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Forrest Gump
Film poster with an all-white background, and a park bench (facing away from the viewer) near the bottom. A man wearing a white suit is sitting on the right side of the bench and is looking to his left while resting his hands on both sides of him on the bench. A suitcase is sitting on the ground, and the man is wearing tennis shoes. At the top left of the image is the film's tagline and title, and at the bottom is the release date and production credits.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRobert Zemeckis
Screenplay byEric Roth
Produced byWendy Finerman
Steve Tisch
Charles Newirth
StarringTom Hanks
Robin Wright
Gary Sinise
Mykelti Williamson
Sally Field
Narrated byTom Hanks
CinematographyDon Burgess
Edited byArthur Schmidt
Music byAlan Silvestri
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • July 6, 1994 (1994-07-06)
Running time
141 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$55 million[1]
Box office$677,387,716[1]

Forrest Gump is a 1994 American epic comedy-drama romance film based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis and starred Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise and Sally Field. The story depicts several decades in the life of Forrest Gump, a naïve and slow-witted yet gifted native of Alabama who witnesses, and in some cases influences, some of the defining events of the latter half of the 20th century; more specifically, the period between Forrest's birth in 1945 and 1982.

The film differs substantially from Winston Groom's novel on which it is based, including Gump's personality and several events that were depicted. Filming took place in late 1993, mainly in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Extensive visual effects were used to incorporate the protagonist into archived footage and to develop other scenes. A comprehensive soundtrack was featured in the film, using music intended to pinpoint specific time periods portrayed on screen. Its commercial release made it a top-selling soundtrack, selling over 8 million copies worldwide.

Released in the United States on July 6, 1994, Forrest Gump was well received by critics and became a commercial success as the top grossing film in North America released that year, being the first major success for Paramount Pictures since the studio's sale to Viacom earlier in the year. The film earned over $677 million worldwide during its theatrical run. The film won the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director for Robert Zemeckis, Best Actor for Tom Hanks, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Visual Effects and Best Film Editing. It also garnered multiple other awards and nominations, including Golden Globe Awards, People's Choice Awards and Young Artist Awards, among others. Since the film's release, varying interpretations have been made of the film's protagonist and its political symbolism. In 1996, a themed restaurant opened based on the film, and has since expanded to multiple locations worldwide. The scene of Gump running across the country is often referred to when real-life people attempt the feat.[citation needed] In 2011, the Library of Congress selected Forrest Gump for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."[2]

Plot

As he waits at a bus stop, Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) starts recounting his life story to nearby strangers. His story starts with the leg braces he had to wear as a child, which resulted in him being bullied by children. He lives with his mother (Sally Field), who tells him that "stupid is as stupid does". Forrest teaches one of their guests, a young Elvis Presley, a hip swinging dance. At school, Forrest meets Jenny (Robin Wright), with whom he immediately falls in love, and they become best friends. Forrest discovers that he can run very fast which, despite his below average intelligence, earns him a scholarship to the University of Alabama after being spotted by Bear Bryant. While in college, he witnesses George Wallace's Stand in the Schoolhouse Door and is named to the All-American football team, and meets President John F. Kennedy.

After graduating, Forrest enlists in the Army, where he becomes friends with Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue (Mykelti Williamson), and they agree to go into the shrimping business together. They are sent to Vietnam, and when their platoon is ambushed, Forrest saves many of the men in his platoon, including platoon leader 2nd Lt. Dan Taylor (Gary Sinise), but Bubba is killed. Forrest himself is injured and awarded the Medal of Honor by President Lyndon B. Johnson. While recovering from his injuries Forrest sees Dan Taylor, who has had both legs amputated and is furious at Forrest for leaving him a "cripple" and cheating him out of his destiny to die in battle just as his ancestors had died in every single American War. In Washington, Forrest is swept up in an anti-war rally at the National Mall and is reunited with Jenny, who is now part of the hippie counterculture movement. They spend the night walking around the capital, but she leaves with her abusive boyfriend the following day.

