Roth is the screenwriter for Gump. He's done many other screenplays since then and has been very successful. The problem is, several of those screenplays have a LOT of similarities to this one, and once that was discovered by astute moviegoers and critics, I found myself angry. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, nominated for Best Picture in 2012, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, nominated for Best Picture in 2009, are the two most egregious examples, especially the latter one. Lots of past-to-present time-jumping, a tired plot device in my view as I've said in other blogs. Man-made and/or natural disasters. War. Boats. Handicaps. Schmaltz. MASSIVE schmaltz. Frankly, Button is almost start-to-finish the exact same story. Want proof? Watch this video. It's mind-blowing. (Unfortunately, there's no way not to put up with the Foot Locker ad first. It plays automatically every damn time.)
See? At least with Extremely... Roth changed things up a little bit, but whatever. Today Roth isn't writing screenplays, he's producing the mega-successful Netflix series House of Cards. Good for him. I don't hate the man, I'm glad he's successful. Just...please, no more screenplays.
Let's get to Forrest Gump!
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The opening credits roll as we watch a feather fly in the air, alternatively landing on and soaring through traffic and trees and whatnot. It finally lands at the feet of our titular character, Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks), who puts it in his copy of the book Curious George in his briefcase. Gump is sitting on a park bench at a bus stop. A young nurse steps off the bus and sits there as well. Gump engages her in conversation. She seems to be trying to half-ignore him as she's reading a book, but she stays attentive. Gump talks about his sneakers, saying they're his first pair. As a kid, he had "magic legs". This brings us to a flashback (which Gump narrates during throughout the film) to Gump as a child (Michael Conner Humphreys). He's at the doctor's office getting braces put on his legs to help straighten his back out. His mother, referred to only in the film as Mama or Mrs. Gump (Sally Field), later is talking to the school principal (Sam Anderson). The principal says Forrest isn't smart enough IQ-wise to be here; he should attend a special school. Mrs. Gump says her son will get the same education anyone else gets. Surely something can be done. One rendezvous later, Forrest is admitted to the school.
The Gump household is large, and it doubles as a sort-of bed and breakfast. People come and go often. Apparently a young rock singer was staying there one time. He was playing guitar and singing as young Forrest danced and shimmied to the tune as best he could with his leg braces on. Some time later, Forrest and his mother see Elvis Presley on a store window television doing the dance Forrest showed him. Mrs. Gump rushes her son away from the TV, saying that's not for childrens' eyes.
Forrest gets on the bus for his first day of school. He meets a young girl named Jenny (Hanna Hall). They hit it off and become best friends. One day, older kids are throwing rocks at Gump so Jenny tells him to run away ("Run, Forrest! Run!"). As Forrest runs out of reach, his leg braces shatter and come off, no longer needed. Jenny eventually winds up living with her grandmother since her father is an alcoholic and abusive pig who eventually gets himself incarcerated. Jenny would visit Forrest often, and they remain friends through the years. Both are now finished with high school. Again, kids throw rocks at Gump and Jenny (adult, Robin Wright) tells him to run. He does so, and in the process runs across a football field where scouts and coaches from the University of Alabama are running drills. Gump outruns everyone easily and is given a full scholarship to attend and play at the university.
The university is the site of the famous/infamous George Wallace incident where he blocked the entrance to protest the school allowing in blacks for the first time. Gump winds up on television news as he's visible in the background of Wallace speaking, and later when he gives a black woman a book back that she dropped. Forrest visits Jenny often at her all-girls college, although one visit sees him accidentally punch her date because he thought Jenny was being forced upon. Jenny forgives Forrest and sneaks him in. She tells him her dream of being a folk singer like Joan Baez. Jenny also gives Forrest his first sexual experience, although Forrest winds up finishing rather quickly and accidentally.
