Over-rated and disappointing!

Rating: Null/10 (23 July 2002)

"Spoilers" I must start by writing that I do not like this movie at all. Even though it began well I thought it became dull quite quickly because of the many uninteresting and pointless turns in the plot.
We see Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) sitting on a bench talking to a person who sits next to him about his life. When Forrest was young he had a lot of problems because he was a handicapped person. He meets a pretty girl on the school bus and begins to fall in love with her. When some envious and mean school children are chasing him he discovers he can run, finally overcoming his physical disability. This scene was amazing because it shows that people can overcome any diseases by having faith in themselves. Forrest Gump was a brave boy who tried to run, even when it was nearly impossible for him. That was an interesting beginning. However, when he grows up and graduates from college this movie turns out to be awful, as the only thing he does is keep talking about his life as a football player, as a runner and, ridiculously as a soldier, he's inexplicably the best soldier. Forrest Gump seems to believe he's very interesting, that his achievements in life are extremely important and valuable to us, but they aren't. For instance, we see him getting medals and many other things, but I really didn't feel interested in what he received because he seems to be so arrogant, thinking he's the best person in the world. I didn't find myself quite absorbed in the film because I didn't feel amazed by all the achievements he got. Why does he tell it? He only tells people about his achievements to show off, pretending he's a great person! He is happily and arrogantly seated on a bench telling his life to whoever sits next to him. I didn't care what he said, because he only driveled.
After the disappointing climax comes the original ending, which I enjoyed because it wasn't predictable. I never thought Forrest's wife would die. She was sick but I didn't like the way she died. It seems that the writers didn't have anything interesting to add, other than a simple disease to get her out of the story. I also liked it when Forrest and his wife had a child whom they also named Forrest, but I thought the final scene where the child gets onto a bus is interesting because it's somewhat unpredictable; it looked like the whole story would begin again and I do not want to see the same insipid story again because I already went through Gump's life. I certainly do not want to go through his son's life. That'd be more grief!
I do not understand why it received an academy award for best picture. I haven't seen many of 1994's movies, but I'm sure there are more inspiring and interesting movies than this one. A good example would be `Shawshank Redempion' that unbelievably lost the Oscar for best picture!
Overall, this movie is not outstanding. There are many unnecessary and long scenes such as his life in the army, his life as a rich person his life as a person who waits for a bus and finally his life as a runner. I'm sure this could have been a shorter movie. If it had been this way it wouldn't be so annoying. I found the movie far-fetched because I don't think people can run as much as he did, and I don't think people can be so successful without working hard for their future. When do we see Forrest willing to be a successful person? He only did what his family and girlfriend told him to do. He was never willing to be a successful person. I know it's just a movie so I don't worry about it. All the performances in this movie were somewhat believable, especially Sally Field who was an excellent loving mother. I felt sad when she died, since her character was very caring to her son, as some mothers are to their children. Sally Field's performance was convincing, but I didn't find Tom Hanks deserving of an academy award, because he gave an unbelievably simple and unchallenging performance. His performance in 'The Green Mile' was better. 5/10