Forrest discovers an aptitude for ping pong and begins playing for the U.S. Army team, eventually competing against Chinese teams on a goodwill tour. He goes to the White House again and meets President Richard Nixon who provides him a room at the Watergate hotel, where Forrest inadvertently helps expose the Watergate scandal. For his numerous accomplishments, Forrest is invited onto The Dick Cavett Show. He again encounters Dan Taylor, now an embittered drunk living on welfare. Dan is scornful of Forrest's plans to enter the shrimping business and mockingly promises to be Forrest's first mate if he ever succeeds.

Using money from a ping pong endorsement, Forrest buys a shrimping boat, fulfilling his wartime promise to Bubba. Dan keeps his own promise and joins Forrest as first mate. They initially have little luck; but, after Hurricane Carmen destroys every other shrimping boat in the region, the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company becomes a huge success. Having had an epiphany during the hurricane, Dan finally thanks Forrest for saving his life. Forrest then returns home to care for his ailing mother, who dies soon afterwards. Forrest leaves the company in the hands of Dan, who invests their wealth in shares of Apple, making them both millionaires.

Jenny returns to visit Forrest and stays with him. Forrest asks her to marry him, but she declines and slips away early one morning. Distraught, Forrest decides to go for a run, which turns into a three-year coast to coast marathon. Forrest becomes a celebrity and attracts a band of followers. One day he stops suddenly and returns home. He receives a letter from Jenny asking to meet, which brings him to the bus stop where he began telling his story. Once he and Jenny are reunited, Forrest discovers they have a young son, also named Forrest (Haley Joel Osment). Jenny reveals that she is suffering from an unknown virus. She proposes to him and he accepts. They return to Alabama with Forrest Jr. and marry, but Jenny dies soon after. Forrest waits with Forrest Jr. for the bus to pick him up for his first day of school. As the bus drives away, Forrest sits on the same tree stump where his mother sat on his first day of school and watches his feather bookmark float off in the wind.

