Forrest Gump [1994]
A retro reveiw by: Richard Matich Somewhere out there is someone almost like Forrest Gump. They have a limited Iq. Thats about as close to being like Tom Hank's charecter as they are probably ever going to get. Most people of that mental age are in a "home" out in chicken coop country. Or perhaps they attend "classes" in the city where they watch Barney tapes, stare at the walls, or paint bad watercolor. When they are not busy with those "fun" activities, they are being cleaned because they wet themselves. Forrest Gump is a uniquely American screen figure. Money seems to be at the very heart of the story. The morel to this tale is that you will live in happiness and all problems are soon to fade as long as you are rich and tremendously famous. What a naive and twisted vision! My theory on why this film has been so widely populer is well [don't laugh] simple. Americans have an extreme guilt for the way they treat the "mentaly challenged". This film makes the average Joe sixpack feel better about himself and the American way of life all at the same time. He does not even have to think all that much about plot since the music that fills the movie gives a music video feeling. Take out the music and you have one dull film that would not "inspire" half as much as has been claimed by some reviewers. I do not totaly hate the movie. The end was done to great effect. It does tug at the heart strings, even though it takes the mind for granted. It is intresting as a look back at the times from the 1950s to the 1980s. But, I must stress, its no substatute for a great documentary on the era. Hearts And Minds, Woodstock, and others are out there for you to see. Hank's performance as Gump was exicuted in great ways. I liked the accent that he learned from the boy who plays Forrest as a youth. The score, by Alan Silvestri, was one of the few treats of the film. I bought the soundtrack on cd for that reason alone. If you like the film, more power to you. I just think it is overly simplistic to believe that this retard ends up winning the beutiful blond, meeting several Presidents and celebraties, and becomes a war hero. Want to explain how any University "gives" a degree to somebody of Forrest's low Iq? Want to explain how he graduated from High School [or even passed any classes]? I dod'nt think you can even begin to defend the "in your face" problems with the script. If you want to see a movie about a person of the Gump vein, I must recommend the Hal Ashby and Peter Sellers collaberation Being There [1979]. "Thats all I have to say about that!"-Forrest Gump.
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