Forrest Gump Review Essay

Submitted By Spete9999
Words: 630
Pages: 3

Forrest Gump (directed by Robert Zemeckis) One of the first things I noticed while watching the film Forrest Gump was how easy it was to be sympathetic to the main character. You can’t help but like the guy. He’s seemingly goofy but kind hearted and you really want things to work out for him. Even in the earliest scenes it was easy to have a soft spot for Forrest as he struggles with some of the simpler things in life yet seems to have a grasp for the importance of being a decent, hard-working person who treats others well. What I didn’t expect was how far I would go from feeling sorry for him to admiring him for his gentle manner. Clearly, even in the opening scenes with the nurse at the bus stop bench, despite his obvious simplicity of speech due to a limited vocabulary, this is someone who is to be admired for his positive outlook on life no matter how challenging it might be. Forrest Gump is so tragic at times it makes you want to cry, but it mirrors the bittersweet aspects of real life in that the happy times and comic scenes balance out the scales. His mother (expertly portrayed by Sally Fields) is such a driving force in helping her relative oddball of a son to achieve a normal, happy life that regardless of some of her methods you can respect what she is doing for him. Even when she has to forgo her virtue to ensure he gets into a good school, the scene is tinged with humor. Running a boarding house in that period in history was a common way for some families to supplement their incomes and serves as a perfect platform to showcase the people that cross paths with the young Forrest. His casual mention of a young Elvis Presley staying at his home was the first of many examples of a famous person who was influenced by the loveably simple fellow. This really helped to set the tone for later in the film when his influence would reach a far wider audience. One of my favorite aspects of Forrest Gump is the sort of fairy tale approach to storytelling as his life appears at first to be simply a series of happy accidents. As he stumbles into situations both good and bad, he emerges mostly unscathed and even thriving through adversity.