Forrest Gump (help me out here)

MattinSTL

MattinSTL

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This is one of my favorite movies. If I'm passing by a TV and I catch a glimpse of it I'm frozen in my tracks... I have to watch it... which sucks because it puts me in a funk for days afterward.

I would like somebody to explain the moral or point of this movie to me. I grasp the concepts throughout and the story is punctuated with little speeches from his mother and other people... and I've considered that perhaps that was it, but for some reason in my own mind I want it to mean more then that... and I can't simply chalk it up to entertainment.

I think this movie came out at a time when CG was getting good enough to integrate with such subtlety that the idea may have been inspired partly due to technology... but the movie is about basic human emotions and things which define the quality of an idividual.

So what should I take from it? This movie crushes me for days... my sympathy for Forrest is almost overwhelming every time... I even try to tell myself that it's the guy from Bosom Buddies... but it doesn't matter, Forrest tears me up every time.

I guess the audience is to feel that even a total dullard of society can become one of the greatest human beings of all time? Was the idea of denied love and suffering to illustrate that no matter how wonderful and incredible the events of your life it will never have the meaning that true love does? Is it even a matter of Forrest's true love for Jenny or is it simply the fact that Jenny was the only decent girl that ever expressed any caring for Forrest? Does everybody relate to Forrest the way I do... or are most of you seeing this movie primarily as entertainment?
 
I agree. That movie is fantastic. Its a classic.

I'm sure it means something different to everyone, but to me the movie is a microcosm of life in general. Here is an ordinary guy who has many things going against him from the beginning(i.e. his low IQ, his leg braces etc.), yet through his character, his simple needs and willingness to forge on, Forrest carries the message that you should never give up because you've NO idea what lies ahead. To me, its a pretty good message: that life is not just about pain and heartache. Its about everything. Its about clinging to the love of a woman for years, its about making a best friend and losing him, its about being ordinary, and its about the very real possibility of doing something extraordinary, as Forrest proved.

I suppose, judging by the movies catchphrase, "life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are gonna get", my take is probably pretty obvious. But, I think its a great flick. And, my take, for me, is enough. I dig the message. And in some way or the other, we can all understand how he feels no matter what phase of his life was portrayed. Its just an ordinary guy, who experiences extraordinary things and lives his life.

And oh yeah, it depresses the hell out of me too.
 
Even if I don't get one more reply... that was enough. Thanks I feel a lot better. I'm sure the message is really obvious to many people... but if a movie really grips me then I can get lost in some of the ideas and miss the bigger picture.
 
I actually watched the last ten minutes of this on TBS last night, came in right as Forest & Jenny were getting married.

The speech Forest gives at Jenny's grave is what I think that the movie is about. He says something along the lines of "Maybe Lt. Dan is right and we all have a destiny or maybe Momma is right and we're like a feather being blown in the wind. But I think that they're both right"

I think he is saying that we go through our life with a destiny and the path we take to that destiny is our own. Forest went to war, met presidents, and all these other incidents, but his destiny was to be with Jenny. It was the choices he made as he was floating on that wind that helped him learn more on his way to his destiny.

That was my take at least.

Great soundtrack, great movie, great acting, but it might have been a better movie had Rob Zombie directed it :)

-Jeremy
 
Great film.

Wasnt there someone recently on this site who said they did not like it ?

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Also recently mentioned was the use of Popular music in this film; it was done perfectly I think.
 
Yeah, we talked about the music in the "Best Songs" thread (too lazy to link).

I just think that this is a great film, but I've never gotten depressed by it. My Ex read the books and she said that in the books Forest and Jenny hump a lot more and then there was a sequel or something... Dunno, never read them.

One thing, though, was this was the first film (I was late seeing Philadelphia) where Hanks became more than the Punchline / Joe vs. The Volcano / Splash actor and I actually was able to see him really act. I look at Gump as the turning point in his career, or at least my perception of his career.

-Jeremy
 
The point I got from it is that people love a film about the disabled as long as it's played by Tom Hanks; whereas in a movie like Gummo, showing an actual retarded person is seen as cruel exploitation.

People feel alright laughing at a Tom Hanks retard while if another director shows the real side of mental illness (like shitting blood or rotting teeth) then people throw a fit.

I see Forrest Gump as the real exploitation. I'd like it more if there were an actual retarded person.

Any comments on this?
 
John_Hudson said:
Great film.

Wasnt there someone recently on this site who said they did not like it ?
Click to expand...