Cast

A man is at the center of the image smiling into the camera. He is sitting on a blue crate and has his hands resting on his legs.
Tom Hanks on the film set in 1993
A man is at the center of the image looking at the camera. He is dressed in Vietnam-era military attire including a vest and helmet. He has a cigarette sitting on his lips and is wearing a backpack.
Gary Sinise on the film set in 1993
  • Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump: though at an early age he is deemed to have a below average IQ of 75, he has endearing character and devotion to his loved ones and duties, which brings him into many life-changing situations. Along the way, he encounters many historical figures and events throughout his life. John Travolta was the original choice to play the title role, and admits passing on the role was a mistake.[3] Bill Murray was also considered for the role.[4] Hanks revealed that he signed onto the film after an hour and a half of reading the script.[5] He initially wanted to ease Forrest's pronounced Southern accent, but was eventually persuaded by director Bob Zemeckis to portray the heavy accent stressed in the novel.[5] Hanks agreed to take the role only on the condition that the film was historically accurate. Michael Conner Humphreys portrayed the young Forrest Gump. Hanks revealed in interviews that after hearing Michael's unique accented drawl, he incorporated it into the older character's accent.
  • Robin Wright as Jenny Curran: Gump's childhood friend who he quickly falls in love with, and never stops loving throughout his life. Jenny re-enters his life at various times in adulthood. A survivor of child sexual abuse, Jenny embarks on a different path to Forrest, leading a self-destructive life and becoming part of the hippie movement in the 1960s and the 1970s/1980s drug culture. She eventually becomes a waitress in Savannah, Georgia where she lives in an apartment with her (and Forrest's) son, Forrest Jr. They eventually got married, but soon afterwards she died of an unspecified illness. Hanna R. Hall portrayed the young Jenny.
  • Gary Sinise as Second Lieutenant Dan Taylor: Gump and Bubba's platoon leader during the Vietnam War, whose ancestors have died in every American war. After losing his legs in an ambush and being rescued against his will by Forrest, he is initially bitter towards Forrest and falls into a deep depression. He later serves as Forrest's first mate at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, gives most of the orders, and regains his will to live and ultimately forgives Forrest for his actions in Vietnam and acknowledges that Gump saved his life. By the end of the film, he is engaged to be married and is sporting "magic legs" – titanium alloy prosthetics which allow him to walk again.
  • Mykelti Williamson as Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue: Bubba is Gump's friend whom he meets upon joining the Army. Bubba was originally supposed to be the senior partner in the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, but due to his death in Vietnam, their platoon leader, Dan Taylor, took his place. The company posthumously carried his name. Forrest later gave Bubba's mother Bubba's share of the business. Throughout filming, Williamson wore a lip attachment to create Bubba's protruding lip.[6] David Alan Grier, Ice Cube and Dave Chappelle were all offered the role before turning it down.[4][7] Chappelle claimed he believed the film would be unsuccessful and has also admitted that he regrets not taking the role.[4]
  • Sally Field as Mrs. Gump: Forrest's mother, who raises him after his father abandons them. Field reflected on the character, "She's a woman who loves her son unconditionally. ... A lot of her dialogue sounds like slogans, and that's just what she intends."[8]
  • Haley Joel Osment as Forrest Gump, Jr.: Forrest and Jenny's son. Osment was cast in the film after the casting director noticed him in a Pizza Hut commercial.[9]
  • Peter Dobson as Elvis Presley: a house guest Forrest encounters. Although Kurt Russell was uncredited, he provided the voice over for Elvis Presley in the scene where Presley met Gump.[10]
  • Dick Cavett as himself. Cavett played the 1970s version of himself, with makeup applied to make him appear younger. Consequently, Cavett is the only well-known figure in the film to play a cameo role rather than be represented through the use of archival footage.[11]
  • Sam Anderson as Principal Hancock: Forrest's elementary school principal.
  • Geoffrey Blake as Wesley: A member of the SDS group and Jenny's abusive boyfriend.
  • Siobhan Fallon Hogan as Dorothy Harris: The school bus driver who drives both Forrest, and later his son, to school.
  • Sonny Shroyer as Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant: Forrest's football coach of the University of Alabama.
  • Grand L. Bush, Conor Kennelly, and Teddy Lane Jr. as the Black Panthers: Members of an organization that protests against the Vietnam War, President Lyndon B. Johnson, and anti-black racism.

Production

Script

Main article: Forrest Gump (novel)

"The writer, Eric Roth, departed substantially from the book. We flipped the two elements of the book, making the love story primary and the fantastic adventures secondary. Also, the book was cynical and colder than the movie. In the movie, Gump is a completely decent character, always true to his word. He has no agenda and no opinion about anything except Jenny, his mother and God."

—director Robert Zemeckis[12]

The film is based on the 1986 novel by Winston Groom. Both center on the character of Forrest Gump. However, the film primarily focuses on the first eleven chapters of the novel, before skipping ahead to the end of the novel with the founding of Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. and the meeting with Forrest, Jr. In addition to skipping some parts of the novel, the film adds several aspects to Gump's life that do not occur in the novel, such as his needing leg braces as a child and his run across the United States.[13]

Gump's core character and personality are also changed from the novel; among other things his film character is less of an autistic savant—in the novel, while playing football at the university, he fails craft and gym, but receives a perfect score in an advanced physics class he is enrolled in by his coach to satisfy his college requirements.[13] The novel also features Gump as an astronaut, a professional wrestler, and a chess player.[13]

Two directors were offered the opportunity to direct the film before Robert Zemeckis was selected. Terry Gilliam turned down the offer to direct.[14] Barry Sonnenfeld was attached to the film but left to direct Addams Family Values.[15]

