The feel-good film of the decade

Rating: 9/10 (11 December 2012)

*****WARNING: THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS**** Adapted from the novel of the same name by Winston Groom, "Forrest Gump" is unlike any movie I've ever seen. For the duration of its two-hour run, it enchants and moves, amazes and inspires, seamlessly blending comedy and drama, history and fantasy, threading its spellbinding yarn against the backdrop of some of the defining events in modern American history.
"Forrest Gump" is about Forrest Gump, an everyman from Alabama. While Forrest is none too bright, he can run like the wind, which secures him a scholarship to the University of Alabama. As the film continues, he becomes a footballer, a soldier, a ping-pong champion, a folk hero and a multi-millionaire. He meets Elvis Presley and JFK; exposes the Watergate Scandal; saves lives in the Vietnam War; runs across the United States; becomes a household name as a highly successful shrimping boat captain; makes the cover of Forbes magazine; and inspires John Lennon's iconic record "Imagine." And yet, in spite of all these events, the defining moments in Forrest's life are those he shares with Jenny, his childhood sweetheart, who flits in and out of his life as she goes on a downward spiral trying to come to terms with being a survival of physical and sexual abuse by her father when she was a child.
It is from these tender and real moments between Forrest and Jenny that the film finds it emotional core. Their relationship develops over the years and ultimately leads to them marrying and having a son together. But even then, Jenny's traumatic past comes back to haunt her, as the years of self-destructive behaviour that it triggered led to her becoming ill with an unknown virus (possibly HIV/AIDS) that tragically claims her life towards the end of the movie.
"Forrest Gump" is very much a take it or leave it film. It could be viewed as one-dimensional, optimist bilge, about an idiot meandering aimlessly through life, merely getting lucky. Reading between the lines, though, you find a masterpiece, careening between sadness and joy, pain and triumph. Robert Zemeckis' direction is almost flawless; he renders "Forrest Gump" with aesthetic quality and flair. It includes soundtrack with contributions from various American artists and, of course, Alan Silvestri, who composes a beautiful piano suite that is magical in itself.
Recognising technical and writing merit, the standard of acting in "Forrest Gump" is high as to be almost off the scale. Tom Hanks's performance as Forrest Gump accrued Oscar, Golden Globe and SAG awards that he wholly deserved; he plays Forrest's naivety and vulnerability well and his monologue at Jenny's grave was a tearjerker. Robin Wright's portrayal of Jenny - a woman crying out for help - was tender and real and Gary Sinise, playing Forrest's commanding officer in the Army, Lt. Dan Taylor, who loses his legs after being wounded in combat, is superb, flawlessly capturing Lt. Dan's wrath, melancholy and despair and later his redemption and joy.
There is no way to define "Forrest Gump" as a movie. It can only be defined as art.