Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Cast: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Sally Field, Gary Sinise
Miguel (Nominator)
Let me start with a few simple facts: Tom Hanks is a national goddamn treasure. And Forrest Gump is one of the best movies of all time. Ok, OKAY, those aren’t facts in the traditional sense but I dare you to find someone who disagrees.
Forrest Gump can be summed up in one word: iconic. This is mostly due to the downright phenomenal performance by Tom Hanks. He captures the innocence and naivete of a simpleminded fool in love and manages to make audiences fall in love with him from the moment he first utters the now infamous phrase, “Momma always said ‘life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re gonna get.'”
Sorry, I had to pause while writing this because I’m rewatching the movie right now and Sally Field just died and goddamn it I couldn’t deal. Alright moving on. This movie makes you feel a multitude of emotions, but the two that are most prevalent are sadness and hope. For every tear-jerking moment is one that makes you feel that life will find a way of working itself out for the best. Look at our main character. He starts life as the “local idiot” and ends as he so eloquently puts it, a “gazillionaire.” One of the charms of Forrest Gump is that even though Forrest is seen as a the dummy who in all likelihood isn’t going to amount to anything, he actually ends up influencing some of the major moments in our nation’s history.
You can’t mention this movie without saying it has to be one of the greatest love stories of all time. Forrest and Jenny are like peas and carrots. Peas and DIRTY ROTTEN CARROTS THAT SHOULD NEVER HAVE BROKEN THOSE PEAS’ HEART ‘CAUSE THEY WERE JUST THERE TO PROTECT YOU, CARROTS. Damn. Even though Jenny is a hard pill to swallow, you can’t help but realize that she was just a victim trying to find some meaning to her life, which had been so terrible in the beginning. Every time you see them come together only for Jenny to push Forrest away you understand it’s because she isn’t at peace with who she is; the only way they can be happy is for her to find herself. Then we finally reach the heartbreaking ending — WHICH IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW HANG ON I NEED TO TAKE A BREAK — (okay I’m back), where Jenny comes home and marries Forrest and right when you think they’re gonna live happily ever after THOSE DUMB ROTTEN CARROTS DIE OF AIDS.
Seriously, this is one of the greatest movies ever made. It never ceases to make me smile or cry or dream, and it should be considered a classic from a younger generation’s golden age of film. I feel like I’m just preaching to the choir here, so I’ll just say that if you haven’t seen this movie, get to it. And even if you have it’s still there waiting to tug on your heartstrings once again.
That’s all I have to say about that.
