Technically Brilliant, Otherwise Barren

Rating: 5/10 (12 September 2002)

Yes, I watched in awe as Tom Hanks was digitally inserted into all the major events of the second half of the twentieth century, but my already opened jaw then went slack at the banality of the screenplay.
Sorry, but "Life is like a box of chocolates" is not a philosophy for a grownup. Or even a retard.
I loved the opening shot, and was really wanting to like this film, but Sally Field is embarrassing, ditto Tom Hanks. Gary Sinise is good, but Robin Wright's character makes no sense.
There IS no moral or philosophical coherence to this film ... it just allows woolly thinkers around the world to project their own feel good mantras onto it.
I give it a 5 for technical achievement
(I stand by for the usual tirade of illiterate and obscene abuse I get when I dare to criticise a sacred cow.)