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Tom Hanks plays the title character who is sitting on a bench, waiting for the number 9 bus. He’s relaying his life story to the people also waiting for a bus. His story goes like this:
As a young boy in a fatherless household, Forrest never got out much. He had to wear leg braces and only found one friend-Jenny. “They’s was like peas and carrots.” But, they have to go their separate ways, but always wind up meeting each other again. Forrest goes to the Vietnam War, is a ping-pong champion, and is a fishing boat captain while Jenny becomes a hippie scrounging for cash, etc. The life story is fascinating.
I’ve always like narration, but sometimes heavy narration can become tedious. In some cases, the overwhelming use of narration reminded me of Fight Club, even though the two films couldn’t be more different. During the end of the film, when Forrest gets to where he was going, the narration, obviously, wasn’t there (since Forrest wasn’t explaining it to anyone). I missed it. I thought that the narration was the best part of the film.
The authenticity of the historic events that Forrest got himself into was genuine. Not being alive for those parts, I couldn’t really relate to them, but I could relate to Forrest. He had a certain charm to him that made you root for him as soon as he put the feather in Curious George. Jenny was also crafted so you could like her and feel sorry for her during her times of despair.
Sally Field plays Forrest’s mother, Mrs. Gump, who just is a book of wisdom. With pithy quotes such as “Stupid is as stupid does” and “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get”, it’s no wonder why Forrest is able to get to all of the historical time periods.
Hanks was superb as Gump. His southern drawl seemed authentic and his naïve character, he was able to bring out 100%, without me thinking for a moment that this was someone other than Forrest Gump himself. I thought that Robin Wright, who plays Jenny, was also exceptional and brought out all that was needed for her complex character. Field had a small role but also brought out her best and made me believe that she was Mrs. Gump, not Sally Field.
Gary Sinise plays Lieutenant Dan, Forrest’s lieutenant from Vietnam. He lost both of his legs, but soon meets Forrest again and go on “crazy schmes”, so to speak. His loss of legs was made by wrapping a blue thing around his lower legs, which allowed them to be digitally removed.
Forrest Gump is a touching, moving, gripping, and sometimes funny journey through the eyes of someone with an I.Q. of 75. You’ll never be the same when you view the world through the eyes of Forrest Gump.
Rated PG-13 for strong language, sensuality, war violence, and drug content.
Review Date: January 4, 2002