Forrest Gump: The kind of Genius we REALLY need!

Rating: Null/10 (27 January 1999)

First of all, Forrest Gump was an excellent film. The emotions was real, the action was real, the characters were real, and plausible, some coincidences were extreme, but did nothing to hurt the movie.
People seem to be angered at the fact that the character of Forrest Gump attains so much success, let alone his lack of "intelligence." I believe this is the point that the author tried to make. Forrest Gump may have had a childish, naive common sense, but he succeeded anyway, and with flying colours. His innocence kept him from being tempted by greed, thus hurting himself and others. Honestly, if there were more Forrest Gumps around, the world would be a better place (don't mean to sound sentimental).
All the characters are used well to convey the image of the time. Forrest's mother, and old-fashioned, good-hearted lady is typical of the time. Jenny, falling into a drug crazed orgy during the seventies, pays for it by contracting AIDs a plausible fate for her actions. Lieutenant Dan, a typical war vet, whom sees no reason for life without the ability to be normal shows us how to respect life in it's fullest. Bubba, the sentiment character who is killed in battle at Forrest's side, leads to further events in the story well.
The theme of success, happiness and awe of the world is well portrayed in the "running" scene where Forrest runs across america twofold.
And possibly the most subtle, yet important theme of running away, is used with excellence. From "Run Forrest, Run" to the scene with Forrest carrying Bubba from battle, to the football antics, and finally the "Run across america" scenes are genius. Forrest was always a good runner, running away from his fears, running away from himself and running away from the truth. The one thing he did not run away from was Jenny, in fact he was running to Jenny. This emotional love-story may be a little "storybook" but it shows the power of love in everyone, even the handicapped.
This film was excellent, I don't see how anyone could give it anything under 7/10 stars.
I personally give it 9/10.