goes on in her life away from him, and always showing her just how loved she is by him whenever she lets down her emotional insecurities long enough to accept it, as sympathetic or reprehensible just as many seem to find her. As Gump goes through life in this world and experiences the glory of college football and the horrors of Vietnam, finds success in the fields of ping pong, shrimping, and ultimately through a blind stroke of freak luck is an early investor in Apple Computers and manages to become insanely rich, he also meets and encounters three U.S. Presidents along with a young Elvis Presley, George Wallace, and even John Lennon, with almost all of these scenes being done with amazing technology that still holds up even today showing Hanks interacting amongst actual footage of these famous people and further driving home the idea that Gumpās essential goodness of heart helped propel him to the most incredible of situations in life, but the real highlight of the film is seeing the effect that he has on other people who encounter and deal with him (besides Jenny), starting with Mykelti Williamson as Bubba Blue, a similiarly mildly retarded black soldier who serves in Nam with Forrest and who is absolutely obsessed with the idea of shrimp and running a shrimping company as he and Forrest become best of friends all while he puts the idea of shrimping as a possible trade into his head before a major ambush in the jungle (for which Forrest saves several lives and wins the Congressional Medal Of Honor) nonetheless leaves Bubba dead and inspires an emotional Forrest to honor him by naming the shrimping company after him and also seeing to it that Bubbaās family are all very well taken care of after hitting it big. Indeed, the intimations of unending charity work and philanthropy on Forrestās part given his ideas of only needing so much money of his own while helping out everyone else that he can is perhaps the strongest Christian message of the film and one that is usually overlooked. However, the biggest challenge to Forrestās purity is in his relationship with his commanding officer in Vietnam who loses his legs in combat and comes home a bitter shell of a human being: Lieutenant Dan Taylor as played by Gary Sinise in a performance that by itself is nothing short of a revelation, one so amazingly profound that if Sinise had never had another role for the rest of his career and / or Gump himself had been played by Shecky Greene it would STILL put Sinise proudly in any acting Hall Of Fame for playing this wounded, angry vet using astounding computer FX which successfully depict him as having no legs, with Sinise completing the effect with his own superb physical acting, and the camaraderie between him and Hanks is so eerily convincing one would believe that they were real friends. The main issue at hand here is Danās complete lack of faith in anything resembling God whatsoever due to his plight (plus he had failed to fulfill a family tradition of dying in combat), even as he is amazed at Gumpās own complete lack of humility in both allowing Dan to boss him around (still calling him āsirā) and also sticking by him as a loyal friend, not judging him in any way at all (something Forrest is good at due to his own lack of mental prowess). And when Forrest gets into the shrimping game as a tribute to Bubba, it is Dan who decides that he has nothing to lose and joins Gump as his first mate, leading to a literal āshowdown with Godā and Dan finally making his peace. A Supporting Actor Oscar should have been mandatory, but sadly Sinise ran up that year against Sam Jackson in Pulp Fiction (not exactly a lightweight turn either) and the two managed to split the vote so severely that a slightly inferior performance (Martin Landau in Ed Wood) was able to walk off with it. All this and more contribute to this fabulous narrative, a literal walking tour through four decades that just about culminates with Forrest, confused and emotionally wrecked from his experiences with Jenny, just getting up and running from one side of the country to the other for no other reason than to get a huge amount of emotional baggage off his back (though others mistake it for a more noble purpose) all the while emphasizing how for all of his accomplishments, Gump still remains a mostly anonymous figure not usually recognized in the streets while living a lifetime rich with experiences and adventures (as in the park bench scenes throughout the film where he talks to various strangers). And with Hanks and Siniseās acting, Zemeckisā crackerjack directing, the evocative cinematography, and the comprehensive soundtrack featuring many rock classics (including 6 Doors songs!), this still stands as one of the greatest cinema achievements of the 20th century that in the 21st still hasnāt really been toppedā¦
10/10