Forrest Gump - 4 Stars (Excellent)

“Forrest Gump” Teaches Many Lessons, 

and Tom Hanks Earns Best Actor Oscar

Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley

"Forrest Gump" begins with a feather being lifted through the air by a breeze that brings it to the feet of Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks), who is sitting at a bus stop in Savannah (GA). Gump picks it up and puts it in a "Curious George" children's book. He then begins to tell the story of his life to the first of several people who are waiting with him for the next bus.

Some of the people are great listeners and others are not, but make no mistake about it, Gump is a master storyteller. He is simple, unpretentious, honest, not bright and full of integrity. For such a humble person, his story is almost unbelievable.

Forrest wears braces on his legs to walk in childhood, eludes the bullies who taunt him, makes friends with Jenny (Robin Wright Penn) who he will pursue his entire life, meets Elvis Presley, meets three Presidents—John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, and receives the Congressional Medal of Honor for service in Vietnam, where he saves Lieutenant Dan (Gary Sinise) and loses his friend, Private "Bubba" (Mykelti Williamson).

At an anti-war rally in Washington, DC he briefly reunites with Jenny, whose life is a mess after searching for fame and pursuing a hippie lifestyle. Forrest starts a table tennis craze and becomes a nationally-known ping-pong whiz, using the money he earns to start a very successful shrimp boat business with Lt. Dan, who invests their money in Apple stock and both become wealthy in the process.

He then inspires people to jog, helps an entrepreneur create the smiley face stickers, and faces the loss of his mother (Sally Field), who tells him he must work out his own destiny. Through it all, Jenny and love eludes him. Forrest lived in turbulent times.

If you are dizzy just imagining all of this, so was I. After seeing Forrest Gump the first time I was appreciative of the film's merit, but overwhelmed by how one person could accomplish so much and be around so many famous people. After watching Forrest Gump 3 more times, I got over it and now only sing its praises.

Eventually Jenny sees Forrest running on television and writes him a letter to come see her. When he does, he discovers that Jenny has a son and is very sick. She asks Forrest to marry her, and soon after he does, she dies. He learns that he is the father of her child, and commits to raising him. When young Forrest gets on the bus for his first day of school, the white feather falls from the Curious George book he is carrying, is caught in the breeze and drifts skyward.

If you are wondering about the feather, it was real, but its performance in the movie was computer-based. The feather is important because it raises the question of whether we are all floating around accidental-like on a breeze, or if we each actually have a destiny. Forrest surmises that perhaps it is both.

Everything that happens to Forrest Gump is worth seeing, and much of what happens teaches us important lessons in life. This is a love story, a story of relationships and the story of one person in a very big world that is sometimes almost impossible to understand. All that is good and much that is bad is covered in the film.

To appreciate where Forrest Gump is coming from, learn from these memorable lines in the film:

1) Lieutenant Daniel Taylor: "Have you found Jesus yet, Gump?" Forrest Gump: "I didn't know I was supposed to be looking for him, sir."

2) Forrrest Gump: (describing Vietnam) "We was always taking long walks, and we was always looking for a guy named Charlie."

3) Jenny Curran: "Have you ever been with a girl, Forrest?" Forrest Gump: (nervously) "I sit next to them in my Home Economics class . . ."

4) Jenny Curran: "His name's Forrest." Forrest Gump: "Like me." Jenny Curran: "I named him after his daddy." Forrest Gump: "He got a daddy named Forrest, too?" Jenny Curran: "You're his daddy, Forrest."

5) Jenny Curran: "Do you ever dream, Forrest, about who you're gonna be?" Forrest Gump: "Who I'm gonna be?" Jenny Curran: "Yeah." Forrest Gump: "Aren't—aren't I going to be me?"

6) Forrest Gump: "I'm not a smart man . . . but I know what love is."

7) Forrest Gump: "Mama always said life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." This line was voted 40th among the Top 100 Movie Quotes by the American Film Institute. In 2007, The AFI rated Forrest Gump as the 76th Greatest Movie of All Time.

8) Forrest Gump: "Stupid is as stupid does."

Tom Hanks patterned his accent after young Forrest (Michael Conner Humphreys, who actually talked that way).

Forrest Gump was an immensely successful film, with a production cost of $55 million and a worldwide gross of $677+ million. After its release in 1994, it became the fastest grossing Paramount film to reach the $100 million, $150 million and $200 million marks, and passed $250 million in 66 days.

