Simplicity at its best

Rating: 10/10 (2 June 2006)

"Forrest Gump," 1994's controversial and acclaimed Best Picture Oscar winner and is itself adapted from the novel by Winston Groom, is the simple story of a simple man and the not-so-simple world he is born into. Tom Hanks is the title character, a Southerner with an IQ of 75, who as a boy is handicapped by a crooked back and forced to wear leg braces. Raised by his mother (Sally Field) to not let the world hold him back, she does the regrettable and sleeps with a school's principal to get him enrolled. His first days are hard-luck, but that changes when he lays eyes on the beautiful Jenny, and the two become close friends, even through high school, when she is now played by Robin Wright Penn. Once graduating high school, Forrest is encouraged to go to college, where he becomes a football star and is drafted into the United States Army upon graduation. Forrest's limited intelligence to the situation renders him blind to the Vietnam conflict, where his service is guaranteed. He's unaware of the growing resentment towards the war, but his heroic actions to save comrades including hardened veteran Lt. Dan (Gary Sinise) and best friend Bubba (Mykelti Williamson) during an ambush by the VC one day encourage a Medal of Honor award. Thus, the world as we know it is seen through the eyes of this simple man who leads an extraordinary journey through some of America's roughest periods: the 1960s through the late '70s. All of this is fickle to him, as his one true love Jenny continues to evade him (even though they see one another sporadically over the years, and their encounters are often very brief) and her life becomes increasing less than pleasant. "Forrest Gump" is one of the best movies for a reason: when all hell was breaking loose during radical times of change, one man saw it as a little more than nothing. His unwitting triumphs over the years - football star, war hero, Medal of Honor recipient, White House honorary guest, millionaire businessman, international Ping Pong champion, and ultimately, father - are extraordinary to everybody else except him, simply because he's too stupid to realize the significance of his actions. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, everything about "Forrest Gump" is classic and beautiful. From Hanks's brilliant and nuanced performance, to the Oscar-winning special effects (the insertion of Hanks into archival media footage; the digital erasure of Sinise's legs to make the audience believe he's a real amputee) to the closing credits, it shines and will forever remain shining as a modern American classic piece of cinema. Though Forrest himself may not know it, he's found one of the greatest fans in this writer. He's a true inspiration that nothing is impossible regardless of one's intelligence. His message is that nothing can hold you back except you. It's a dream come true from anyone's perspective.
10/10