Yeah, during the Oscar discussions I mentioned how much I disliked it (maybe someone else you're thinking of though.) I actually quit watching the oscars for a few years after this win. I won't go into detail about my distaste (and sound like a pretentious blowhard), but I really didn't care for it. I'm obviously in the minority, so maybe I'm the one missing out.
 
Interesting. I am the same way with some other films (Fight Club for example) where I seem to be inte minority on not being a fan

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I just took a glance at the 1994 Pscars and I can 100% agree it should not have won Best Picture (Or Director)

Best Picture

Forrest Gump, Wendy Finerman, Steve Tisch and Steve Starkey, producers (Paramount)Four Weddings and a Funeral, Duncan Kenworthy, producer (Gramercy)Pulp Fiction, Lawrence Bender, producer (Miramax)Quiz Show, Robert Redford, Michael Jacobs, Julian Krainin and Michael Nozik, producers (Buena Vista)The Shawshank Redemption, Niki Marvin, producer (Columbia)
 
To me, Forest Gump... has so many meanings, but the thing that does it for me is the love story between him and Jenny... WOW!!! What a love, that's a depressing A$$ movie, but I wouldn't want it to be any other way, I love it.


John_Hudson said:
Interesting. I am the same way with some other films (Fight Club for example) where I seem to be inte minority on not being a fan
Click to expand...


You Didn't like Fight Club.. WOW! just curious to know what didn't you like about it?
 
Forrest Gump was a terrific film - incredibly nuanced performances.
Exceptional direction.

Should it have won? Hmm, much tougher question...



dmc
 
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capitalP said:
... You Didn't like Fight Club.. WOW! just curious to know what didn't you like about it?
Click to expand...

I don't hate it but just find it extremely overrated. What is the cult appeal it seems to have become ? Brad Pitt bores me; I havent seen him perform since 12 Monkeys it seems.

Just wasnt into it.
 
I remember learning once in a film class that Forest Gump was a 'remake', or if my memory isnt correct, was influenced by another film, something foreign. I forgot what the movie was and have been curious about it ever since, anyone got a clue? I wish the instructor was still around....
 
Dear Jackyl,

Yes, the movie you're thinking of is Cannonball Run. It was an epic film indeed, that Burt Reynolds is, and I don't like to throw around the word genius but, maybe a genius.

Anyway, yes, Fight Club is bull -s-h-i-i- t. It's a total total misogynist fantasy. Also, people are always talking about the messages in Fight Club; the ones about people being fed up with our consumerist society where everyone's a little worker drone in an office or something. However, isn't it odd that after they withdraw from society, they form a sexless cult where everyone dresses the same and chants inane mantras?

Fight Club is for men who hate women.
 
I just gotta say, i love it, and i hate it.

the reason i hate it is because, well...look at my name,

how would you like it if your were 5 yrs old when the movie came out, then all the sudden from kindergarten till about...(today) people who meet me still say "Forrest?, like Forrest Gump?" and i say yes.

why couldnt he have been given a different name.
 
You're one what? LDS? I've been happy to do some work for them this past year and the good members of their organization. I thought I might have recognized Joseph Smith in your avatar?

On Forrest Gump, I have to say that it is one of the perfect films. I reserve this classification for very few pictures and this happens to be among them.

Jenny is a feather, drifting in and out of Forrest's life. At the same time, and in spite of her self-centered motivations, she is the anchor, the catalyst for everything he does.

Her childhood demand, "Run Forrest!" saves his life in Vietnam, it is her name on each and every boat in the Bubba Gump fleet.

This is a story of how a decent human can do extraordinary things against all odds. The suggestion that Forrest is "retarded" is an abject simplification of a rather heroic character who stands by those he cares for, does what he commits to do and, in the end, still gets the girl.

Hanks made this look like easy work, and Gump was definitely the gateway to his new and rightful status as an A-list dramatic actor. Some of us knew it when we saw The 'Burbs for the first time - for others it took a little longer.

I don't know why the Academy members collectively decided that this was officially "better" than any of the other films under consideration, but it doesn't diminish this picture's rightful place at the top of lists everywhere.

e
 
hey Everdene! thats pretty cool. there are more saints on here than i would have realized. I didnt think many would recongize the avatar. Im actually going to film an independent short on the first vision. I want to approach it a little different than the mainstream. I want to combine all the aspects of the main 4 accounts of the first vision.

but yes, i agree with everyone about Forrest Gump, i just sure wished they had named it something else. would have saved me some of the guff.

Overland, what type of work did you get to do? filming?
 
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