Forrest Gump is a film that very nearly defies
description. Is it a drama? is it a comedy? Is it a historical
fantasy? In its own way, it's all of these and more. At its
heart, it's a love story. This is perhaps the best overall description
of the film, and yet even that is too limiting.
Forrest Gump isn't ruled by a conventional
plot. Instead, the film wanders exactly like someone telling
a story. One event leads to another as much because that's what
Forrest thought to tell us about next as anything else.
Early in the film we're told that Forrest
(Tom Hanks) is at the lower end of the intellectual scale. In
fact, his IQ is right around 75 -- well below the normal range.
Though everyone else is convinced that Forrest is an idiot (and
not afraid to say it in front of the boy), his mother plainly
tells him that stupid is as stupid does. Given this benchmark
of actions defining stupidity, Forrest soon proves himself to
be the smartest person in the film.
At first, Forrest's mother (Sally Field) is
the only one who doesn't place limits on the boy's abilities.
When he enters school, Forrest meets a girl his own age, Jenny,
who also accepts him without judging him.
Jenny, we quickly learn, is not the product
of a happy home. We never really learn the details of Jenny's
home life, just that she is very miserable and clings to Forrest
as an escape.
Eventually, Forrest makes it into college.
As it turns out, he has an uncanny knack for running. He's recruited
to play football and thus earns a scholarship. Jenny also leaves
for college and as their childhood lives drift apart, she begins
to look for alternate means of escape.
Forrest's adult life continues a spectacular
trend for becoming a part of momentous historical events (I
say "continues" because as a boy he met Elvis and
supposedly taught the King how to shake and shimmy). Using digital
trickery, Forrest is inserted into historical footage for often
hysterical results.
While Forrest's adventures ultimately lead
him to success, Jenny's life takes a decidedly different turn.
The escape she finds in Forrest's absence turns out to be sex,
drugs and rock and roll. She knows her life is unfocused and
spiraling downward, yet she seems to accept her fate as though
she deserves no better. Still, her life intertwines with Forrest's
as though the two of them were fated for each other.
Robert Zemeckis has managed the impressive
feat of directing a movie that is about nothing and everything
all at once. Throughout this love story between Forrest and
Jenny, the film serves as a commentary and reflection about
modern history. Forrest doesn't have the ability to intellectualize
the events that surround him. Everything he sees and does is
filtered through the sense of good and bad instilled by his
mother. Nothing he does is for personal glory, yet many of his
actions are nothing less than heroic.
The performances of the key players are superb,
but it's Hanks' performance that is truly outstanding. He completely
becomes Forrest Gump. His efforts go beyond simply adopting
an odd, broken accent to a complete transformation of his mannerisms.
For an example, take a look at the screen tests on the DVD and
compare them to the film. The tests featuring Hanks are clearly
before he "got" the character and the difference is
jarring.
Special effect play a huge role in the film
and many effects that are "throwaways" by today's
standards were revolutionary for this film. Even so, they still
hold up well, particularly the scenes with Lt. Dan (Gary Sinise),
a friend of Forrest's who loses his legs in Viet Nam.
Aside from the love story, which is particularly
poignant, part of what makes Forrest Gump work is that it never
tries to be completely accurate with the historical events it
portrays. As I mentioned above, it's more like the telling of
a story -- some of the details may be mixed up, some may be
embellished (though Forrest wouldn't know how to embellish a
story), but in the end, it's all about making it entertaining.
