Review of Forrest Gump (76)

Plot
A story of a man's epic journey through life, meeting historical figures, influencing popular culture and experiencing first-hand historic events while being largely unaware of their significance, due to his lower than average intelligence.

Jason's Thoughts
In 1994 I was going through a period where any big budget critically acclaimed movie was automatically rejected by me as they were too mainstream for my independent tastes.  Forrest Gump fit into that category and I refused to watch it until I finally did years later out of boredom.  I still love the no-name low budget movies, but Forrest Gump went far beyond my expectations and I even found it entertaining to watch.

Forrest Gump seemed to have the odds stacked against him in every way possible, however, he was able to overcome his own shortcomings and obtain what millions of intelligent people can only dream of.  Whether he was able to realize it or not, he was able to have the American dream and reached it on his own terms through his honesty and doing what he felt was right.  Sure, it isn't plausible for one man to have met three American Presidents, two rock n' roll icons, and have taken part in several key events that shaped America in one of its most tumultuous times, but it is inspirational.

Aside from the great story, Forrest Gump also features some great visual effects and a great soundtrack.  Being able to see Forrest Gump interact with key figures by placing him in old footage was a nice touch and no doubt a hard effect to pull off in the early Nineties.  The movie also featured one of the best soundtracks I think I have ever heard in a movie.  Each song matched its time period and fit the scene well, plus they were all pretty decent songs to boot.

All in all, Forrest Gump really did have everything a great movie should have and deservedly lived up to its hype and critical acclaim.  And that's all I have to say about that.

Crystal's Thoughts
I was excited to sit down to watch Forrest Gump as I've seen it once, but many, many years ago.  Unlike Jason, I watched it soon after it was out on VHS.  One of the opening lines has always stuck with me, "Life is like a box of chocolates.  You never know what you're gonna get."  I'll admit that when things get rough in life, or something happens that seems unfair, I think of that quote and try to make the best of the situation.

Watching this movie a second time, and likely much more focused on the movie itself, the writer in me noticed many more quotes Forrest used throughout the movie.  I added another personal favorite, "Stupid is as stupid does."  Of course, back in 1995 when I first watched the film, I had no idea that line was a variant of another dating back to the 14th century ("Pretty is as pretty does," first recorded by Chaucer).  With these catchy phrases running amuck in the storyline, I rate Forrest Gump's script tops, easily placing it on the list of best movies of all times.

My only gripe with the movie is how impossible it all really is for someone like Forrest to achieve all the things in life he did.  Yes, it is to be that way to be inspirational and to make us all see that anyone can accomplish anything.  I can see the other side of the spectrum though in how it can all be easily chopped up to say, it's just a movie and could never happen in real life.

Lastly, and I know I didn't take note of this the first time I viewed it either, was how Forrest ended up in the peace rally.  Forrest is a decorated Vietnam War veteran, and there they threw him into one of the most disrespectful shows of freedom of speech, that being how wrong it was to be in Vietnam.  Sure, it may have been wrong, but the soldiers who were there weren't the ones in the wrong.  Never should it have been portrayed as so, even in a fictitious way of a Medal of Honor soldier getting himself caught in a DC peace rally.  Shame on you, Hollywood.

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