A feel-good movie the way it's supposed to be made...

Rating: 10/10 (24 March 2003)

...with class, wit, and genuine pathos, instead of the mawkish tripe of mercenary weepfests like Men of Honor, A Beautiful Mind and (gak) Pearl Harbor. While the creators of such movies meticulously contrive each scene to be a tear-jerking, heart-rending epiphany into the human spirit, the makers of Forrest Gump set out to tell what is simply a great story of one man's life, where all emotion is merely an honest by-product and nothing more. The movie's unique sense of humor makes it clear early on how it doesn't plan to take its subject matter too seriously, and when the occasional sentimental scene does crop up, it's executed in a way that is surprisingly not cloying or embarrassing. At all. Very un-Hollywood.
Cliff notes version: Well written, well acted, well done. 10/10