Review of Forrest Gump (1994) by Dkg822 — 05 Aug 2015

‘Forrest Gump’ is a strange movie as the movie itself underwhelmed me, however, the performance of Tom Hanks as the protagonist ‘Forrest Gump’ overwhelmed me. Seriously hyped and known to be one of the finest movies ever made, ‘Forrest Gump’ certainly failed to create that big an impact on me. I felt that the movie, at best, was a sentimental fantasy of a very likable protagonist. The movie was far from perfect for me. The major flaw for me was that it was the movie was largely predictable and over sentimental at times. Some of the dialogue was so predictable that I cringed every time I got to hear it. Some of the moments in the movie are supposed to be ‘magical’ and direction makes sure they really do seem over dramatic which also kind of bothered me. As likable as the protagonist was, at times, ‘Gump’ himself felt rather invincible which made me worry a little less about him as a character. The other problem with the movie was that it was way too long and disengaged during several parts of it run time. This is also because at times the movie seemed a bit repetitive. Barring these problems, the movie works because of its performance ‘Tom Hanks’ that stands over the movie’s flaws and the movies occasional moments of genuine emotion shared between Hank’s and Wright’s character. In fact, the movie, for me, would have benefitted way more if it had focused more on the love story between its 2 central characters and focused more on Gump’s relationship with his mother. However, I still was amused by the occasional eccentric and funny dialogue delivered to perfection by Hanks and him chemistry with his mom and love. ‘Field’ as ‘Mrs. Gump’ is endearing and loving in a limited role and shares great moments with ‘Forrest Gump’. ‘Sinise’ is good and makes an impact as ‘Dan’ but his relationship with ‘Gump’ did not strike me emotionally too much. He did, however, add the occasional humor and I did sympathize with his condition at times. ‘Wright’ is perfectly cast as ‘Jenny’ and evokes all types of emotions perfectly. I felt bad for her, hated her at times, did not understand her and ultimately adored her because she made a rather weak character very strong through her acting. Ultimately, however, it is ‘Tom Hanks’ as ‘Forrest Gump’ who actually kept me invested in the movie throughout. I felt that it was one of the best performances I have seen by any actor in a long time and one that really rose above all the flaws of the movie and really overwhelmed me. ‘Hank’ perfectly plays ‘Gump’ in a way that he absolutely becomes the character and truly deserved the Oscar for it.

Overall, ‘Forrest Gump’ is ‘Tom Hank’s’ triumph as an actor because he truly keeps an ordinary film going. I was clearly underwhelmed by the movie because of its duration, over sentimentality and predictability, however, would still recommend it for its magnificent performances and genuine likability.