Forrest Gump (1994)

Director:

Robert Zemeckis

Writers (WGA):

Winston Groom (novel)
Eric Roth (screenplay)

Release Date:

6 July 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | War

Tagline:

The story of a lifetime.

Plot:

Forrest Gump, while not intelligent, has accidentally been present at many historic moments, but his true love, Jenny, eludes him.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Vietnam | Destiny | Simple Man | Fishing

Awards:

Won 6 Oscars. Another 32 wins & 38 nominations

Cast

Tom Hanks	...	Forrest Gump
Robin Wright Penn	...	Jenny Curran (as Robin Wright)
Gary Sinise	...	Lt. Dan Taylor
Mykelti Williamson	...	Pvt. Benjamin Buford 'Bubba' Blue
Sally Field	...	Mrs. Gump
Rebecca Williams	...	Nurse at Park Bench
Michael Conner Humphreys	...	Young Forrest Gump
Harold G. Herthum	...	Doctor (as Harold Herthum)
George Kelly	...	Barber
Bob Penny	...	Crony
John Randall	...	Crony
Sam Anderson	...	Principal
Margo Moorer	...	Louise, Mrs. Gump's Housekeeper
Ione M. Telech	...	Elderly Woman
Christine Seabrook	...	Elderly Woman's Daughter

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for drug content, some sensuality and war violence.

Runtime:

142 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:PG (TV rating) | Finland:K-12 (re-rating) | Finland:K-14 (original rating) | Iceland:L | South Korea:12 | South Korea:15 (DVD rating) | Portugal:M/12 | Brazil:14 | New Zealand:M | Ireland:12 (re-rating) (2009) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Germany:12 | Ireland:15 | Israel:PG | Netherlands:12 | Norway:11 | Poland:15 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Ambassador Hotel - 3400 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

All of the boat scenes, including the hurricane scene, were shot on location in the waters off the coast of South Carolina. A jet engine was used to generate the hurricane winds. The still/news reel shots of the trawlers on land are news shots of the aftermath of Hurricane Hugo in South Carolina 1989.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The letter from Apple Computer, dated 1975, uses the 'Apple Garamond' font below the logo. Apple did not use this font before the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Until then, the logo featured the Motter Tektura font. The Garamond font itself was only designed in 1977.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Forrest Gump: Hello. My name's Forrest, Forrest Gump. You want a chocolate?

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "The Weird Al Show: Promises, Promises (#1.2)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

Rainy Day Women #12 & 35

A beautiful fable for now and the future

I believe everyone has a right to their opinion about films or other topics. However from a lot of the comments I have read about this film, I do not think many got the gist of the message from the author and the film maker. This film is a great modern fable, a fable in the dictionary is defined as a brief fictitious story that teaches a moral. There are many morals defined in this film but foremost is integrity and a simple goodness.

I have a half brother who grew up in the Southern U.S. and on one occasion we were discussing this film and he said he felt it portrayed Southerners as dimwitted. I disagreed with him and informed him that the author himself was a native Southerner. The setting is central to this story in that it lets the tale unfold tying in factual events with the fable before us.

The film is wonderfully directed by Robert Zemeckis, the film is his opus and is acted by a great cast on all levels. From the children who were Forrest Gump and Gump Jr. by Haley Joel Osment. Say what you want but I feel Tom Hanks deserved the Oscar award. Gary Sinise is synonymous with Lt.Dan whenever you hear those words. Sally Fields is the loving dutiful mother in her challenging situation. Mykelti Williamson as Bubba gives you a real sense in the story that Gump had a genuine friend, he moves you with his character. Words don't grasp the full performance of Robin Wright Penn as Jenny. Jennys' tenderness and pain are palpable as exhibited by Wright.

I feel that much of Gumps' appeal is his downright sense of doing the right thing regardless of the people and situations around him and we see that in this film. That being the case maybe we all wish we could be just a little more like that, trying to maintain innate goodness and not the trade-offs we often make as we go down lifes highways.

The movie has it all too,drama,comedy and it challenges societal norms as well. Then there are the almost endless quotes from the movie that have slipped into everyday speech. They are too numerous to say at this point.One of the toppers for me in the movie is when Forrest is in a quandary about life and wondering as Lt.Dan said we all have a destiny and his Moms'where we are all just floating around like a feather in the wind. Forrest's character terms it very well with this quote,"I think it is a little bit of both." From my experiences in life it does appear to be that way. So if you have not seen the movie,see it soon you are in for a real treat. If you did not like it, give it a try again and hopefully you will see it for the great story it is!