Greetings,
So, according to IMDB, which never gets anything wrong ever, today is the day that Forrest Gump was released twenty years ago. And even if that exact date is incorrect, I know for certain it was released in the summer of '94, so either way, close enough. We're doing this. As it happens, Forrest Gump is one of my all-time favorite movies, so I thought why not give it a little recognition on this special occasion.
I think that most people can agree that Forrest Gump is a film that has held up incredibly well in the years since we all first saw it. For the most part. Okay, it's obvious that, whilst we were all impressed with the CGI back in 1994, it has kind of lost it's 'wow' factor. Aside from the stuff with Lt. Dan's legs, which still looks quite believable, I am not as inclined to be convinced that Tom Hanks had conversations with long gone presidents and rock stars. But for its time, I can give it credit.
And I have also heard a lot of people say that they think a ton of the dialogue is sappy, even, dare I say it, fluffy. I suppose, in some cases, I agree. Yes, it had many, many memorable lines, but I almost felt like the writer just came up with a ton of those type of lines and then randomly stuck them into the script. Not that it didn't work out well, though. But, despite that, I think we all know that the "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get" line is total bull crap. I mean, hello! Boxes of chocolate always come with those little flavor/filling maps. I'm sure others have pointed this out, but I digress. And I certainly see what they were grabbing for there.
So what has held up about this movie? Well, I don't think anyone can deny that the acting was superb. Everyone did a fine job with this. Obviously, we got some greatness out of Tom Hanks, the man playing our titular character. I love when actors commit %100, and he certainly did here. Then, we got some good Sally Field as his loving mother, Mrs. Gump and Mykelti Williamson as greatest best friend of all time, Bubba. And, yes, I do think of him every time I eat shrimp. What about it? And then, there was Robin Wright(Penn, at the time) as Forrest's...Jenny. Yeah, I don't really know what to call her. And I may as well be honest and admit that I really am not a big fan of this character. Many people I know feel the same way. She came across as kind of not so nice a lot of the time. Of course, I try not to judge, considering what she went through as a child. I like to suppose she did love Forrest, but she just didn't know how to.
But even in amongst all of that awesomeness, let's not pretend that we don't know what the best thing about this movie is - Lieutenant Dan, played by my favorite actor in the whole, wide world, Gary Sinise. Yeah, I may have mentioned that a couple of times before. You know, to this day and as many times as I've seen this film, I am still so impressed by his performance. We all know it's not the easiest thing to play a character who is kind of a jerk but make him incredibly likable. And who doesn't like Lieutenant Dan? Only wrong people, I'm sure of it. So, I guess I don't need to say that he is my favorite character.
Okay, I'm going to wrap this thing up. I know this wasn't some detailed analysis. Just a few of my own personal thoughts. I really do love Forrest Gump, even if I nitpicked a little. Sure, maybe we don't see some of the technical things the way we once did, and maybe the effects look a tad dated, but I think that can be said of a lot of films. What's important is that, even twenty years later, the heart of it is still there. Any time you see it, you'll feel something. To me, that's what makes a great movie. If you have to stop and watch it every time you come across it during a channel surfing session, even if you only watch for a few minutes, that's a classic.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
