Can someone explain why Forrest Gump is a good movie?

-joe-

-joe-

Britfag
May 6, 2010
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I'd never seen it, so just downloaded+watched it. I feel like I'm missing something, so many people seem to love it. All I saw was a person who becomes successful by pure chance and blindly following orders, chasing some golddigging stripper, who only gave a shit about him once he had money, and she had AIDS. A very weird combination of emotional drama and (not too good) comedy. Maybe if it had stuck to just one of those, it could've been alright.

Ok, I get the moral message that "doing the right thing" will make you successful, but it doesn't. Sure, he gets awards, but his ultimate goal in life is ultimately a failure. he does some good things, and gets rewarded for them, but I don't see how that's in any way an original storyline.

I really feel like I'm missing something...
 
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-joe- said:
Ok, I get the moral message that "doing the right thing" will make you successful, but it doesn't.
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"Doing the right thing" and "Success" are both subjective. What those mean to you does not mean the same for everyone else.

I know plenty of people who do the right thing and are successful. Doesn't mean they are Bernie Madoff or Dennis Kozlowski successful, but they are still successful.

The reason most people love the movie is that it's a heartfelt tale of beating the odds, the theme being that even if you're a cripple, as long as you persevere you can accomplish much and have a successful life. And what brings it home is how humble he is throughout the whole thing.

He could have just ended up mowing all the lawns like he was in part of the movie, doing that his whole life, and he still would have had a happy and successful life, but then that wouldn't have been an entertaining movie :thumbsup:

p.s. also what dchuk said
 
dchuk said:
it would be a lot better if you were american, there's literally american culture references in almost every scene
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Hmm, maybe.
FerrisHilton said:
"Doing the right thing" and "Success" are both subjective. What those mean to you does not mean the same for everyone else.

I know plenty of people who do the right thing and are successful.

The reason most people love the movie is that it's a heartfelt tale of beating the odds, even being a cripple as long as you persevere you can accomplish much and have a successful life. And what brings it home is how humble he is throughout the whole thing.

He could have just ended up mowing all the lawns like he was in part of the movie, doing that his whole life, and he still would have had a happy and successful life, but then that wouldn't have been an entertaining movie :thumbsup:
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Still, I think it'd be hard to say that success for him wouldn't be marrying Jenny, that was the entire base of the film. I suppose that whether the final conclusion was success for him could be debated - perhaps in his mind. Maybe that's the point, that you should accept the outcome, keep pushing, keep pushing, no matter how much of a golddigging skank the goal may be. I don't know.

I think if it was real life, and he did keep mowing lawns, then he would never have got Jenny.

I suppose I see your point about the level of humbleness, however, is that not simply a consequence of his intelligence? Is the film saying that the ultimate goal is to essentially become a chimp, blindly following orders and chasing a pretty shiny thing?

I think I would've liked it more if there'd been some character development, but that only seemed to really come in at the very end, when he discovered his (possible, possibly not) son - which was a bit too late in my mind, and a bit clichéd. But again, maybe that was the point of the film? We should never develop, we should just stay with the brain of a toddler our entire lives, and things will work out.
 
-joe- said:
Hmm, maybe.

Still, I think it'd be hard to say that success for him wouldn't be marrying Jenny, that was the entire base of the film. I suppose that whether the final conclusion was success for him could be debated - perhaps in his mind. Maybe that's the point, that you should accept the outcome, keep pushing, keep pushing, no matter how much of a golddigging skank the goal may be. I don't know.

I think if it was real life, and he did keep mowing lawns, then he would never have got Jenny.

I suppose I see your point about the level of humbleness, however, is that not simply a consequence of his intelligence? Is the film saying that the ultimate goal is to essentially become a chimp, blindly following orders and chasing a pretty shiny thing?

