Forrest Gump (1994)

[Antares]

Forrest Gump





Year: 1994
Film Studio: Paramount Pictures
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Length: 142 Min.

Director
Robert Zemeckis (1951)

Writing
Winston Groom...Original Material By
Eric Roth...Screenwriter

Producer
Wendy Finerman
Steve Tisch (1949)
Steve Starkey

Cinematographer
Don Burgess

Music
Alan Silvestri...Composer

Stars
Tom Hanks (1956) as Forrest Gump
Robin Wright (1966) as Jenny
Sally Field (1946) as Mrs. Gump
Michael Conner Humphreys as Young Forrest

Review
       A simpleton with the IQ of a small child is mistaken for a worldly philosophical savant by almost everyone he comes in contact with. They are in such awe of his divined simple sayings that they believe him to be a populist prophet that can lead them back to a fantasy paradise that only dwells in their minds. While I was sitting in a theater watching Forrest Gump back in the summer of 1994, I couldn’t help but feel a recurring sense of déjà vu. The premise did not seem fresh to me, but I couldn’t remember where I had first viewed this scenario. As I was leaving the theater with my wife, I told her of my feelings about the film we had both watched, and she blurted out that it reminded her of the Peter Sellers film from 1979, Being There. And just like the inventor that screams Eureka!!! as he solves a problem that has perplexed him, I realized that she was right.
   
       In Hal Ashby’s Being There, Chance the Gardener (Sellers) is a middle-aged man who is mistaken for a wizened aristocrat by the upper crust of Washington D.C. society. And although a handful of people know that he maintains the brain power of a third grade child, he is slowly maneuvered into a position of power by the political sheep that flock around him to hear his inane utterances on gardening. It is these pearls of wisdom that he casts before the swine that are mistaken for folksy allegorical solutions to the ills that plagued our nation at the time. Sound familiar? The only difference from this plot and the one detailed in Forrest Gump is that the latter came wrapped in a package of special effects wizardry that placed Gump into historic scenarios from the sixties, seventies and eighties. Once again the movie going public is given a perfect example of style over substance.

       While ‘Chauncey’ Gardener comes across as a contemplative and somewhat charismatic man, Forrest never can really shake his persona of a backwoods bayou bonehead that anyone would be able to unmask as such. In this regard, I found the story of his life to be foolish and extremely far-fetched. There were countless scenes and scenarios in the film that caused both my wife and I to cringe, yet people around us were belly laughing over. As we sat perplexed over the reception that this uninspiring film was receiving from the audience surrounding us, a sense of futility began to set in and we both couldn’t wait for the movie to end.

       The saddest situation would take place months later at the Academy Awards as this incredibly average film took the honor of Best Picture for 1994. When film historians in the future look back at the great films that this one beat out for that glorious statuette, they will be as bewildered as my wife and I had been on that sweltering summer day when we wasted two hours of our life. Well, at least the theater was air-conditioned.


Ratings Criterion
5 Stars - The pinnacle of film perfection and excellence.
4 ½ Stars - Not quite an immortal film, yet a masterpiece in its own right.
4 Stars - Historically important film, considered a classic.
3 ½ Stars - An entertaining film that’s fun or engaging to watch.
3 Stars – A good film that’s worth a Netflix venture.
2 ½ Stars - Borderline viewable.
2 Stars – A bad film that may have a moment of interest.
1 ½ Stars – Insipid, trite and sophomoric, and that's its good points.
1 Star – A film so vacuous, it will suck 2 hours from the remainder of your life.
½ Star - A gangrenous and festering pustule in the chronicles of celluloid.

[Jon]

While I certainly liked it more than you or your wife evidently (you're married? But, but... you're a nerd! ), I don't actually disagree. It's a tough film to review, because while it's dumb, it does work and does exactly what it set out to do. I think it's still Empire's most notorious review: the cinema release got 4, but when it was released on video, it got two.

[Antares]

After I posted the review, I remembered that movie questionnaire thread we all did a few weeks ago. I had said that I had never seen a bad film in the theater, but now I have to put this one as the stinking pile of turd. I loathe this movie.

[Kathy]

I liked this movie a lot. I thought some of the scenes were ingenious - Elvis learning his moves from young Forrest was wonderful.

It may not be award worthy but "...stinking pile of turd..." nope - you're wrong.

[RossRoy]

I liked this movie a lot. I thought some of the scenes were ingenious - Elvis learning his moves from young Forrest was wonderful.

It may not be award worthy but "...stinking pile of turd..." nope - you're wrong.

 

I love Forrest Gump. It's one of the few movies I can watch over and over again.

[Antares]

Have either of you seen Being There? Or for that matter, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. They're both superior to Gump.


There were two scenes in Gump that made me want to retch. The first was when he's running across country and someone hands him a cloth to wipe the sweat from his face. After he wipes his face and hands the cloth back, the person holds it up and a Christ-like Shroud of Turin Smiley face appears.  Then, on the same run, he steps in road turd, and proclaims "It Happens", leading the viewer to believe that the saying 'Shit happens' came from this. 

After that one, my wife turned to me and said, "It does happen to be a shitty movie". And that was the only time I laughed during this entire film.

[RossRoy]

Have either of you seen Being There? Or for that matter, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. They're both superior to Gump.

Being There I've never... and Benjamin Button I see as "Gump-redux"

There were two scenes in Gump that made me want to retch. The first was when he's running across country and someone hands him a cloth to wipe the sweat from his face. After he wipes his face and hands the cloth back, the person holds it up and a Christ-like Shroud of Turin Smiley face appears.  Then, on the same run, he steps in road turd, and proclaims "It Happens", leading the viewer to believe that the saying 'Shit happens' came from this. 

I don't see these as any worse than Elvis learning to dance from Forrest..

[Jon]

I didn't fancy seeing Button, because it's the same author of Gump and Fincher seems to be losing his edge.

Regards the two examples, the second one is certainly dumb, but I like the first. I think if you dig a little, Gump does have a sense of irony. I saw that scene as being critical of how absurd such things are; Gump himself would never draw any conclusions like that, yet the supposedly intelligent people that surround him might.

[Kathy]

I've read the Jerzy Kosinski's novel long ago but haven't seen the movie yet. I'll be sure and check it out now - its been on my wish list for a long time.

Your wife sounds wonderful - what a great line! Although this wasn't the best scene in the movie I still thought it was clever. I enjoy irony, sarcasm, plays on words etc. But then, I laugh at Weekend at Bernie's too! Forrest Gump makes me smile and leaves me feeling good. Plus, my niece and nephews (ages 3-9) love it too!