Forgive me for not seeing "the greatest film ever." I'm fourteen.

Rating: 9/10 (28 February 2011)

Ever have that one film that you've been getting bothered to watch, and just because you haven't seen it people feel the need to hate you and bash you? Or maybe it's just me. Forrest Gump has been neglected by me for years on end. Sadly, I can not give a reason strong enough for people to understand. It's something only I understand.
My reason is that sometimes I get so sick and tired of hearing so much about one film I just blow it off and pick around the edges. It gets annoying to hear the same thing being spoken over and over again, and when I say some of my favorite films are Clerks, Tremors, License to Drive, Joy Ride, and Bio-Dome people, the ones that have heard of the above, say I have a very eclectic taste in film. That I do. But when people started verbally insulting me saying "I'm not a real critic" and "You can't call yourself a critic if you haven't seen the masterpiece that is Forrest Gump, I finally just said "OK! I'll watch it!" The plot I won't waste time repeating. Aside from me till this day EVERYONE knows the plot of Forrest Gump. So why repeat it? A simpleton with an IQ of 75 (Hanks) describes his life in an autobiographical form to strangers while waiting for a bus. Can't get more simplistic than that.
Forrest Gump has been called by people "a masterpiece" and "a classic." While I think it's a well made film, I don't think it deserved six Oscars. I also don't think I should be ridiculed and slapped in the face for not seeing this film. It wasn't truly amazing. In fact, no film is really "amazing." Even the favorite film I don't call amazing. When defining "amazing" you'll find it's definition is "surprising greatly." I've seen actors, directors, people, teachers, etc do an "amazing" job teaching. The film I'm waiting to define "amazing" has not been found.
The Oscars Gump won were Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Effects, and Best Film Editing. It deserved Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Editing. That's about it. Forrest Gump, Pulp Fiction, Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Shawshank Redemption, Quiz Show were all nominated for Best Picture in the year 1994. I can tell you right now I liked Shawshank better than Gump.
As for the rest, Director Robert Zemeckis did a great job adapting the story onto film. Tom Hanks is rightfully the only person who could play Forrest with true affection. I respect that. Hanks is now attached to so many things like Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code I think "Will he ever make a film worth seeing again?" One category Forrest Gump should've won for is "Best Musical Score." The film includes the catchiest, most enjoyable score I can remember in a film. It's definitely on my list of faves (and my iPod for that matter). I found myself jamming out to the tunes in this movie. Especially Lynyrd Skynyrd's iconic "Free Bird" which was used to perfection in this film.
Forrest Gump, the character, is very likable because of his mild mannered and innocent ways. I enjoyed the scenes of him in the army, and the scenes of him at the end. He is definitely a very memorable character. Not an amazing character.
My final thoughts on "the greatest movie ever" go as followed; it was a damn fine film with very memorable moments, but is NOT the greatest film to ever be filmed, put in theaters, thrown in a case, set on the shelves. I somehow feel if I was not pressured and annoyed to review this film I would've enjoyed it more. Maybe if people didn't annoy me so much to review it I would've enjoyed more of what it had to offer. The damage is done. I bet even after I'm done with this review people will say I didn't do it appropriate justice. I got two words to say for them; s**t happens.
Starring: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson, and Sally Field. Directed by: Robert Zemeckis.