Filming

Filming began in August 1993 and ended four months later in December.[16] Although most of the film is set in Alabama, filming took place mainly in Beaufort, South Carolina, as well as parts of coastal Virginia and North Carolina,[5] including a running shot on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The scene of Forrest running through Vietnam while under fire was filmed on Fripp Island, South Carolina.[17] Additional filming took place on the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC and along the Blue Ridge Parkway near Boone, NC. The most notable place was Grandfather Mountain where a part of the road is named "Forrest Gump Curve".[18] The Gump family home set was built along the Combahee River near Yemassee, South Carolina and the nearby land was used to film Curran's home as well as some of the Vietnam scenes.[19] Over 20 palmetto trees were planted to improve the Vietnam scenes.[19] Forrest Gump narrated his life's story in Chippewa Square in Savannah, Georgia as he sat at a bus stop bench. There were other scenes filmed in and around the Savannah area as well, including a running shot on the Houlihan Bridge (Port Wentworth, Georgia) while he was being interviewed by the press, and on West Bay Street in Savannah.[19] Most of the college campus scenes were filmed in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California.

Visual effects

Black-and-white film screenshot showing the main character on the left looking towards another man, President Kennedy, on the right. Kennedy is smiling and looking to his left. In the background several men are looking in different directions and one is aiming a camera.
Gump with President John F. Kennedy. A variety of visual effects were used to incorporate Tom Hanks into archive footage with various historical figures and events.

Ken Ralston and his team at Industrial Light & Magic were responsible for the film's visual effects. Using CGI techniques, it was possible to depict Gump meeting deceased personages and shaking their hands. Hanks was first shot against a blue screen along with reference markers so that he could line up with the archive footage.[20] To record the voices of the historical figures, voice doubles were hired and special effects were used to alter the mouth movements for the new dialogue.[12] Archival footage was used and with the help of such techniques as chroma key, image warping, morphing, and rotoscoping, Hanks was integrated into it.

In one Vietnam War scene, Gump carries Bubba away from an incoming napalm attack. To create the effect, stunt actors were initially used for compositing purposes. Then Hanks and Williamson were filmed, with Williamson supported by a cable wire as Hanks ran with him. The explosion was then filmed, and the actors were digitally added to appear just in front of the explosions. The jet fighters and napalm canisters were also added by CGI.[21]

The CGI removal of actor Gary Sinise's legs, after his character had them amputated, was achieved by wrapping his legs with a blue fabric, which later facilitated the work of the "roto-paint" team to paint out his legs from every single frame. At one point, while hoisting himself into his wheelchair, his legs are used for support.[22]

The scene where Forrest spots Jenny at a peace rally at the Lincoln Memorial and Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., required visual effects to create the large crowd of people. Over two days of filming, approximately 1,500 extras were used.[23] At each successive take, the extras were rearranged and moved into a different quadrant away from the camera. With the help of computers, the extras were multiplied to create a crowd of several hundred thousand people.[5][23]

Release

Critical reception

The film has received mostly positive reviews. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 71% of critics gave the film a positive review based on a sample of 53 reviews, with an average score of 7/10.[24] At the website Metacritic, which utilizes a normalized rating system, the film earned a favorable rating of 82/100 based on 19 reviews by mainstream critics.[25]

The story was commended by several critics. Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "I've never met anyone like Forrest Gump in a movie before, and for that matter I've never seen a movie quite like Forrest Gump. Any attempt to describe him will risk making the movie seem more conventional than it is, but let me try. It's a comedy, I guess. Or maybe a drama. Or a dream...The screenplay by Eric Roth has the complexity of modern fiction...[Hanks'] performance is a breathtaking balancing act between comedy and sadness, in a story rich in big laughs and quiet truths....what a magical movie."[26] Todd McCarthy of Variety wrote that the film "...has been very well worked out on all levels, and manages the difficult feat of being an intimate, even delicate tale played with an appealingly light touch against an epic backdrop."[27] In addition, the film received notable pans from several major reviewers. Anthony Lane of The New Yorker called the film "Warm, wise, and wearisome as hell."[28] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly said that the film "...reduces the tumult of the last few decades to a virtual-reality theme park: a baby-boomer version of Disney's America."[29]

