Forrest Gump (1994)

Forrest Gump is one of the most ridiculous movies! This is the very film that left Pulp Fiction behind by winning the Oscar for the Best Picture and even five more. It was quite a challenge for Robert Zemeckis to make a screen adaptation of Winston Groom's book of the same name, but the picture surpassed all expectations – this is his most successful movie he ever made. Equally praised by viewers and critics, this is the movie you can't ignore to watch. If you are looking for a witty and wise quote, it has them in abundance.

Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) is a mentally defective man we meet on a bus stop bench. He is friendly and talkative so the plot is revolving around him meeting different people and telling them his life story, which is actually crammed with events. He was a good runner and this ability caused him to become a part of American football team and run across the whole world in two years. Also he was so into playing ping pong that became a champion and President Richard Nixon bestowed on him the medal. Hard to imagine but Gump joined the army and was sent to Vietnam. These are only few of his events, but the most surprising thing about all this is that he didn't strive for success he finally got. The peculiar thing about him is that people he loved were always of the greater importance for him: his mom (Sally Field), the love of his life Jenny (Robin Wright Penn), his friend Bubba (Mykelti Williamson) and Lt. Dan Taylor (Gary Sinise).

The message? The whole movie is the message; it's about loyalty, friendship, devotion and love. 'I may not be a smart man, but I know what love is' is Gump's expression, though he seemed to know more about it than many smarter people did. In his low-intelligence he was very caring and all the awards he got were of no importance for him; the well-being of his loved ones is what he was striving for. Forrest Gump is an inspirational and preachy movie that makes your weight up your own values. What is more there is lots of humor so alongside touching moments there is always a scene you can laugh at.
I don't want this review to sound like an ode of praise to Tom Hanks, but I still feel I have to tell he was amazing. Forrest Gump brought the actor his second Academy Award in a row after Philadelphia (1993). Persuading is a weak word, he wasn't playing Forrest Gump, he actually was the one. And his companion Lt. Taylor deserves to be mentioned too. Pessimistic and sarcastic he treated a life as something hostile after he became crippled, but Gump breathed a new life into him so that even physically defective he could enjoy life in full.

The movie is very dynamic due to the variety of historical events depicted there as a part of Gump's life. It's quite captivating to go around the world with the main hero, to meet two Presidents of America, John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon, to break into the battle in Vietnam, to meet legendary Elvis Presley, to become a part of the shrimping business and even trace the roots of Apple company back.

Forrest Gump is one of few movies crammed with witty dialogues. Even though Gump is dump but he is not stupid. He grasps the reality his own way, a bit childish but it is still a nice experience to watch the world through his naïve prism of world viewing. Things seem not to be that bad.

In the end, I would like to borrow Forrest Gump's phrase 'Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get.' You never know what the movie is unless you watch it. As far as this is a great drama movie, you shouldn't miss it.