FORREST GUMP
A film review by Derek Miner
Copyright 1994 Derek Miner
As a fan of director Robert Zemeckis, I have eagerly anticipated his next directorial effort since DEATH BECOMES HER two years ago. FORREST GUMP lives up to my expectations and surpasses them also. The film tells a genuine and moving story about an amazing character.
FORREST GUMP is the remarkable story of a man (Tom Hanks) who, despite an IQ somewhere in the area of 70, always seems to achieve great success. Forrest's amazing achievements are played out as a humorous gimmick, but they are also part of his involving life story.
The story, as told by Forrest himself, opens in his childhood. Forrest not only is stigmatized by his low intelligence, but he also must wear leg braces because of a crooked back. His caring mother (Sally Field) tries to teach him that despite his problems, he is no different than everyone else. Forrest is befriended by a young girl named Jenny (Robin Wright) who is abused by her father.
A sequence of events thrusts Forrest into the spotlight. Literally shattering his leg braces, Forrest finds that he is an amazing runner, which takes him through college as a football player. Soon after, he enlists in the military, and is sent to Veitnam. In Veitnam, he meets a young black man named Bubba (Mykleti Williamson), whose goal in life is to be a shrimp boat captain. He also meets Captain Dan (Gary Sinise), who eventually becomes legless through a war injury.
The three characters of Jenny, Bubba, and Captain Dan figure the most in Forrest's life direction. But throughout everything, the inborn desire to do right and his love for Jenny are Forrest's motivation. Beyond Veitnam, there's more to Forrest's adventures, but to reveal more would ruin the experience of watching the event's of his life unfold in front of your eyes. To experience such an emotional and involving story is special.
At the heart of FORREST GUMP are a lot of strong performances. Tom Hanks plays Forrest as a friendly sort who you can appreciate, rather than pity, for his innocence because it makes him more of a good person than others with full mental capability. Gary Sinise provides some emotional shift in the film as Captain Dan, who comes out of Vietnam bitter for having lost his limbs rather than his life. Mykleti Williamson's short but important role as Bubba, who is similar to Forrest, is perfect in its simplicity. One can see how Bubba and Forrest latch on to one another, influencing Forrest's direction in life.
At first, FORREST GUMP doesn't appear to be the type of film director Zemeckis (of BACK TO THE FUTURE fame) would tackle, but on close inspection, it remains consistent with his previous work. In almost all his films, Zemeckis recreated a period of time, from February 1964 in I WANNA HOLD YOUR HAND, his first film, to 1955 in BACK TO THE FUTURE and even the late 70s in DEATH BECOMES HER. In FORREST GUMP, an entire lifetime is covered, from the early 50s to the early 80s. In between, the character of Forrest is convincingly interwoven into old news and television footage.
It also seems that Zemeckis had an urge to "grow up," so to speak, like colleague Steven Spielberg did with SCHINDLER'S LIST. The humor and pathos in Forrest's life are well-balanced and create a story that the audience can sympathize and identify with. Unlike Zemeckis' previous work in broader comedy, FORREST GUMP tells an intimate story on an epic scale. Also contrary to previous Zemeckis spectacles, special effects are used subtly, most notably to make Gary Sinise appear legless.
FORREST GUMP is not a perfect film nor is it one-of-a-kind. But it is near perfect and not easily equaled. It is instead special, accomplishing an emotional link that many films try, and fail, to attain. FORREST GUMP is a film that entertains yet makes us think, not by forcing the audience to keep up, but by letting us see the world we know through someone else's eyes, the eyes of Forrest Gump.
- Derek Miner (ind00163@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu)
.
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews