Forrest Gump: I'm not a smart man... but I know what love is. (Forrest Gump (Collector's Edition, DVD))

Member Name: ajbluestar

Product:	Forrest Gump (Collector's Edition, DVD)
Date:	10/09/09 (31 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great plot and story/great acting

Disadvantages: nothing major

Introduction

Forrest Gump is another classic movie which was successful both at the box office and at the academy awards winning a total of 6 oscars including best picture and best performance by an actor in a leading role for the main star in the film Tom Hanks. It was released in 1994 and is classed as an American comedy drama film. It has moments which can make you both laugh and cry and is also a wonderful tale which teaches morals and on trying to follow your dreams and be positive despite hardships that may occur in life.

Plot

The film is the story of Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) who is a simple man with a low IQ (intelligence level) but he has good intentions. The film begins with him waiting at a small town bus stop telling his life story to people waiting wih him. He struggled through his childhood with his best and only friend Jenny (Robin Wright). His 'mama' , Mrs Gump (Sally Field)teaches him the ways of life and leaves him to choose his destiny. Forrest joins the army for service in Vietnam and in the process finds new friends called Dan (Gary Sinise) and Bubba (Mykelti Williamson). During his life forrest achieves great thigs such as wining medals, starting a table tennis craze, creating a famous shrimp fishing fleet,inspiring people to jog amongst other things whilst meeting some of the most famous people in the world in the process such as the president and other great historical figures. However this is all irrelevant to Forrest who can only think of his childhood sweetheart Jenny.

Opinion

The film was wonderfully directed and acted by a great cast on all levels. The acting is strong, the plot and dialogue is excellent and it provides good clarity and pace to the film. Much of Gumps' appeal is his downright sense of doing the right thing regardless of the people and situations around him and that is what we see througout this film. Hanks is brilliant in the lead role and is totally believable as the character he plays and is ably assisted by a great support cast. The movie has it all too including drama and comedy as well as challenging societal norms. There are also the endless quotes from the movie that are both memorable and have been used extensively.

It is a heartwarming tale with a positive message and is both enjoyable and entertaining. Hanks was really worthy of the Oscar win as is the film with its various awards.

Film details:

Directed by Robert Zemeckis

Produced by

Wendy Finerman
Steve Tisch
Charles Newirth

Written by

Novel
Winston Groom
Screenplay
Eric Roth

Narrated by Tom Hanks

Starring

Tom Hanks
Robin Wright Penn
Gary Sinise
Mykelti Williamson
Sally Field

Music by Alan Silvestri

Cinematography Don Burgess

Editing by Arthur Schmidt

Distributed by Paramount Pictures

Release date(s) July 6, 1994
Running time 141 min.

Summary: heartwarming tale