Forrest Gump sealed Tom Hanks' place in history as one of the best actors of our time (which nobody saw coming after Big and Bachelor Party). The movie follows (you guessed it) Forrest Gump through his life from a young boy in Alabama with a slightly inadequate IQ and matching legs. Raised alone by his mother he fell in love with his only childhood friend Jenny and kept her in his heart through the countless historical moments he found himself directly or indirectly involved in. From All-American football player to Vietnam hero to thriving shrimping company founder, Forrest dropped everything whenever his mama or his Jenny needed him. I'm sure you've seen it, and if you haven't I don't want to ruin too much... so let's go ahead and jump into the ratings.
Original Release: 1994
Running Time: 142 minutes
Life is like a list of ratings...
(Learn more about the Ten Dollar rating system.)
Not intended to be a comedy per se, Forrest Gump balanced the trials and tribulations the characters face with light-hearted humor. From Forrest's misunderstandings and "mama always said" stories, to the appearances of random historical figures, you can't help but chuckle from time to time in between all of the other emotions that are brought out.
Acting - $2
Mr. Hanks brings his best throughout this film portraying the not-quite-bright Forrest. He played the role with the innocence and heart that drew audiences in and made them fall in love. This movie is far from being the "Hanks Show" though as he is backed up by phenomenal performances by Garry Sinise, Robin Wright Penn and Sally Field. Even the child actors playing the young Forrest and Jenny brought us into the characters and the story before the big players had their chance.
Repeat Play - $1
Forrest Gump is one of those movies that you can sit down and enjoy at just about any point in time. The length of the movie hurts its frequency of play though as you can't always find two and a half hours to kill.
Pump up the Jams - $2
What... a... soundtrack. Forrest Gump graces us with classic hits from across the decades that the story spans. Its not just the fact that the songs are familiar to any fan of "oldies" though, as each selection fits seamlessly into its place in the movie. I own, and still listen to frequently, the two-disk soundtrack full of tracks from the 60's, 70's and more.
Romantics - $2
This movie tells us two things about love... love is never easy, and nothing can stop it. No matter how far Jenny tried to get, Forrest still loved her and her alone. I'm sorry, but I truly feel that this is one of the greater on-screen romances in a long time. Both made their mistakes and both lived their lives but that never stopped them from loving each other. (I'm gonna go sit down to pee now.)
Unless I am having a major nerd-out day, I will put Forrest Gump in my top five favorite movies of all time. Incredible acting and a heart-warming story will, I'm sure in time, make Forrest Gump the Citizen Kane of my generation. In fact, I challenge you to find something in this movie that is less than stellar in any way at all. I bet you can't.
As always, feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts/critiques!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment