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Forest gump
It stars Tom Hanks as a seemingly intellectually challenged Alabamian man that accomplished more in his life time than many ever get the chance to do. Gump somehow becomes involved in every major event in American history from the time between the 1950’s and the 1980’s.
Gump experiences everything from bullying, love, war, making enormous amounts of money, birth, and death. He starts the movie off sitting on a bench at a bus stop telling anyone who would come to wait for their bus, his entire life story. Gump begins his tale with the story of his child hood. He explains everything from wearing braces on his legs where in return the famous quote “Run Forrest run” originated, to meeting Elvis Presley and teaching him how to dance, to meeting the love of his life Jenny Curran, to being chased down by bullies in which Forrest runs through a football practice that just so happened to have the recruiters for the University of Alabama college football team watching him interrupt the practice which in return landed Gump with scholarship to the University where he graduated and All American.
Roger Ebert from the Chicago Sun-Times, feels that the screenplay by Eric Roth had the complexity of modern fiction, not the formulas of modern movies. He also states that he has never seen a movie like Forrest Gump and that any attempt in describing it would make it seem more conventional than it really is. This statement goes along with what I think in that Forrest Gump is a one of a kind movie that makes anyone want to go out and accomplish something.
Tom Hanks’ portrayal of Gump is one that is award winning. Hanks received the best actor award in the 1995 Academy Awards, he was nominated for best actor at the 1995 BAFTAs, and awarded best actor in a motion picture at the 1995 Golden Globe Awards, all in result of Forrest Gump. Roger Ebert thought that Hanks may have been the only actor who could have played the role and that his performance is a breathtaking balancing act between comedy and sadness. Hanks’ performance made the movie believable and entertaining for many viewers. Still, not every person shares the views of Roger Ebert and I, some have come to say that the material is a bit dry and that the movie was a little too drawn out.
Although Forrest Gump is not considered a “must see” to some, it has inspired many people to laugh, cry, and has even educated some on historical events. I think this movie should be seen by everyone at least once. And maybe after seeing this academy awarded depiction of a small town hero and his vigorous accomplishments, you may be lead to believe that, “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what your guna get.” Sam Smith
Works Cited
Groom, Winston. Roth, Eric. Forrest Gump. Dir. Robert Zemeckis. Perf. Tom Hanks. Paramount Pictures, 1994. DVD.
Ebert, Roger. Rev. of Forrest Gump, Dir. Robert Zemeckis. Suntimes.com. Chicago Sun-Times, 6 Jul. 1994. Web. 29 Sep. 2011.