The football team wins the national championship and visits the White House some time later. President John F. Kennedy meets Forrest, who by this time has drank 15 Dr. Peppers and tells JFK he really needs to pee. In time, Forrest graduates and is given a pamphlet from a recruiter about possibly joining the Army. Forrest figures, why not? On the recruitment bus, he meets Bubba Blue (Mykelti Williamson), who comes from a family of shrimp boat captains. Bubba talks a lot about shrimp. A LOT. But the two become good friends, even agreeing to go into the shrimping business together after their service is completed. One night, Forrest goes to visit Jenny, who he learns is performing somewhere after having gotten thrown out of college for appearing in Playboy. The show is actually at a seedy joint. Jenny sits nude on a stool with a guitar in her lap, singing folk songs. Forrest is happy to see she's realizing her dream. The rest of the crowd just wants to see her naked. When one patron gets too rowdy, Forrest shoves him down and tries to carry Jenny to safety, but she just storms off the stage. They leave the club together with Jenny knowing he only means well, but she tells him he can't keep doing this. He says he loves her, but she replies that he doesn't know what love is. For a brief moment, Jenny considers suicide by jumping off the bridge, wondering how it would feel to fly. Forrest says he's being deployed to Vietnam. Jenny tells him if he ever gets in trouble over there, don't try to be a hero. Just run. She then hitches a ride out of town.
In Vietnam, Gump meets Lt. Dan (Gary Sinise), his superior. Dan's troop slogs through Vietnam, bad weather and close calls and jungle and swamp. He remarks how he always thinks of Jenny, and we see that Jenny has joined a hippie caravan, traversing the country in a VW bus and hanging out with other hippies. One day, Gump and his platoon find themselves in a severe combat situation. Dan's entire squad is killed or injured, and he tells Gump to run away. Gump does so, eventually finding himself at the beach. He realizes Bubba isn't there so he runs back into the danger zone, finding wounded soldiers as he does so. He carries them out one by one, including Dan (who is angry Gump is saving him) and Bubba (who is mortally wounded). Gump gets Bubba out just before the jungle is flooded with napalm.
Gump wound up taking a bullet in the buttocks during the rescue, so he's now recuperating in the infirmary. He loves that he gets all the ice cream he wants. He doesn't love discovering all his letters to Jenny have been returned due to her not residing anywhere right now. While recuperating, Forrest takes up ping pong. He winds up a prodigy, often putting on solitary demonstrations for the rest of the soldiers. One day, Forrest is excited to see Lt. Dan is there as well. Dan is still bitter and angry, having lost both of his legs and claiming that Forrest robbed him of his destiny to die in the war. Forrest learns he's going to receive a medal and goes to tell Dan, but Dan has already been sent home. Gump is flown to the White House to receive his medal from President Lyndon Johnson and shows LBJ the bullet wound on his behind. He also winds up attending a peace rally in D.C. against the war, and in the process reunites with Jenny, who's there with her hippie brigade. They embrace in front of the cheering throngs.
Gump meets Jenny's friends, who are all hippies and Black Panthers. She sees one guy, apparently her boyfriend, slap Jenny, and he pounds the snot of the guy. When the bus is leaving the next day, Forrest tries to convince Jenny to go back to Alabama, but she decides to return to California with the bus. Forrest gives her his medal. As time passes, Forrest goes on the Dick Cavett show and even plays ping pong in China. After the Cavett appearance, Lt. Dan surprises him outside the studio. Dan is now in a wheelchair and has long, scraggly hair and a beard. He's living at a hotel now, getting by happily with his booze and the constant supply of army money. On New Year's Eve, Forrest tells Dan he's going to keep his promise to Bubba and buy a shrimp boat. Dan laughs and says the day that happens, he'll be his First Mate, thinking realistically that day will never come.
Forrest wonders what Jenny's doing on this New Year's Eve. We see that Jenny is packing a bag and leaving her boyfriend's apartment with a fresh black eye as he's passed out in bed. Meanwhile, Dan and Forrest meet a couple of girls and they go to Dan's apartment later. One of the girls begins to kiss Forrest but he shoves her down. She yells at him and asks if he's stupid. Dan comes to his defense and the girls ultimately get thrown out.
