Forrest Gump

One of my favourite movies of all time is Forrest Gump (1994). When I discovered that someone had taped over my VHS copy(!), I decided to upgrade to DVD. (Yes, I’ve finally arrived in the 21st century.) I had a rare night at home earlier this week so decided to give Forrest an outing.

This movie gives me hope. It shows how that, despite whatever we encounter, life is what we make it, and the problems of the world don’t need to weigh us down for too long if we don’t let them. Forrest’s bumbling through life and ending up on top can be attributed to a combination of good luck and good nature. However, it also highlights for me that there are few basic fundamentals that are world guarding with your life: family, friends, love, and health. (Or maybe I’ve just watched it too many times and think too much about things that I don’t need to? Your call.)

I was really disappointed to read the original novel, Forrest Gump (1986) by Winston Groom. It’s unusual for me to read a novel after seeing a movie. Usually, there is a lot more detail and character development in a novel than what can be contained in a movie, and I wondered what the differences would have been here. It turns out that the movie gave far more depth and development than either the original novel or its sequel (Gump & Co).

I remember hearing about a combined interview with Michael Connor Humphreys, who played the young Forrest Gump, and Tom Hanks. Hanks had said that he imitated Humphreys' voice when developing an Alabama accent for the role. The interview went on to ask Humphreys what the effect of playing this role has had on his life. He said that there wasn't much difference, but kids would yell at him 'run, Forrest, run!' - "even when I'm not runnin'"!

Some of my favourite Forrest Gump quotes:

• “Your mama sure does care about your education, son.”
• “Me and Jenny goes together like peas and carrots. “
• “I’m not a smart man, but I know what love is.”
• “Sometimes there just aren’t enough rocks.” (When Jenny was throwing rocks at her father’s house)
• “I just felt like running.”
• “And ’cos I was a gozillionaire, and I liked doin’ it so much, I cut that grass for free.”
• “Lieutenant Dan got me invested in some kind of fruit company [Apple Mac]. So then I got a call from him, saying we don't have to worry about money no more. And I said, that's good! One less thing.”
• “That’s all I have to say about that.”