Even more important, Forrest Gump won 6 Oscars at the Academy Awards—for Best Picture, Tom Hanks for Best Actor, Robert Zemeckis for Best Director, Eric Roth for Best Screenplay based on Winston Groom's novel, Arthur Schmidt for Best Film Editing, and Ken Ralston, George Murphy, Stephen Rosenbaum and Allen Hall for Best Visual Effects.

Forrest Gump also picked up another 7 Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor (Gary Sinise), Best Original Musical Score (Alan Silvestri), Best Set Decoration, Best Cinematography (Don Burgess), Best Makeup, Best Sound, and Best Sound Effects Editing.

Among its other 32 wins and 38 nominations were 7 Golden Globe nominations and wins for Best Actor, Best Director and Best Picture.

As is true with just about any other award-winning production, many famous professionals passed on the opportunity to be part of the success. Terry Gilliam and Barry Sonnenfeld were offered the chance to direct the film. Bill Murray was considered for the role of Forrest, Chevy Chase turned down the role of Forrest, and three others turned down the role of Bubba—David Alan Grier, Dave Chappelle and Ice Cube.

Tom Hanks said that he would make the film only if all the events that took place were historically accurate. For example, when Gump calls to report the Watergate burglary, the security guard on duty answers the phone by saying, "Security, Frank Willis." Willis was the actual guard on duty that night who discovered the break-in that led to Richard Nixon's resignation from the Presidency.

Tom Hanks is one incredible, bankable actor. While Forrest Gump grossed $677 million and is far and away his biggest box office success, he has been involved in 19 other films grossing $100+ million, and he ranks 3rd among all actors appearing in films with $3.3 billion generated.

Forrest Gump was directed by Robert Zemeckis, with the screenplay written by Eric Roth based on Winston Groom's novel. I really liked Forrest Gump and I think you will too. If you have seen it before, revisit it again and relive the magic moments of hope, courage, patience, love, understanding and compassion—all of which give special meaning to our life.


Plot (source Wikipedia):
Forrest Gump, who is sitting at a bus stop in Savannah, Georgia, tells the story of his life to a woman seated next to him. The listeners at the bus stop change regularly throughout his narration, each showing a different attitude ranging from disbelief and indifference to fascination and enthrallment.

On his first day of school, Forrest meets a girl named Jenny Curran, with whom he forms a strong friendship. Forrest and Jenny spend all their time together, and Jenny defends Forrest from school bullies. Despite his below-average intelligence quotient (IQ), Forrest's ability to run gets him a football scholarship at the University of Alabama, where he plays under the legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. After his college graduation, he enlists in the army, where he makes friends with a man named Bubba, who talks of nothing but his family shrimping business, and convinces Forrest to go into the business with him when the war is over, splitting the profits 50-50. They are sent to Vietnam and are both assigned to the 9th Infantry Division. During an ambush, Bubba is killed in action. Forrest ends up saving much of his platoon, including his platoon leader, Second Lieutenant Dan Taylor (known throughout the film as Lieutenant Dan), who loses both his legs as a result of injuries. Forrest repeatedly returns to the front line to retrieve several of his platoon members and carry them to safety one by one, actions which earn him a Medal of Honor for his heroism. While he is rewarded for his actions however Forrest is resented by Lieutenant Dan, who felt his destiny was to die gloriously in action, not to live on as a cripple. Forrest tells him of his plans to one day be a shrimping captain, and Lieutenant Dan responds with sarcasm, saying that if Forrest ever found himself captain, he would be his first mate.

While Forrest is in recovery for a shot to his buttocks, he discovers his uncanny ability for ping-pong, eventually gaining popularity and rising to celebrity status, and later playing ping-pong competitively against Chinese teams in ping pong diplomacy. He is subsequently promoted to sergeant. At an anti-war rally in Washington, D.C., Sergeant Gump is reunited with Jenny, who has been living a hippie counterculture lifestyle. Forrest witnesses Jenny being slapped across the face by her boyfriend and responds by attacking him, but Jenny convinces Forrest to leave him alone. They walk together all night talking before Jenny leaves on a bus in the morning. Jenny is later shown to be addicted to heroin and cocaine, while Forrest meets John Lennon on a talk show.

