Tom Hanks in a still from Forrest GumpForrest Gump movie cast: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Sally Field, Gary Sinise
Forrest Gump movie director: Robert Zemeckis
Forrest Gump movie rating: 3 stars
“Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get,” could be perhaps the most-quoted line from Hollywood history. Even someone who hasn’t watched Forrest Gump, knows the aforementioned line belongs to the Tom Hanks starrer. This alone can tell you how much of an impact has the movie had on cinephiles and the history of cinema alike. So much so that now Aamir Khan will be featuring in Bollywood’s official remake of the Academy Award winning film.
Personally, the movie seems like a bit of stretch for me. Even slightly overrated, but that it boasted of great visual effects and a winsome performance by Hanks cannot be ignored.
The plot in itself is a series of vignettes where Hanks’ specially abled character Forrest Gump goes through his life, running from post to pillar (literally) and thereby finding himself featuring in landmark cultural moments from American history; from shaking a leg with Elvis Presley to speaking about his urgent need to visit the loo with former President John F Kennedy – our hero does it all and does it convincingly.
To make him stand alongside Kennedy and to present a picture of Gump posing with Beatles singer John Lennon is a feat of remarkable technological achievement, especially considering the fact that the Robert Zemeckis directorial was released way back in 1994.
There are many quotable quotes that one can find in Forrest Gump apart from the one mentioned above. But at almost two-and-half-hour long, Forrest Gump can feel longer than it should. The only running thread that joins this movie from point A to point B is the aching, innocent love that Forrest bears for Robin Wright’s character Jenny– a gorgeous girl who happens to be Forrest’s only friend. Robin is charming as the elusive woman of dreams and helps in telling the story in a more entertaining, relatable fashion. We also see her character arc as well, from a childhood sweetheart to becoming a woman who has her own failings and drive.
Hollywood Rewind: The Silence of the Lambs | Finding Neverland | Roman Holiday | American History X | Tropic Thunder | Before Sunrise | Scent of a Woman | Finding Forrester | Sixteen Candles
And then there is the feather. So much has been written about that single, stray feather that comes in time as if to accompany Forrest on his strange and magical journey. While Hanks himself has said that the object represents chance elements that is symbolical of every life, I think that the pretty and flimsy thing stands in for the spirit of Forrest who draws his inner strength from himself and his surroundings, not unlike the feather.