Critics had mixed views on the main character. Gump has been compared to various characters and people including Huckleberry Finn, Bill Clinton, and Ronald Reagan.[30][31][32] Peter Chomo writes that Gump acts as a "...social mediator and as an agent of redemption in divided times".[33] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone called Gump "...everything we admire in the American character – honest, brave, loyal...".[34] The New York Times reviewer Janet Maslin called Gump a "...hollow man..." who is "...self-congratulatory in his blissful ignorance, warmly embraced as the embodiment of absolutely nothing."[35] Marc Vincenti of Palo Alto Weekly called the character "...a pitiful stooge taking the pie of life in the face, thoughtfully licking his fingers."[36] Bruce Kawin and Gerald Mast's textbook on film history notes that Forrest Gump's dimness was a metaphor for glamorized nostalgia in that he represented a blank slate by which the Baby Boomer generation projected their memories of those events.[37]

Film critic Pauline Kael stated, "I hated it thoroughly."[38]

The film is commonly seen as a polarizing one for audiences, with Entertainment Weekly writing in 2004, "Nearly a decade after it earned gazillions and swept the Oscars, Robert Zemeckis's ode to 20th-century America still represents one of cinema's most clearly drawn lines in the sand. One half of folks see it as an artificial piece of pop melodrama, while everyone else raves that it's sweet as a box of chocolates."[39]

Box office performance

Produced on a budget of $55 million, Forrest Gump opened in 1,595 theaters in its first weekend of domestic release, earning $24,450,602.[1] Motion picture business consultant and screenwriter Jeffrey Hilton suggested to producer Wendy Finerman to double the P&A (film marketing budget) based on his viewing of an early print of the film. The budget was immediately increased, per his advice. The film placed first in the weekend's box office, narrowly beating The Lion King, which was in its fourth week of release.[1] For the first ten weeks of its release, the film held the number one position at the box office.[40] The film remained in theaters for 42 weeks, earning $329.7 million in the United States and Canada, making it the fourth-highest grossing film at that time (behind only E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Star Wars IV: A New Hope, and Jurassic Park).[40][41]

The film took 66 days to surpass $250 million and was the fastest grossing Paramount film to pass $100 million, $200 million, and $300 million in box office receipts (at the time of its release).[42][43][44] The film had gross receipts of $329,694,499 in the U.S. and Canada and $347,693,217 in international markets for a total of $677,387,716 worldwide.[1] Even with such revenue, the film was known as a "successful failure"-- due to distributors' and exhibitors' high fees, Paramount's "losses" clocked in at $62 million, leaving executives realizing the necessity of better deals.[45] This has however also been associated with Hollywood accounting, where expenses are inflated in order to minimize profit sharing.

Home media

Forrest Gump was first released on VHS on April 27, 1995, as a two-disc Laserdisc set on April 28, 1995 (including the "Through the Eyes of Forrest" special feature), before being released in a two-disc DVD set on August 28, 2001. Special features included director and producer commentaries, production featurettes, and screen tests.[46] The film was released on Blu-ray in November 2009.[47]

Accolades

In addition to the following list of awards and nominations, the film was recognized by the American Film Institute on several of its lists. The film ranks 37th on 100 Years...100 Cheers, 71st on 100 Years...100 Movies, and 76th on 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition). In addition, the quote "Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." was ranked 40th on 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes.[48] The film also ranked at number 240 on Empire's list of the 500 Greatest Movies of All Time.

In December 2011, Forrest Gump was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry.[49] The Registry said that the film was "honored for its technological innovations (the digital insertion of Gump seamlessly into vintage archival footage), its resonance within the culture that has elevated Gump (and what he represents in terms of American innocence) to the status of folk hero, and its attempt to engage both playfully and seriously with contentious aspects of the era’s traumatic history."[50]

