Forrest Gump (1994) - #34

Empire top 301: #34
IMDb top 250: #18

Rating 9/10

Director: Robert Zemeckis
Writers: Eric Roth
Starring: Tom Hanks, Gary Sinise, Robin Wright & Sally Field

"Life's a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."

I have a real love/hate relationship with Forrest Gump. I love it because it's bloody brilliant and so charming and heartwarming, yet I hate it because it was the film that triumphed over Pulp Fiction and The Shawshank Redemption for the Oscar for Best Picture. Wow, 1994 was a good year for movies! Tom Hanks is Forrest Gump a not very intelligent man who through the teachings of his mother always seems to see the positive side of things and is present through many of America's historic moments. 

Tom Hanks is simply brilliant as Forrest Gump; very watchable in a performance that is so far away from the previous years Philadelphia (another fave of mine). He really is believable as Forrest and whilst it would be easy to do he never hams up the performance or plays it for jokes. There are times when his accent slips a little but I'm nit picking there. He carries the whole movie and his scenes with Gary Sinise, Robin Wright and Sally Field are great. 

The movie is very heartwarming and uplifting but it is also very sad and tragic. The whole Jenny storyline is depressing and heartbreaking; she was so damaged and used Forrest whenever she felt low, then dropped him as soon as she got a better offer or things got serious. It's all the more sad for Forrest because he really loved her, she was everything to him. The story is told beautifully and they way their lives go in two completely different way but always coming back to each other is lovely. I love Robin Wright as Jenny, she's fantastic. Gary Sinise and Sally Field are equally as impressive as the two leads, as is the whole cast to be fair. Right down to the old woman sitting at the bus stop. 

The story is great in how it portrays the historic moments. Ok, there are some when it gets a bit silly, like the Watergate scene, but it makes for fun viewing. The movie also has one of the best scores and soundtracks ever, it's one great song after another and the music really helps to tell the story. 

It really is a sweet and lovely film that is beautifully written and filmed. It's a movie I could watch again & again and never get bored and you can't ask for more than that!