Returning home, Forrest is encouraged by his mother to endorse a company which makes ping-pong paddles, earning himself $25,000. Thinking of his promise to Bubba, he uses the money to buy a shrimping boat, which he names after Jenny. Lieutenant Dan, who is warming to Forrest joins him as his first mate, keeping his promises and although they initially have little success, Hurricane Carmen leaves theirs the only shrimping boat in operation, yielding immense catches. They use their income to buy an entire fleet of shrimp boats. Dan invests the money in Apple Computer and Forrest is left financially secure for the rest of his life, also donating half of the money to Bubba's family. After hearing that his mother is seriously ill he returns home to spend her remaining time with her.

One day, Jenny returns to visit Forrest and live with him in his family home, which he now owns. After they have lived together for some time he asks her to marry him. She declines, although later joins him in his room and spends the night with him, leaving the next morning before he wakes. Despondent at the fact that Jenny has left him yet again, Forrest elects to go for a run. He decides to keep running, eventually crossing the country several times over the course of three and a half years, becoming famous and accumulating a large following in the process.

In present-day, Forrest reveals that he is waiting at the bus stop because he received a letter from Jenny who, having seen him run on television, asks him to visit her. Once he is reunited with Jenny, she introduces him to his son, also named Forrest. Jenny tells Forrest she is suffering from a virus (likely HIV, though this is never definitively stated).[2][3][4] Together the three move back to Greenbow, Alabama. Jenny and Forrest finally marry but she dies soon afterwards. The film ends with father and son waiting for the school bus on little Forrest's first day of school.

Cast (source Wikipedia):
- Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump: though at an early age a doctor determines Forrest possesses an IQ of 75, he encounters many historical figures and events throughout his life. John Travolta was the original choice to play the title role, and admits passing on the role was a mistake.[5] Bill Murray was also considered for the role.[6] Hanks revealed that he signed onto the film after an hour and a half of reading the script.[7] He initially wanted to ease Gump's pronounced Southern accent, but was eventually persuaded by director Bob Zemeckis to portray the heavy accent stressed in the novel.[7] Michael Conner Humphreys portrayed the young Forrest Gump.
- Robin Wright Penn (credited as Robin Wright) as Jenny Curran: Gump's childhood friend who enters his life at various times in adulthood. Zemeckis reflected on Penn's portrayal of the role, "Robin exudes a kind of strength and, at the same time, a vulnerability. She doesn't bring any of her stardom to the role. You don't look at her on-screen and think that this is Robin Wright's interpretation of the character. She's a real chameleon."[8] Hanna R. Hall portrayed the young Jenny Curran.
- Gary Sinise as Dan Taylor: Gump's platoon leader during the Vietnam War. Although Gump saves his life in battle, his legs are amputated because of a severe injury, and he blames Forrest for robbing him of his destiny, as one of his direct ancestors had died in every previous American war, whereas he survived this war. After several years of depression, he later thanks Forrest and joins him in running the shrimping business.
- Mykelti Williamson as Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue: Gump's friend whom he meets upon joining the Army. Throughout filming, Williamson wore a lip attachment to create Bubba's protruding lip.[9] David Alan Grier, Ice Cube, and Dave Chappelle were all offered the role before turning it down.[6][10] Chappelle claimed he believed the film would be unsuccessful and has also admitted that he regrets not taking the role.[6]
- Sally Field as Mrs. Gump: Gump's mother who raises him after his father abandons them. Field reflected on the character, "She's a woman who loves her son unconditionally. ... A lot of her dialogue sounds like slogans, and that's just what she intends."[11]
- Haley Joel Osment as Forrest Gump, Jr.: Gump's and Curran's son. Osment was cast in the film after the casting director noticed him in a Pizza Hut commercial.[12]
- Peter Dobson as Elvis Presley: a house guest Gump encounters. Although Kurt Russell was uncredited, he provided the voiceover for Elvis Presley in the scene where Presley met Gump.[13]
- Dick Cavett as himself. Cavett played the 1970s version of himself, with make-up applied to make him appear younger. Consequently, Cavett is the only well-known figure in the film to play a cameo rather than be represented through the use of archival footage.[14]
- Sam Anderson as Principal Hancock: Gump's elementary school principal.
- Richard D'Alessandro as Abbie Hoffman
- Geoffrey Blake as Wesley
- Siobhan Fallon Hogan as Dorothy Harris
- Sonny Shroyer as Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant
- Grand L. Bush, Conor Kennelly, and Teddy Lane Jr. as the Black Panthers
- Bill Roberson as Fat Man on Bench