Award Category Nominee Result
67th Academy Awards[51] Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role[52] Tom Hanks Won
Best Director[52] Robert Zemeckis Won
Best Film Editing[52] Arthur Schmidt Won
Best Picture[52] Wendy Finerman, Steve Starkey, and Steve Tisch Won
Best Visual Effects[52] Ken Ralston, George Murphy, Allen Hall and Stephen Rosenbaum Won
Best Adapted Screenplay[52] Eric Roth Won
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role[53] Gary Sinise Nominated
Best Achievement in Art Direction[53] Rick Carter and Nancy Haigh Nominated
Best Achievement in Cinematography[53] Don Burgess Nominated
Best Makeup[53] Daniel C. Striepeke and Hallie D'Amore Nominated
Best Original Score[53] Alan Silvestri Nominated
Best Sound Mixing[53] Randy Thom, Tom Johnson, Dennis S. Sands, and William B. Kaplan Nominated
Best Sound Editing[53] Gloria S. Borders and Randy Thom Nominated
1995 Saturn Awards Best Supporting Actor (Film)[54] Gary Sinise Won
Best Fantasy Film[55] Won
Best Actor (Film)[56] Tom Hanks Nominated
Best Music[56] Alan Silvestri Nominated
Best Special Effects[56] Ken Ralston Nominated
Best Writing[56] Eric Roth Nominated
1995 Amanda Awards Best Film (International)[57] Won
1995 American Cinema Editors Best Edited Feature Film[58] Arthur Schmidt Won
1995 American Comedy Awards Funniest Actor in a Motion Picture (Leading Role)[59] Tom Hanks Won
1995 American Society of Cinematographers Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases[60] Don Burgess Nominated
1995 BAFTA Film Awards Outstanding Achievement in Special Effects[61] Ken Ralston, George Murphy, Stephen Rosenbaum, Doug Chiang, and Allen Hall Won
Best Actor in a Leading Role[61] Tom Hanks Nominated
Best Actress in a Supporting Role[61] Sally Field Nominated
Best Film[61] Wendy Finerman, Steve Tisch, Steve Starkey, and Robert Zemeckis Nominated
Best Cinematography[61] Don Burgess Nominated
David Lean Award for Direction[61] Robert Zemeckis Nominated
Best Editing[61] Arthur Schmidt Nominated
Best Adapted Screenplay[61] Eric Roth Nominated
1995 Casting Society of America Best Casting for Feature Film, Drama[62] Ellen Lewis Nominated
1995 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards Best Actor[63] Tom Hanks Won
1995 Directors Guild of America Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures[64] Robert Zemeckis, Charles Newirth, Bruce Moriarity, Cherylanne Martin, and Dana J. Kuznetzkoff Won
1995 Golden Globe Awards Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama[65] Tom Hanks Won
Best Director – Motion Picture[65] Robert Zemeckis Won
Best Motion Picture – Drama[65] Wendy Finerman Won
Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture[65] Gary Sinise Nominated
Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture[65] Robin Wright Nominated
Best Original Score[65] Alan Silvestri Nominated
Best Screenplay – Motion Picture[65] Eric Roth Nominated
1995 MTV Movie Awards Best Breakthrough Performance[66] Mykelti Williamson Nominated
Best Male Performance[66] Tom Hanks Nominated
Best Movie[66] Nominated
1995 Motion Picture Sound Editors (Golden Reel Award) Best Sound Editing[67] Won
1994 National Board of Review of Motion Pictures Best Actor[68] Tom Hanks Won
Best Supporting Actor[68] Gary Sinise Won
Best Picture[68] Won
1995 PGA Golden Laurel Awards Motion Picture Producer of the Year Award[69] Wendy Finerman, Steve Tisch, Steve Starkey, Charles Newirth Won
1995 People's Choice Awards Favorite All-Around Motion Picture[70] Won
Favorite Dramatic Motion Picture[70] Won
Favorite Actor in a Dramatic Motion Picture[70] Tom Hanks Won
1995 Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role[71] Tom Hanks Won
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role[71] Gary Sinise Nominated
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role[71] Sally Field Nominated
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role[71] Robin Wright Nominated
1995 Writers Guild of America Awards Best Screenplay Adapted from Another Medium[72] Eric Roth Won
1995 Young Artist Awards Best Performance in a Feature Film – Young Actor 10 or Younger[73] Haley Joel Osment Won
Best Performance in a Feature Film – Young Actress 10 or Younger[73] Hanna R. Hall Won
Best Performance in a Feature Film – Young Actor Co-Starring[73] Michael Conner Humphreys Nominated

