Review of Forrest Gump (1994) by Griffin H — 04 Aug 2013

Tom Hanks is quite a fine actor, but arguably, 1994's Forrest Gump is his masterpiece. Stumbling along with a certain amount of grace and stupidity, Hanks, as Gump, is a likable, somewhat dim-witted "Mama's Boy", who, without realising it, witnesses some of the biggest milestones in American history. The film, is charming, well-acted and plays on Forrest's, "smartness". Robin Wright Penn is alright too, but Hanks always steals the scene; basically every scene. Sally Field's Mrs Gump is a wonderfully tender and quotable character, amazingly acted, while Gary Sinise's war veteran oozes pain in the most elegantly tragic way, and too, Mykelti Williamson's eagerly shrimped-out Bubba Blue is wonderful too. But maybe the most important part of the film's production is the special effects team, who, even if Gump had been played by a bad actor, would have still given Forrest Gump a sweet nostalgic feeling.

Let's just say, Forrest Gump, overall, is a nostalgic, charming, well-acted tear-jerker that is wonderful in every way. I think that's high praise indeed.