The remarkable life journey of a man named Forrest Gump, who often comes across as plain stupid. His innocence and selfless qualities shine through his dumb exterior.
He is shaped into a decent man by his persevering mother, goes to college becomes a football star, enlists for the army, becomes a Ping-Pong champion and he later becomes an inspirational celebrity thanks to his persistent efforts as a shrimping boat captain.
He even gives people around him hope for life, by setting out for an insanely long run for no particular reason.
Along the way, he gets priceless relations in the form of Bubba, his closest friend in the Army, Lieutenant Dan Taylor, a good friend and guide for life who later becomes his partner in the shrimping business and of course Jenny Curran, his childhood sweetheart and ultimately his life partner despite her floating manner.
The film has some tremendous dialogs laced with humor, philosophy and meaning. A copy of these dialogs would be a good boost to the psyche on a bad day.
The visuals are poetic and the music score adds to the haunting quality of the film. This deadly combination of the dialogs, visuals and music will give you goose bumps more often than not. The war scenes have been done brutally realistically.
Without Tom Hanks, this film would lose its core soul. As the dumb Gump his makeover, his body language, his dialog delivery, his blank stares, the way he runs, his unintentionally funny escapades etc. are all worthy cinematic experiences for life.
The film also has some terrific support characters in the actors who play Bubba (Mykelti Williamson), Jenny (Robin Wright), Gump’s mother (Sally Field) and Lieutenant Dan (Gary Sinise). Other small characters also play a part in this classic. Special mention to Lieutenant Dan for the physical discomfort he must have gone through. The anguish he experiences for not having died in the battle field with his platoon is very well enacted.
All the scenes when Gump runs, be it the first scene when young Gump realizes he can run fast or the scenes in the war when Gump runs here and there looking for the wounded Bubba or the final marathon scenes, are sheer MAGIC. Gump also shows his anger when his Jenny is troubled by miscreants who look to manhandle her.
The scenes when Gump excels in sports are funny yet feel-good. Gump’s tender moments with Jenny are cute. His first sex experience is a riot.
This is one of those films that will draw you into its narrative and sway you with its sheer poetic brilliance. A film for life and a feel good roller coaster ride of human emotions.
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