The Quintessential,20th Century Southern Tall-tale

Rating: 8/10 (31 December 2006)

Winston Groom's novel was optioned to PAramount in 1986 and spent about seven years gathering dust before Robert Zemekis wanted to option this into a movie. Eric Roth agreed to pen the screenplay adaptation,and with some fortuitous and shrewd casting(fortuitous=freshly Oscar-minted Tom Hanks,shrewd=Gary Sinise,Sally Field,Robin Wright and Mykelti Williamson)mixed in with clever CGI,a little novel that had a cult following and was nearly forgotten became a Runaway Summer Box Office success and a Academy Award winner.
Such is the story of the making of Forrest Gump. I tell this,because the actual story of the film is pretty well understood by now: slow,possibly retarded Southerner Forrest Gump(Hanks,very un-Hanks-like and probably why he drew a second Oscar)is waiting on a bus to visit the love of his life,a troubled woman named Jenny(Robin Wright,nearly unrecognizable from her days as a soap actress or even from Princess Buttercup in The Princess Bride). While waiting,he--in his beguiling and completely unaffected manner--begins to tell strangers who happen by to wait on a bus about his story,and what a story it is!
Born of a unwed mother(Sally Field),he overcomes a birth disorder to become a champion runner, a college football star(at Alabama for legendary coach Paul"Bear"Bryant!),a war hero in Vietnam,a champion Ping Pong player and a successful entrepreneur. Along the way,he is able to touch the lives(and one has to assume,IS touched by)of the people who he works around and with,particularly his CO in 'Nam(Sinise in arguably the most haunting performance of the show),his equally slow bunk mate in the Army(Williamson,unfairly ignored for this performance)and,of course,Jenny. But while Forrest leads a Pangloss/Zelig type life through the turbulent period of time that defined the Baby Boomer generation,he's still looking for the love that Jenny seems so reluctant to give.
To be real honest,the gild on this Lily for me has came off over the years(I absolutely LOVED this film when I saw it in a crowded movie theater on JUly 4th weekend,1994),partly due to the over-abundance of publicity that this film received over the nearly seven months that it was in first-run theatrical release. Also,I wasn't entirely convinced that this movie deserved all the awards mantle ware that it received. But I've seen this movie at least twice in its entirety and probably as many as seven or eight times in bits and pieces,plus I own the VHS tape and may someday want to get the DVD,so I feel like for the most part,this film is still special to me. I think that's because of the summary line:behind the stars,the big-time production,the awards,the frills,the publicity(Bubba Gump cookbooks,T-Shirts,etc.),lies what can be simply put as a Southern Tall tale,meant to enchant and inspire the imagination,set to a period of time(namely,the Western world,circa 1946 to 1981)that is generally regarded as anything but inspirational or enchanting. This film is for anyone who wants to believe in larger-than-life tales set in the real world. An unforgettable film,indeed.