A timeless movie

Rating: 9/10 (4 May 2014)

Tom Hanks, stars as the title character in the novel turned movie, Forrest Gump. The movie depicts Forrest's many adventures, as he narrates them to a string of strangers at a bus stop. "Stupid is as stupid does," Forrest states to a stranger reluctantly listening to his story. Despite his low IQ, Forrest has inadvertently become a part of many of the history making moments in second half of the 20th century. The film follows Forrest as he teaches Elvis Presley to dance, becomes a college football star, meets John F. Kennedy, serves with honor in Vietnam, speaks at an anti-war rally at the Washington Monument, punches a Black Panther, defeats the Chinese in table tennis, meets Richard Nixon, discovers the break-in at the Watergate, builds a successful shrimping business, and becomes wealthy through an investment in a "fruit company" aka Apple Computers, and becomes an icon by running across the country for several years. Intertwined throughout his adventures is his undying love for Jenny, played by Robin Wright. Sally Field's stars as Forrest's mother, whose wisdom is extolled throughout the movie. Gary Sinise stars as Lieutenant Dan, Forrest's commanding officer in Vietnam and reluctant friend.
Forrest Gump uses a series of flashbacks and voice over narrations to tell the story of a seemingly less than extraordinary man living an extraordinary life. This style of storytelling has been used, with mixed results, in movies for years, including the iconic Citizen Kane. The opening scene find Forrest sitting on a bench as a feather slowly drifts in the wind and lands at his feet, this sets the pace for the movie and subtly introduces one of the themes, is life a series of coincidences or are we the masters of our own destiny? Forrest tells one of his listeners, "My momma always said, life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna to get." His life certainly seems to reflect that sentiment. Through a series of well-timed coincidences Forrest influences some major historical events, including The Watergate Scandal, and falls into some incredibly fortuitous opportunities, like his college football career. Other events seem to be more of guided destiny, like his service in Vietnam, which led not only to meeting Lieutenant Dan, but also his "best good friend" Bubba. He subsequently goes on to save half the platoon, including Lieutenant Dan and brings Bubba's shrimping boat business to fruition and becomes very wealthy. The antithesis to these opportune events is Forrest's unrequited love for Jenny. Throughout all the stories Jenny pops in and out of Forrest's life, even when it seems that she is gone forever. He has loved her forever, but she keeps running from her past, in which Forrest is irrevocably entwined. Eventually destiny wins and Jenny, now terminally ill, returns a final time with their son, Forrest. The ending scene ties the theme back in, as the same feather falls from a book and is again carried away in the wind.
The movie's portrayal of all these incredible events hinges on some incredible CGI and special effects, but not the fast-action, explosive effects we often see these days. Forrest's image is superimposed on historical news reels, at times with humorous results, like showing his unfortunately placed war wound to President Lyndon Johnson. One especially noteworthy example is the editing to reflect the loss of Lieutenant Dan's legs. In every post-Vietnam scene that includes Lieutenant Dan, his legs had to be digitally removed. The digital editing is so seamlessly done that some viewers thought that actor Gary Sinise had actually lost his legs.
Forrest Gump successfully uses a mix of CGI enhanced flashbacks and voice-over narration to cause the viewer to reflect on destiny and the ripple effects we may have on the people with whom we interact. Are our lives just a series of coincidences or the destiny we chose?