overlong, one-idea movie

Rating: 4/10 (2 July 1999)

I suppose that because FORREST GUMP uses fantastic technology to trot out its one joke and gimmick again, it gave the illusion of somehow being original. The feather and the feather only is great in this movie; the rest is capable at best (Hanks' performance, some of the cinematography) and hackneyed at worst. This is the sort of movie, like THE SOUND OF MUSIC, which cues its sentiment so strongly it's insulting. It's interesting to take a movie like this and compare it with something like BIRDY (which has certain thematic similarities); BIRDY's premise is so much more far-fetched, and yet the movie has an authenticity GUMP can't manage. Almost everyone involved here has done better, if not stellar, work elsewhere.