My favorite movie.

Rating: 9/10 (24 January 2009)

Some people call the movie unrealistic or exploitative in using a character with mental disability for entertainment. I agree with it and still say its a damn entertaining movie. I am not American so the historical placement(of Gump) isn't really as important for me as the movie and its message(If they really did intent it) is. Except of course Forrest giving the opening verse of 'imagine' to John Lennon and giving Elvis dance tips.
Now that i have the major issues with the movies out of the way. I'll try to explain why i like the movie. I can say this in one word "escapism". Yes, for me this movie is ~3 hours of unadulterated fantasy( although i am not much a fan of the fantasy genre and FG doesn't figure as a fantasy flick.) I have watched this movie several times and each time i love it even more.
This a movie that is based on the script and the acting rather than on strong characters. The character of Forrest is simple enough, although Tom Hanks does bring him to life much convincingly and colorfully. The story for me is about how an obviously slow, simple and unassuming guy influences the life of so many people around with his spirit and his faith in humanity. How Forrest's childlike perspective of the world lets him ask the questions that we all would love to ask but don't dare, out of fear of appearance. Call me a sissy but i enjoy a bit of emotion and the soft stuff. I couldn't help but feel all the raw and pure emotions(unadulterated by biases) that Forrest felt when he goes through all that he goes through; War, peace, love, heartbreak. There's action, drama, romance and comedy. i cant think of any movie that touches on this many genres and pulls it off as well as this one.
Like i said before this movie is based on the story and innocence of Forrest than about the characters. But still the characters like jenny, Lieutenant Dan and Mama are brought to life wonderfully by a great cast. Gary Sinise especially was great and deserved to win an Oscar for his role. One other thing that stands out is the music. Such classic songs such as the "sweet home Alabama' 'free bird'are featured with great timing. I've never seen any movie that has the right songs for the situations as this one. And the song 'Turn Turn'by The Byrds seems like it was written just for this movie, although it was recorded in 1965.
Although this is my favorite movie i have some gripes with it. I think the ending(or the last half hour) was a bit bland and depressing. I Really didn't appreciate the movie going form flash-back to the present. And I couldn't but help thinking about the movie "i am Sam". I was imagining Forrest junior having to go through everything that Dakota Fanning goes through in that movie. I cant figure out how they could have made it any different. But still, its the reason i give it a 9.