Gump makes yet another White House visit, this time as a member of the U.S. Army Ping Pong team. He meets President Richard Nixon, who asks what hotel he's staying at. Whatever the answer is, Nixon says he knows of a much better hotel and he'll put him up there tonight. That night, Gump calls security from his hotel window because he sees in another room of the hotel some people in there with flashlights. The next scene is footage of Nixon resigning due to the Watergate hotel break-in.
Forrest gets honorably discharged from the Army. After some time at home with Mama, he visits Bubba's family and his grave. Then he buys a shrimping boat. His early excursions are unsuccessful, with one trip yielding only five shrimp. Someone tells him a couple more and he can make himself a cocktail. He also recommends Forrest name his boat for good luck. Forrest names it "Jenny". Speaking of Jenny, she's still miserable, doing cocaine at the disco and pondering suicide off of an apartment balcony.
One day, Forrest is out on his boat. He sees Lt. Dan on the dock. Dan said he's there to keep his promise. Unfortunately, they still aren't having any luck getting shrimp. Dan tells him maybe he should pray for shrimp. Forrest starts going to church. Doesn't help. Dan asks him where his God is. Then in Forrest's words, "God showed up." A hurricane arrives and Dan yells at it while Forrest tries to keep the boat from being destroyed. As it turns out, every boat was destroyed except for "Jenny", and now Forrest and Dan are netting thousands of shrimp every day. Forrest and Dan are now on the cover of Fortune magazine thanks to the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company.
Dan tells Forrest he never thanked him for saving his life. In saying that, he's done so. A call comes onto the boat one day with news that Forrest's mom is sick. Forrest dives right off the boat and runs home. He gets to see her before she passes. Dan keeps the business going, even investing in what Forrest calls a fruit company (it's Apple Computers) and making them multi-millionaires. Forrest stays at the Alabama home and enjoys his riding lawnmower, taking care of his lawn as well as those at the school. He donates to local causes and sends a huge check to Bubba's family too. He still misses Jenny, though. So he's thrilled beyond words when Jenny arrives at the house one day. They spend a lot of time together. Jenny gives Forrest the sneakers for his birthday. One night, Forrest asks Jenny to marry him. Jenny says he doesn't want to marry someone like her. Forrest says he's not a smart man, but he knows what love is. Later, Jenny admits she loves him too and they go to bed together.
The next morning, Forrest finds his medal on a table and Jenny gone. He contemplates the situation and finally just decides to start running. As he reaches each new place (end of the street, end of town, state border, etc.) he just decides he may as well keep going. So he runs and runs, stopping to eat and sleep and rest as needed. He goes coast to coast, back and forth, and is all over the news. Jenny, working somewhere at a waitress, sees one news report covering his arrival into Mississippi for the fifth time in what is now a running excursion going over 2 years. The reporter says he thinks the running gives people hope.
Forrest gets company over time as others run with him. Several people ask him for advice, and he winds up accidentally creating the "Shit Happens" and "Have a Nice Day" slogans in the process. Finally, somewhere in what looks like Arizona, Forrest stops running. He says that after 3 years, 2 months, 14 days and 16 hours, he's tired and ready to go home.
When he gets home, he finds a letter from Jenny inviting him to visit her in Savannah, Georgia. That's where Forrest is right now on this park bench, telling his story during the movie. The woman sitting next to him tells him his destination is only about 6 blocks away, so he takes off in that direction. He and Jenny have a reunion and they're both very happy. He also discovers Jenny's now a mom and meets her son, named Forrest (Haley Joel Osment). Jenny tells him he's the father. Forrest is stunned and thrilled but also scared that their son may be of a low IQ as well. Jenny assures him Forrest Jr. is smart as a whip. Jenny apologizes for everything she's ever done to him over the years, and also tells him she's sick with something the doctors can't seem to diagnose or cure. She asks Forrest to marry her. He says yes.
