A Corny Stinker

Rating: 2/10 (6 May 1999)

Phew! I gave this one two stars, just because some of the effects were quite good. Other than that, I have to say, there is very little to like. Perhaps you have to be a baby-boomer to a really appreciate it. I'm a buster myself, and I've never been able to understand the wodges of gooey praise that boomers like to pile on to this fetid piece of corn.
Tom Hanks (whom I actually like) has to hold a record for the easiest Oscar in history. How hard could it be to just belt out your lines in a flat monotone, without ever having to show any sign of comprehension or complex emotion? Forrest Gump in love looks an awful lot like Forrest Gump confused, or Forrest Gump angry, as far as I can tell. The members of the Academy are suckers for mentally disabled protagonists, but Hanks's Gump has neither the depth of Dustin Hoffman's Raymond ("Rain Man") Babbit nor the extraordinary movements and expressions of Daniel Day-Lewis's Christy Brown.
If, like me, you like to see ALL the Oscar winners, I suppose you'll have to endure Forrest Gump at some point in your life. Otherwise, stay away!