Obnoxiously politically correct, but...

Rating: 6/10 (23 July 2006)

In all fairness and all clichés and preachy political statements aside, Forest Gump is an extremely watchable film on a basic level.
If you just see it as a straightforward biographical story, then director Robert Zemeckis really gets you involved in the main character throughout his life. It features comedy, a war story, portrayals of eras, issues of acceptance and tops it off with a romance story--all supported by mostly strong performances and a fantastic soundtrack.
However, when you scratch the surface of some of these things--and sometimes you don't even have to--you see the many issues that the film attempts to tackle and they are so many and so stupidly treated that it really ends up a babble of political correctness. AIDS, prostitution, racism, war, drugs and conformity are all touched upon at various stages of Forest's life as he experiences them like the innocent child that he is.
The treatment of some of these issues is offensively moralistic and perpetuates and facilitates the holier-than-thou moral high-ground that Zemeckis takes in the film.
Example: Forest fights in Vietnam war. Forest denounces war. Forest makes best friends with an African American guy. Forest won't take drugs. Forest helps bitter handicapped guy. Forest has a sincere mind. The only remotely rebellious character in this film is killed off with AIDS.
Or maybe I'm simply too cynical to truly enjoy Forest Gump and its preachy optimism and 'fine-and-dandy' attitude. Either way, this film is obnoxiously politically correct but still quite enjoyable.
6/10