American Film Institute Lists

Author controversy

Winston Groom was paid $350,000 for the screenplay rights to his novel Forrest Gump and was contracted for a 3% share of the film's net profits.[74] However, Paramount and the film's producers did not pay him, using Hollywood accounting to posit that the blockbuster film lost money—a claim belied by the fact that Tom Hanks contracted for the film's gross receipts instead of a salary, and he and director Zemeckis each netted $40 million.[74][75] Additionally, Groom was not mentioned once in any of the film's six Oscar-winner speeches.[76]

Symbolism

Feather

"I don't want to sound like a bad version of 'the child within'. But the childlike innocence of Forrest Gump is what we all once had. It's an emotional journey. You laugh and cry. It does what movies are supposed to do: make you feel alive."

—producer Wendy Finerman[32]

Various interpretations have been suggested for the feather present at the opening and conclusion of the film. Sarah Lyall of The New York Times noted several opinions that were made about the feather: "Does the white feather symbolize the unbearable lightness of being? Forrest Gump's impaired intellect? The randomness of experience?"[77] Hanks interpreted the feather as: "Our destiny is only defined by how we deal with the chance elements to our life and that's kind of the embodiment of the feather as it comes in. Here is this thing that can land anywhere and that it lands at your feet. It has theological implications that are really huge."[78] Sally Field compared the feather to fate, saying: "It blows in the wind and just touches down here or there. Was it planned or was it just perchance?"[79] Visual effects supervisor Ken Ralston compared the feather to an abstract painting: "It can mean so many things to so many different people."[80]

The feather is stored in a book titled Curious George, Forrest's favorite book, which his mother read to him, connecting the scene's present time with his childhood in the 1940s. The placement of the feather in the book is directly on a picture of the monkey walking on a tightrope. Whether that was intentional or not, it is very symbolic. The feather also has a correlation with Jenny's constant obsession with "becoming a bird and flying far far away" due to the abuse (sexual and physical) she endured from her father. She goes as far in the film as to ask Forrest "if [she] jumped off the bridge, could [she] fly?"

Political interpretations

In Tom Hanks' words, "The film is non-political and thus non-judgmental".[32] Nevertheless, in 1994, CNN's Crossfire debated whether the film promoted conservative values or was an indictment of the counterculture movement of the 1960s. Thomas Byers, in a Modern Fiction Studies article, called the film "an aggressively conservative film".[81]

"...all over the political map, people have been calling Forrest their own. But, Forrest Gump isn't about politics or conservative values. It's about humanity, it's about respect, tolerance and unconditional love."

—producer Steve Tisch[81]

It has been noted that while Gump follows a very conservative lifestyle, Curran's life is full of countercultural embrace, complete with drug usage and antiwar rallies, and that their eventual marriage might be a kind of tongue-in-cheek reconciliation.[26] Jennifer Hyland Wang argued in a Cinema Journal article that Curran's death to an unnamed virus "...symbolizes the death of liberal America and the death of the protests that defined a decade [1960s]." She also notes that the film's screenwriter, Eric Roth, when developing the screenplay from the novel, had "...transferred all of Gump's flaws and most of the excesses committed by Americans in the 1960s and 1970s to her [Curran]."[33]

Other commentators believe that the film forecast the 1994 Republican Revolution and used the image of Forrest Gump to promote his traditional, conservative values. Jennifer Hyland Wang observes that the film idealizes the 1950s, as evidenced by the lack of "whites only" signs in Gump's southern childhood, and "revisions" the 1960s as a period of social conflict and confusion. She argues that this sharp contrast between the decades criticizes the counterculture values and reaffirms conservatism.[82] As viewed by political scientist Joe Paskett,[28] this film is "one of the best films of all time".[83] Wang argued that the film was used by Republican politicians to illustrate a "traditional version of recent history" to gear voters towards their ideology for the congressional elections.[33] In addition, presidential candidate Bob Dole cited the film's message in influencing his campaign due to its "...message that has made [the film] one of Hollywood's all-time greatest box office hits: no matter how great the adversity, the American Dream is within everybody's reach."[33]

