Forrest gump

Pure, Unadulterated Magnificence! Tom Hanks and Robert Zemeckis weave magic on your heart and you can feel the ovation pouring down through your eyes at the end of this epic movie. Robert Zemeckis, the director has succeeded in creating a delightful charmer of a movie.

Based on the eponymous novel "Forrest Gump" written by Winston Groom, it has been admirably adapted for the silver screen by Eric Roth. This screenplay by Eric Roth has the complexity of modern fiction, not the formulaic character of modern movies .This particular movie cannot be framed as just another romantic drama movie because unlike others, Forrest Gump is not just a "Boy-girl story" but a collection of emotionally overflowing heart-touching moments, breathtaking scenes accompanied by aroma of purity and simplicity with aptly framed heartwarming dialogues that describe to you the basic essence of simple living and true love with the addition of dry humour. Shot at a budget of $55million, this entertainer was produced by Paramount Picture which earned it an amount of near about $677 million and is still considered as one of the highest grossers of all time.

This classic takes you through the life of a below-average IQ yet athletically prodigious native of Alabama named Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) which culminates into a being who is much more to life than any other person having an IQ greater than that of Forrest. He, in his initial years, is shown to have an improper posture which leads to him wearing braces . 

He  lives with his possessive, over -protective but pure hearted mother, an Alabama boarding house owner, who tells him that "stupid is as stupid does" (this quote is repeated many times in this movie and is shown as a constant motivating factor for Forrest). At school, Forrest meets Jenny (Robin Wright), with whom he immediately falls in love and never falls out of love with, and they become best friends. Forrest, while running away from a bunch of bullies, discovers that he can run very fast which, despite his below average intelligence, earns him a scholarship to the University of Alabama after being spotted by Bear Bryant.

After graduating, he enlists in the army and is sent to Vietnam where he meets Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue (Mykelti Williamson), with whom he decides to start a shrimping business, once the war gets over, where he meets  Lt. Dan (Gary Sinise), his superior who loses his legs in an ambush. After this a series of events occur that turns the fast runner to the medal of honour winner in wartime and also a Ping-Pong champion who then becomes a millionaire stockholder (he gets shares in a new "fruit company" named Apple Computer), and the man who runs across America and then retraces his steps. Jenny on the other hand goes on a parallel tour of the counterculture. She goes to California university and drops out and is shown working as a stripper club. She's into psychedelics and flower power, antiwar rallies and love-ins, drugs and needles and is shown to be living the hippy culture more popular in the 1960s and 1970s America. Forrest's character is shown to know all that is important and knows whatever he needs to. He also understands the meaning of love but when he confesses his love for Jenny on the Bridge, outside the club, to which she replies,"Forrest, you don't know what love is." Is indeed a fitting irony considering the climax of the movie.

There is nobody who could have played the role of Forrest Gump to such perfection as done by Tom Hanks. Everything, right from his accent to his way of living to his clothing style and expressions of love love, caring, respect and, matches him to be the only candidate to be able to bring justice to this role. His relationship with his mother and his friendship with Bubba and Lt.Dan is something to learn from. Robin Wright has done a splendid job playing Forrest's lady-love. She dwells perfectly in the role of a suburban girl from Alabama who is drawn into the miss-happenings of the society. Her beautiful smile charms the screen and will make you happy or at the same instant may make you want to weep with her. Bob Zemeckis, with his experience of special effects with the "Back to the future Trilogy" and "Who framed Rogger Rabbit" has amazingly recreated many historical moments with many hilarious moments as when LBJ examines the wound in what Forrest describes it as "my butt-ox". And the biggest laugh in the movie comes after JFK greets Forrest,“Congratulations, How do you feel ? ”, to which he replies,“I got to p**”. Forrest, as a kid, is also shown to be teaching Elvis Presley a hip-swinging dance. This movie was surrounded by many controversies but inspite of those controversies this movie has grown to be an all time entertainer.

I always think to myself about what this movie would have been if there was no Tom Hanks or Robert Zemeckis or even Robin Wright in it and the only answer I get is that it would have gained some popularity and a decent fan base but it wouldn’t have been such a big landmark of modern cinema neither it could have touched the hearts and souls this movie has touched for over two decades now. So watch it on a Sunday mornin' with anyone you like and find yourself blown away by Tom Hank's honest and heartwarming performance and the admirable direction by Robert Zemeckis, an oft underrated auteur .