reviewed by Mike Crowl
Forrest Gump must hold the record for the most awkwardly titled picture of the decade. It's a long, easy-going movie, very episodic, and for some time makes you wonder if it knows where it's going. I was intermittently irritated by it during the first hour - by the end I was considering seeing it again. And like some other, less-heralded movies, (Empire of the Sun, for example), it makes you think about it again and again in subsequent days.
On first impression this film seems to be trying to include as much US history from the last four decades as possible, all seen through the eyes of a character with an IQ of 75. (Tom Hanks, treading a tightrope between making us wince and making us laugh.) In fact, its aim is much more than that. The theme could be: the meek shall inherit the earth. Gump, (the meek), pretty well does, getting to meet the President so often he begins to find it boring, and making so much money he has to give a good deal of it away. I
ts theme might also be that the foolish are much wiser than the so-called wise: the knowing characters eventually bow down to Gump's simple, almost literal way of approaching life. Finally, the film might well be saying, (against the way Hollywood acts in its public life), that the pleasures of sin really do lead to death.
Forrest Gump is, in part, a strange love story that's only romantic in the oddest way; it's about keeping promises, even when they cost the promise-keeper greatly; and it's about sticking to friends, even when it means risking your life for them.
It's full of film-making cleverness: real - usually dead - figures appear "live" with Tom Hanks; a feather floats around a street scene with the camera following its every "random" move; an actor who walks in his first scene spends most of the movie without legs. But in spite of all this, it has heart, and much warmth, especially between long-term friends. It has the guts to talk about God without throwing Him out completely. And it has the usual marvellous camera-work and photography that have characterized other Robert Zemekis' films (including the often heartless Back to the Future series).
There are some breathtaking moments: the great hush when a huge crowd of hippies waits for Gump to speak at the Washington Mermorial; or the flames from the US planes in Vietnam almost wiping Gump out as he rescues his friend Bubba.
The creators of this film attempt the well-nigh impossible, something many other creative people have tried and failed: the creation of a good character, someone who doesn't judge or criticize, or do bad things. (This is quite a departure from the original novel.) For Christians filmgoers, this should be a distinct plus. That the character is slow isn't a reflection on goodness - perhaps it's more a reflection of how difficult it is to portray goodness in someone who is up with the play.
There are one or two moments that leave a sour taste, and they could have been avoided. There are also some moments when it threatens to go over the top. Nevertheless, this film is worth seeing, because hardly any other film has managed to make goodness quite so appealing.
copyright 1997 Mike Crowl
Back to the Index