Winner of six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, director Robert Zemeckis's charming blend of comedy and drama stars Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump, a simpleminded man who finds himself in the middle of nearly every major event of the 1960s and '70s. Along the way, he makes friends, changes lives and searches for a soul mate. Hanks nabbed a Best Actor Oscar for his remarkable portrayal of the unsophisticated yet surprisingly wise Forrest.
Bryan
"Lieutenant Dan got me invested in some kind of fruit company. So then I got a call from him, saying we don't have to worry about money no more. And I said, that's good! One less thing."
So in my attempt to write a balanced review of Forrest Gump, I tried to figure out what I could criticize it for, and I had a lot of trouble finding anything worth writing. In every respect that is important to me, this film is solid.
Tom Hanks is fantastic. As I was trying to pick which quote to choose for my review, I realized how important Hank's delivery is. Many of the quotes seem bland when written out, and yet when read by Hanks is gut wrenching, or hilarious, or touching. I can totally understand why one of the six Oscars was to Hanks for best Actor.
We spent a lot of time discussing the visual effects during this screening, another aspect of the film that won it an Oscar. It was worth discussing, because the first few times I saw the film I didn't even recognize some of the effects as effects. I guess that's the mark of quality- their CGI stood out because it was indistinguishable to me from reality. An important part of that was that it wasn't over the top- they weren't making 4 story tall monsters from outer space, but removing legs from an actor. It required much less suspension of disbelief. The scenes where Hanks was added to historical footage was obviously not genuine, but it was believable and very well done. For the most part the effects were seamless, and were used very well. In an industry that at the time was falling in love with computer graphics, the effects were not lifted up as a central point of the film. Very few viewers went to see the film for the cool effects; the film was visually stunning more through classic approaches to cinematography than new technology. The effects were a way to open doors for the plot, rather than being visual-effects driven. I like that.
The old icon of theater (the smiling and frowning masks) comes to mind when I think of this movie. I ran through a broad spectrum of emotions while following Gump's travels, and that's not easy. I'm not sure which it did better. The funny parts didn't seem like simple comic relief, but felt like part of a real comedy, while the drama was more heart-wrenching than the conflict in a normal comedy. Awesome. Finely done.
Final Thought- This is certainly a top 100 movie, and I think it will be even higher on my list. There were discussions during Titanic about the "broadness" of the audience, and I would argue that this is a film that has across-the-board appeal. A fantastic film, and no longer being overplayed. (There was a while where ever poor kid running on the sidewalk was greeted with a "Run, Forrest, Run!!!" I'm glad that malarkey has died down.) Thumbs up.
Jason
God damn it, Gump! You're a god damn genius! This is the most outstanding answer I have ever heard. You must have a goddamn I.Q. of 160. You are goddamn gifted, Private Gump.
This movie is very hard for me to talk about. Not because it effects me in some profound way, or because I have a problem with it. It's really because I'm kinda indifferent to it. I mean I know this movie is good, it does a lot of things right, but I watch this movie and it doesn't really do anything for me.
I've been told on several occasions that I have an odd taste in movies. Not because I like weird movies (though I do like some really odd movies), but because I don't like movies I probably should. I'm having trouble thinking of an example, but if you ask any of my closest friends they will agree with me on this. Honestly they were the ones who pointed it out in the first place. I think Forrest Gump falls into that category for me. The movie is a fun time and all but I just don't feel a real connection to it. Maybe its because the story seems so far fetched to me, or maybe its because I have a problem liking movies that everyone else likes. Who knows, but whatever it is this movie just doesn't, figuratively, blow my skirt up.
Final Thoughts- All that being said I actually would actually put this movie on my list. Its not the greatest ever, but tt does a lot of things right and is a fun time as long as I don't watch it to often. I would put it number 75 on my list so its pretty much spot on.
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