In 1995, National Review included Forrest Gump in its list of the "Best 100 Conservative Movies" of all time.[84] Then, in 2009, the magazine ranked the film number four on its 25 Best Conservative Movies of the Last 25 Years list.[85] "Tom Hanks plays the title character, an amiable dunce who is far too smart to embrace the lethal values of the 1960s. The love of his life, wonderfully played by Robin Wright Penn, chooses a different path; she becomes a drug-addled hippie, with disastrous results."[85]

James Burton, a professor at Salisbury University, argued that conservatives claimed Forrest Gump as their own due less to the content of the film and more to the historical and cultural context of 1994. Burton claimed that the film's content and advertising campaign were affected by the cultural climate of the 1990s, which emphasized family values and "American values"—values epitomized in the successful book Hollywood vs. America. He claimed that this climate influenced the apolitical nature of the film, which allowed for many different political interpretations.[86]

Burton points out that many conservative critics and magazines (John Simon, James Bowman, the World Report) initially either criticized the film or praised it only for its non-political elements. Only after the popularity of the film was well-established did conservatives embrace the film as an affirmation of traditional values. Burton implies that the liberal-left could have prevented the conservatives from claiming rights to the film, had it chosen to vocalize elements of the film such as its criticism of military values. Instead, the liberal-left focused on what the film omitted, such as the feminist and civil rights movements.[86]

Some commentators see the conservative readings of Forrest Gump as indicants of the death of irony in American culture. Vivian Sobchack notes that the film's humor and irony relies on the assumption of the audience's historical (self-) consciousness.[86]

Soundtrack

Main articles: Forrest Gump (soundtrack) and Forrest Gump – Original Motion Picture Score

The 32-song soundtrack from the film was released on July 6, 1994. With the exception of a lengthy suite from Alan Silvestri's score, all the songs are previously released; the soundtrack includes songs from Elvis Presley, Fleetwood Mac, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Aretha Franklin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Three Dog Night, The Byrds, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, The Mamas & the Papas, The Doobie Brothers, Simon & Garfunkel, Bob Seger, Buffalo Springfield, and Michael McDonald among others. Music producer Joel Sill reflected on compiling the soundtrack: "We wanted to have very recognizable material that would pinpoint time periods, yet we didn't want to interfere with what was happening cinematically."[87] The two-disc album has a variety of music from the 1950s–1980s performed by American artists. According to Sills, this was due to Zemeckis' request, "All the material in there is American. Bob (Zemeckis) felt strongly about it. He felt that Forrest wouldn't buy anything but American."[87]

The soundtrack reached a peak of second place on the Billboard charts.[87] The soundtrack went on to sell twelve million copies, and is one of the top selling albums in the United States.[88] The score for the film was composed and conducted by Alan Silvestri and released on August 2, 1994.

Possible sequel

Main article: Gump and Co.

The screenplay for the sequel was written by Eric Roth in 2001. It is based on the original novel's sequel, Gump and Co. that was written by Winston Groom in 1995. Roth's script begins with Forrest sitting on a bench waiting for his son to return from school. After the September 11 attacks, Roth, Zemeckis, and Hanks decided the story was no longer "relevant."[89] In March 2007, however, it was reported that Paramount producers took another look at the screenplay.[90]

On the very first page of the sequel novel, Forrest Gump tells readers "Don't never let nobody make a movie of your life's story," though "Whether they get it right or wrong, it doesn't matter."[91] The first chapter of the book suggests that the real-life events surrounding the film have been incorporated into Forrest's storyline, and that Forrest got a lot of media attention as a result of the film.[13] During the course of the sequel novel, Gump runs into Tom Hanks and at the end of the novel is the film's release, including Gump going on The David Letterman Show and attending the Academy Awards.

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