1994--Forrest Gump, Robert Zemeckis

1994--Forrest Gump, Robert Zemeckis

Nominated: Four Weddings and a Funeral, Pulp Fiction, Quiz Show, The Shawshank Redemption

Should have won: Pulp Fiction

Be sure to see: The Crow, Dumb and Dumber, Interview With the Vampire, Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, Natural Born Killers, Speed, True Lies

“Sometimes I guess there just aren't enough rocks.”--Forrest Gump

     There is a lot of hate directed at this movie, including by me, that is undeserved. Forrest Gump's major downfall was it was nominated in a great year. I think it is fair to say that outside of 1939 which was loaded with top notch films, Forrest Gump is the best movie ever made that won best picture but should have been third in the running, no pun intended (run, Forrest, run!). Chicago (2002) was also pretty good but not better than Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Gangs of New York. But Forrest Gump is a fantastic movie with colorful characters and numerous memorable scenes.

     Tom Hanks won his second Academy Award in as many years for playing the man with an IQ of 75. The film follows Forrest through his childhood, college days, the army and beyond. There are some impressive effects (yes, kids, even for the '90s) and a lot of heart. Through effects, we follow Forrest to various historic moments in United States history. Some Gump haters say showing an everyman achieving the things Forrest does is unrealistic and I have read some say it is offensive to the mentally handicapped to have him experience such things in a clueless way. Critic Leonard Maltin says in his movie guide that these gimmicks didn't work; I disagree. I found them to be clever ways to show various parts of history, plugging our hero by circumstance in the midst of them.

     There is some debate on whether or not Jenny is a likeable character. Jenny is the only kid who was ever nice to Forrest and had stuck by his side for much of his life. Then she would abandon him and come back and abandon him again. Some say she is just living her life; others (like Weird Al Yankovich in his song “Gump”) feels Jenny was kind of a slut. She has a major arc at the end of this movie but I found lots of the hate toward her to be verified. I didn't find her likeable at all. 

     Gump seems to be a step behind the situations around him yet a step ahead of the people around him throughout the movie. He isn't bright enough to understand he is in the Watergate Hotel during the scandal, is in the middle of a desegregation story, or be successful as a shrimp boat captain because the weather demolished every boat but his. But the situations fall into play for him so he breaks the scandal by complaining the lights are keeping him awake, steps right into the middle of the desegregation coverage by returning a book a black student dropped, and becomes the most successful shrimper because he has no competition. He seems to influence history and people around him without even realizing it, even unwittingly helping invent the iconic "Have a nice day" shirt or "Shit happens" bumper stickers. He also provided a lot of hope for others when he started running across the country and back. People ran with him, thinking he was running for a purpose. As he says, he just felt like running. Again, he was a step behind running for hope since that wasn't his purpose, but all the people thought he was and decided to follow him.

     Though Hanks' performance will go down as one for the ages, I found the best performance to Gary Sinise. Sinise plays Lieutenant Dan Taylor, the leader of Gump's squad and, later on, Gump's partner in a shrimping business. For me, he steals every scene he's in. Every line; every action. It is Hanks' movie but Sinise makes it work. He would go on to lose the best supporting actor award to Martin Landau for Ed Wood. Pretty much everyone on earth agrees that award should have gone to Samuel L. Jackson for his role in Pulp Fiction but had Sinise won it wouldn't have been so bad. He owns the movie for me. I wouldn't have minded seeing him accept the award though Jackson clearly earned it. Jackson's loss is right up there with Haley Joel Osment's loss to Michael Caine, also in the supporting actor category.

     Tom Hanks is one of the most gifted actors of my time and can be in the discussion of all time. He is always good, even in bad movies like Splash or The Burbs (which I want to like so badly but just don't). Though Big is my personal favorite of his, it is obvious his most iconic and recognizable role is as Forrest. I don't think anyone else could have pulled it off. Forrest's innocence and ignorance of the world around him is played perfectly. Though he has an IQ of 75 and even acknowledges he isn't a smart man, he seems to have somewhat of a grasp on reality. But he also has a funny way of looking at his predicaments. I especially like the daydreaming look on his face while on the football field before running a kickoff back and his delivery of “thought?” when he is asked if he has given any thought to his future. Most people might wonder “future?” but not Forrest. It is one of my favorite single-word movie lines of all time.

     Forrest Gump is absolutely worth a look. It is an odd movie because it is much better than the hate it gets yet at the same time should not have won the Oscar despite the love it gets.  But the good certainly shines through the bad and, in its own way, really is a monumental achievement. It just so happens that it came out in a very strong year. So give the movie a watch (or re-watch) and then take a look at two much superior movies The Shawshank Redemption and Pulp Fiction. Third place is where Gump should have run.

     That's all I have to say about that.