"Why don't you love me, Jenny?"

Rating: Null/10 (15 January 2003)

What will make this film endure is its apolitical skew when commenting on major political events. Everyone is parodied, everyone's hypocrisy revealed through Forest's simplicity, including the peaceniks - which is a welcome change to say the least. I truly believe this is one of the better films of the last quarter century. The reliance on special effects unfortunately will weaken this film over time, that's just inevitable. When you watch it now, the insertion of Forest into a number of historical events, which is a huge part of the film, already show an antiquated technology. While this was a new thing and sold the movie when it was released, it's more of a distraction now. There are roughly ten major scenarios or chapters in Forest's life that the film chronicles. Each completely as unrelated as can be imagined, but they are all done so well and woven together so finely, that never once is continuity threatened. The fifteen minutes or so of Viet Nam is as good as that gets. The photography goes heavy on the earth's natural beauty, and seeks to subliminally remind us how meaningless are all of the seemingly crucial events that pop off while we live our lives. Forest's inferior intellect allows him, although sadly unrealistically, to seek and win simple love, gain serendipitous fame and fortune, and ultimately attain nirvana because he is not burdened by intellectual fear or cerebral reasoning. Really makes you stop and think about what is important in this life we are blessed with.