I always thought Forrest Gump’s signature quote never
made any sense. “Life is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you’re
gonna get.” Of course you know what you’re gonna get, the flavours are listed
on the back of the box. This minor plot hole aside, I love all the flavours
that are included in Robert Zemeckis’ 1994 highlight reel of all the major
American events from the 1950s through the early 1980s. Through the eyes of
simpleton Forrest (Tom Hanks) we see everything from the civil rights’ movement
to Vietnam and even the rise of Apple Inc. And then there is the soundtrack.
Two albums of pure goodness with artist like Elvis Presley, The Doors, Lynyrd
Skynyrd, and Simon & Garfunkel.
As Forrest Gump covers plenty of events
that happened before I was born but that happened during my parents’ lifetime,
they were of course the perfect target audience for the movie. It eventually
ended up in our ever-growing VHS tape collection we were accumulating while
living in South America in the late 90s. My brother and I were the ones who
usually added to the collection, but I believe my parents bought that
particular tape thinking this could be a film the whole family would enjoy.
They were right and eventually we would end up enjoying the soundtrack together
as well. Not surprisingly, I also got to watch the movie during an American
History class. Forrest Gump may be a fictional character, but the characters he
meets and the events he witnesses are most definitely not.
One of the things
that make the movie work is how simple Forrest is compared to the events he
witnesses. As a young man in 1950s Alabama he had to endure bullying because of
his low IQ. A specialist explains to his loving mother (Sally Field) that
Forrest is exactly three points below average, but she would do everything she
could to make sure her son would have a good life. Growing up he made up for
his lack of intelligence with physical stamina. It turns out running away from
bullies can make for some good leg muscles, catching the attention of the local
football team. He’s not smart, but give Forrest the ball and he is unstoppable.
Of course you have to remember to tell him to stop otherwise he will run out of
the stadium.
Football leads to
recruitment in the United States army and a deployment to Vietnam where Forrest
meets his new best friend Bubba (Mykelti Williamson), a shrimp conaisseur, and
his heroic superior, Lieutenant Dan Taylor (Gary Sinise). Sinise would later
use the character’s name for his band, which frequently performs for U.S troops.
After a deadly battle that leads to months of recovery, Forrest once again
finds athletic success with ping-pong, a game so simple any idiot could do it.
Seeing Forrest become a champion of the game, it brought me down a peg since I
was never that good at ping-pong. Apparently sometimes any idiot is a better
athlete than a man of average intelligence.
Throughout his
many travels and brushes with history, Forrest stays in contact with Jenny
(Robin Wright), his childhood friend and the love of his life. Their
relationship truly is the emotional core of the movie. Whether he is trudging
through the jungles of Vietnam, shaking hands with the president, manning a
shrimp boat, or jogging through the roads of America, beautiful Jenny is always
on Forrest’s mind. They chose separate paths, with him joining the army and her
becoming a hippie, but Forrest never gives up on them. He is not smart, but
smart enough to know he is in love.
In addition to
great performances by Hanks as the good-hearted Forrest and Sinise as the
embittered Lt. Dan, the movie was at the time astounding for its effect. Hanks
was seamlessly blended into archival footage, shaking hands with Richard Nixon
and appearing on TV alongside John Lennon. The war section of the story is also
impressive for its effects and graphic violence, with Lt. Dan losing both his
legs. One of my history teachers once joked they chopped off Gary Sinise’s legs
and reattached them after the movie, but really they just covered them with
blue material and removed them digitally. No actor would ever suffer that much
for his art.
In the years
since its release, Forrest Gump has
proven divisive with some calling it a classic while others see it as
melodramatic and cheesy. It is at times overly optimistic, but there are at
least three scenes I would dare you to watch without getting a little misty
eyed. I also can’t think of a more entertaining and uplifting way of looking at
three decades of American history. It certainly beats reading a history book
and taking notes. Plus, you have that soundtrack.
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