I think I would've liked it more if there'd been some character development, but that only seemed to really come in at the very end, when he discovered his (possible, possibly not) son - which was a bit too late in my mind, and a bit clichéd. But again, maybe that was the point of the film? We should never develop, we should just stay with the brain of a toddler our entire lives, and things will work out.
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no really, the movie is great because of the pop culture references. If you removed those, it's a disabled man persisting in the face of abnormally bad odds and ending with a somewhat shitty life but with a child he loves.

add back in the culture references and you got a dude telling JFK he has to piss and accidentally causing watergate because the flashlights are keeping him up at night. It's like crack for anyone who gets a kick out of hidden pop culture references.

EDIT: I owe you a PM, sorry
 
Like dchuk alluded to, the movie is awesome because the whole thing is driven by incredible irony. The morality of Forrest Gump as a character has nothing to do with what makes it a good movie, it's just the vehicle that drives this man through a series of crazy events in a tumultuous time, while he remains largely ignorant of everything going on around him. It's comedic because of the clash between the things Gump sees clearly and his attempt to reconcile the rest of the world's actions with his worldview, and the things that everyone else sees and Gump is unaware of.

Besides the humor, everything in the film is perfect: directing, production, acting, casting, etc.
 
lieutenant-dan-ice-cream.gif
 
Dchuk & Pinchy nailed it, dude- uniquely American pop-culture movie fueled by world class production, direction, and acting.

Hard to explain, bro- Fwiw, I rarely totally "get" anything put out by the BBC either, with the exception of Monty Python, and even that loses me at times.

I grew up during the era represented, so it's particularly relevant to me- one of my favorite movies of all times, in fact.

The cool thing about this movie is it was even better than the book it's based on, "The world according to Gump" which was exceptional as well, and that's a rarity.

tl;dr- Guess you had to be there...
 
C'mon this is fucking hilarious

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLkNPjbaPTk"]Shrimp: According to Pvt. Benjamin Buford 'Bubba' Blue - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3eLJdb2ZN4"]Forrest Gump -It Started Raining - YouTube[/ame]
 
ps sometimes a story is just a story...

and a life is just a life...

it doesn't always need to have an overreaching lesson or moral, or for the hero to prevail and do the right thing or succeed...

sometimes it's just about a human experience!

dances with wolves is awesome too.
 
galacon said:
Dchuk & Pinchy nailed it, dude- uniquely American pop-culture movie fueled by world class production, direction, and acting.
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wut. now you're pushing it.

it was a funny movie. not great and not a classic in my book.

i watched maybe 2 or 3 times. and i think i was high those times when i did watch it.
 
dchuk said:
no really, the movie is great because of the pop culture references. If you removed those, it's a disabled man persisting in the face of abnormally bad odds and ending with a somewhat shitty life but with a child he loves.

add back in the culture references and you got a dude telling JFK he has to piss and accidentally causing watergate because the flashlights are keeping him up at night. It's like crack for anyone who gets a kick out of hidden pop culture references.

EDIT: I owe you a PM, sorry
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Fair enough :) and yeah, I picked up some of the pop culture references, like I got the watergate bit. I may have got the JFK bit, but I'm not sure if there was something else I was missing. All I picked up from that was a scene that could've been substituted with any president. My American history knowledge isn't great though.

And no worries :) Whenever you get a chance :)

pinchyfingers said:
Like dchuk alluded to, the movie is awesome because the whole thing is driven by incredible irony. The morality of Forrest Gump as a character has nothing to do with what makes it a good movie, it's just the vehicle that drives this man through a series of crazy events in a tumultuous time, while he remains largely ignorant of everything going on around him. It's comedic because of the clash between the things Gump sees clearly and his attempt to reconcile the rest of the world's actions with his worldview, and the things that everyone else sees and Gump is unaware of.

Besides the humor, everything in the film is perfect: directing, production, acting, casting, etc.
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I know what you mean; although I think if they were going down that route, they shouldn't have tried the pathos angle so much. First I'm being made to feel sorry for Gump, etc etc, then half a second later, they're trying to make me laugh. I think switching to just one would've increased the comedic value a lot. It wouldn't make it perfect, but it'd definitely make it a lot better, from my viewpoint.

