Forrest Gump, Movie Review Example

The movie Forrest Gump was released in 1994 and directed by Robert Zemeckis. It tells the life story of a man who was born with the intellect below average and still managed to achieve much in his life – after having problems with legs and wearing leg braces Forrest manages to enroll to the football team at school, then enlists to the army and gets to Vietnam, returns from the war and starts the shrimp business. His life path crosses much with the life of Jenny Curran, the girl who has always been close with him but has chosen a different life path. Due to Forrest’s persistence in everything he does, he manages to succeed in his shrimp business, invest in the Apple Corp. and secure the life of his family and his friends, Lieutenant Dan Taylor (having shrimp business with him) and Benjamin Buford called “Bubba” (who died in the war and whose dream of shrimp business Forrest fulfilled). Finally, it turns out that Jenny has a child from Forrest and is dying from an unknown disease, so she dies shortly afterwards their marriage and leaves Forrest with his son also called Forrest.

Speaking more closely about the main characters, it is worth mentioning that Forrest himself is the central one, and he is mostly surrounded by Jenny, Lt.Taylor and Bubba throughout the film. Forrest Gump is depicted as a persistent, serious and unemotional personality, so his character has raised much criticism and disagreement – whether his achievement was due to his internal force and ability to love life, make objective judgments and keep the right path or due to his low intellectual level and plain luck. He is never happy or sad about any events of his life, which supposes his indifference (Forrest Gump). Jenny Curran is his soul-mate, his partner from childhood to whom Forrest feels sentimental feelings and thinks he loves her. She has chosen the path of experimentation and rebellion, which is seen from her anarchist friends and boyfriend seen by Forrest during one of their encounters. However, she manages to prove her genuine feelings to Forrest by having a child from him and marrying him at the end of her life (Forrest Gump). Bubba is an honest and naïve young man who has a dream but has no time to make it true, so Forrest who has no dreams of his own pursues Bubba’s wish and does not leave Bubba’s family after his friend’s death. Lt. Dan Taylor is a real warrior, cynical and down-to-earth, but he proves how well he treats Forrest by collaborating with him on the boat and achieving success together despite the fact that he became crippled after the war (Forrest Gump).

The major conflict of the present movie is the stereotypes perception of mentally challenged people as cripples; Forrest Gump is not a smart man and he understands this from the very beginning of his life. However, Gump manages to live a decent life, to achieve success that may be never achieved by normal people and becomes a hero of the United States, then a tremendously rich man and finally a happy father. There is hardly anyone who can boast such achievements within one life, and the only wisdom Forrest follows is very simple: “You have to do the best with what God gave you (Memorable Quotes for Forrest Gump). Thus, the conflict of expectations from a challenged person and the reality of his life is put to the foreground of the movie.

The theme of the movie is concentrated on the right actions and right life; Forrest has always done what was due, and did it well. Thus, an average American who would have despised Forrest for his low intellectual level would never manage to live a better life. The way Forrest judges the world in plain terms, without any complications and ambiguities usual people face, shows the world as seen by children- without troubles and evil, with clear ideas of what is right or wrong. The message of the film is that the IQ level is not the pre-requisite of success, but the soul and virtuous intentions matter more.

The movie is a skilful mixture of comedy and tragedy; the comic elements pertain to the funny situations in which Forrest gets in various life situations, how average people fail to understand him and how he judges their actions. The tragedy is felt in the destiny of Forrest Gump who achieved tremendous success but remained un-understood by the society. The only thing he wanted was understanding and love, but he came across only misunderstanding, stereotyped vision of a challenged man. My choice fell on the movie because it explores the main contradictions of the American society. Only upon getting rich Forrest managed to become famous, and his most absurd actions became the focus of social attention. Hence, the tragedy of Forrest was in being unique but not accepted by the society that dealt only with ‘normal’, ‘average’ people.

References

Forrest Gump. Dir. Robert Zemeckis. Prod. Wendy Finerman, Steve Tisch, & Charles Newirth. Paramount Pictures, 1994.

‘Memorable Quotes for Forrest Gump’. The Internet Movie Database. 2010. 21 July 2010. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109830/quotes>