The wedding takes place at the Gump Alabama home where Jenny and Forrest Jr. have moved. Lt. Dan arrives at the wedding with new titanium legs and a new fiancée. Forrest loves that Dan now has "magic legs". Forrest takes care of Jenny for her remaining days. When she passes away, he buries her under their favorite tree growing up. Forrest now takes care of his son, including at the bus stop on his first day of school. Forrest Jr. has the copy of Curious George in his bookbag. Forrest opens it up and we see a feather fall out of it. The feather flies off as the movie ends.
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The movie is based on Winston Groom's 1986 novel of the same name. The screenplay differs greatly from the book. The soundtrack to the film was a huge seller, with lots of popular music covering the 1950's to the 1980's. The film was also the biggest box office draw of 1994, taking in over $667 million worldwide. Many of the lines from the film remain popular today. As for the Oscars, yeah, they loved it too. A whopping 13 nominations with 6 wins. Losing categories were Original Score (Alan Silvestri), Makeup, Sound Effects Editing, Sound, Art/Set Direction, Supporting Actor (Sinise) and Cinematography (Don Burgess). Wins came for Visual Effects, Film Editing, Adapted Screenplay (Roth), Director (Robert Zemeckis), Lead Actor (Hanks) and Best Picture.
In winning the top prize, Forrest Gump bested four other films that, as I said earlier, are to me the best overall crop of nominees for Best Picture in history. I'd put this one as fourth-best as far as my personal preference. Fifth best is Four Weddings and a Funeral, which despite being statistically the weakest nominee, is still a fantastic movie. Third best is Quiz Show, directed by Robert Redford, telling the story of the quiz-show scandals of the 1950's. As far as performances go, I think this film had the best ensemble work, especially John Turturro as Herbert Stempel. Second best, Pulp Fiction, the film that really put Quentin Tarantino and several actors such as Samuel L. Jackson on the map, and revived the career of John Travolta too. This movie was like nothing I'd ever seen before, a pure adrenaline rush. However, my favorite film of 1994 is one that MANY people today actually say is one of the greatest films they've ever seen. I'm on that list too. The Shawshank Redemption. This film had a quiet run at the box office, but video rentals and word of mouth have vaulted this film into absolutely iconic status. Amongst these five Best Picture nominees, there were a total of 7 Oscar wins. Gump had 6 of them. The 7th was Original Screenplay to Tarantino and Roger Avery.
This was a pretty wild and amazing year at the Oscars even beyond all that. Remember this?
That's Lizzy Gardiner, who along with Tim Chappel won the Oscar for Best Costume Design for the film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (which, by the way, is ANOTHER excellent 1994 film). Her dress, made up of nothing but American Express Gold Cards and the stuff to tie it together, was a total smash. The "fashion police" lauded it. AMEX took out a full-page magazine ad to congratulate her on the win and thank her for the publicity. Then there's Speed, a great popcorn flick, but a film that it pains me to say has won more Oscars than Pulp Fiction, Quiz Show, Four Weddings and a Funeral and The Shawshank Redemption COMBINED. (Speed took home both Sound wins.) Only one out of the six ties in Academy Award history happened at this ceremony too, with two Live-Action short films receiving the same number of votes, Trevor and Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life. What makes the latter title interesting is that it was written and directed by Peter Capaldi, who is about to become the next Doctor Who, making him the only Doctor to have won an Oscar to date.
Yes, 1994 was an absolutely awesome year in movies. And yes, Eric Roth wrote a great film in Forrest Gump. If you haven't seen the movie yet, you must not be human, because I don't know of ANYONE who hasn't seen this movie yet. Check it out this summer when it gets reissued into theaters for the 20th anniversary, and then go home and check out pretty much anything else that was nominated for Oscars from that year too, because you have a trove of treasures to choose from. Great movies all around. Forrest Gump is just one delicious chocolate amongst many in the 1994 box.
Fantastic movie and, as usual, a great review of it.
ReplyDeleteI've always loved this movie!
ReplyDeleteUm dos meus filmes favoritos, desde sempre! Obrigada pela resenha.
ReplyDelete