I agree with you in regards to the other things - all those are good. I just felt the script was a little weak, but maybe that's just me :)
galacon said:
Dchuk & Pinchy nailed it, dude- uniquely American pop-culture movie fueled by world class production, direction, and acting.

Hard to explain, bro- Fwiw, I rarely totally "get" anything put out by the BBC either, with the exception of Monty Python, and even that loses me at times.

I grew up during the era represented, so it's particularly relevant to me- one of my favorite movies of all times, in fact.

The cool thing about this movie is it was even better than the book it's based on, "The world according to Gump" which was exceptional as well, and that's a rarity.

tl;dr- Guess you had to be there...
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Gotcha. And yeah, I agree with you about the BBC, they're trying way too hard at the moment to pander to the younger generation, with 45 year old morons in suits trying to come up with things they think teenagers will like, as cheaply as possible. Channel 4 does have some good shit though, surprisingly, since they've always been known for producing trash. The Inbetweeners is an awesome comedy.

I see your point about not growing up in the era, that makes sense :)
 
Cause this is so true:
"Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."

The mystery of life is that no matter smart and whatever you think you are, it never seizes to surprise you. At least this is my experience.

And how humble he is. The trait of character completely absent in most people. It is an incredible trait. Most thing it's some kind of weakness. It takes a lot of strength to be humble and kind in my opinion.

And no it wasn't pop culture for me, because I first watched in Russia with Russian dubs and I didn't know much about American pop culture. But yeah it is fucking hilarious. The running part and the ping pong part. The Vietnam war part.
 
Yeah, the pop culture aspect of it and the irony of all the cool shit he winds up doing or getting himself into by chance or because he doesn't know any better.
 
Americans love it because of the same reason I hate it.

You have to ask yourself, what is the movie selling me?

In the case of Forest Gump, the premise is: The American dream is so wonderful, so great, and so kind, that even a semi-retard can do really well in the system.

To me; that is a lie. Which is why I find it disgusting. That and the bad acting, cheesy writing, watered down substance taken from other truly great American movies and idealization of how American's treat each other (in the world of forest gump, most people are nice most of the time)
 
You don't need to be American to 'get' Forrest Gump, I personally think it's a great film and I've never understood the hate it gets. I think people resent it because it won best picture over pulp fiction but who the fuck cares about the oscars that much.
 
Andrey said:
Cause this is so true:
"Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."

The mystery of life is that no matter smart and whatever you think you are, it never seizes to surprise you. At least this is my experience.

And how humble he is. The trait of character completely absent in most people. It is an incredible trait. Most thing it's some kind of weakness. It takes a lot of strength to be humble and kind in my opinion.

And no it wasn't pop culture for me, because I first watched in Russia with Russian dubs and I didn't know much about American pop culture. But yeah it is fucking hilarious. The running part and the ping pong part. The Vietnam war part.
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nice avatar
 
The movie was epic. It is one of my personal favourites and no I am not American.
There are some great life lessons and parts are quite moving.
The constant references throughout the film is what makes it quite amazingly wonderful.
I love the part where he mentions that his money was invested into some fruit company "Apple". "Shit Happens" was a good one also. The list is endless and its fucking awesome. Im going to have to watch it again now.... bloody thread, I need to get some shit done, ah well.
 
Its one of the few movies I would rate 10/10. It really pulls your heart strings, is an epic story and its funny. And he didn't do full retard :tongue2:
I usually watch some of Hanks' others at the same time like Catch Me If You Can (possibly also a 10/10 film) and The Terminal.
 
Something else about the film- during the time it was made, the effects in it were innovative. He used some of the same techniques in Contact; putting the characters in real archived film had never been done before at that level of quality. To show a character with amputated legs, they use to have to cut holes in the bed, but this film, they pretty much edited them out frame-by-frame.

I read the book before the movie came out, and it would have been an R-rated film if they stuck strictly to the book.
 
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