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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, not the formulas of modern movies. Its hero, played by Tom Hanks , is a thoroughly decent man with an IQ of 75, who manages between the 1950s and the 1980s to become involved in every major event in American history. And he survives them all with only honesty and niceness as his shields.

And yet this is not a heartwarming story about a mentally challenged man. That cubbyhole is much too small and limiting for Forrest Gump. The movie is more of a meditation on our times, as seen through the eyes of a man who lacks cynicism and takes things for exactly what they are. Watch him carefully and you will understand why some people are criticized for being "too clever by half." Forrest is clever by just exactly enough.

Tom Hanks may be the only actor who could have played the role.

I can't think of anyone else as Gump, after seeing how Hanks makes him into a person so dignified, so straight-ahead. The performance is a breathtaking balancing act between comedy and sadness, in a story rich in big laughs and quiet truths.

Forrest is born to an Alabama boardinghouse owner ( Sally Field ) who tries to correct his posture by making him wear braces, but who never criticizes his mind. When Forrest is called "stupid," his mother tells him, "Stupid is as stupid does," and Forrest turns out to be incapable of doing anything less than profound. Also, when the braces finally fall from his legs, it turns out he can run like the wind.

That's how he gets a college football scholarship, in a life story that eventually becomes a running gag about his good luck. Gump the football hero becomes Gump the Medal of Honor winner in Vietnam, and then Gump the Ping-Pong champion, Gump the shrimp boat captain, Gump the millionaire stockholder (he gets shares in a new "fruit company" named Apple Computer), and Gump the man who runs across America and then retraces his steps.

It could be argued that with his IQ of 75 Forrest does not quite understand everything that happens to him. Not so. He understands everything he needs to know, and the rest, the movie suggests, is just surplus. He even understands everything that's important about love, although Jenny, the girl he falls in love with in grade school and never falls out of love with, tells him, "Forrest, you don't know what love is." She is a stripper by that time.

The movie is ingenious in taking Forrest on his tour of recent American history. The director, Robert Zemeckis , is experienced with the magic that special effects can do (his credits include the "Back To The Future" movies and " Who Framed Roger Rabbit "), and here he uses computerized visual legerdemain to place Gump in historic situations with actual people.

Forrest stands next to the schoolhouse door with George Wallace , he teaches Elvis how to swivel his hips, he visits the White House three times, he's on the Dick Cavett show with John Lennon , and in a sequence that will have you rubbing your eyes with its realism, he addresses a Vietnam-era peace rally on the Mall in Washington. Special effects are also used in creating the character of Forrest's Vietnam friend Lt. Dan ( Gary Sinise ), a Ron Kovic type who quite convincingly loses his legs.

Using carefully selected TV clips and dubbed voices, Zemeckis is able to create some hilarious moments, as when LBJ examines the wound in what Forrest describes as "my butt-ox." And the biggest laugh in the movie comes after Nixon inquires where Forrest is staying in Washington, and then recommends the Watergate. (That's not the laugh, just the setup.) As Forrest's life becomes a guided tour of straight-arrow America, Jenny (played by Robin Wright ) goes on a parallel tour of the counterculture. She goes to California, of course, and drops out, tunes in, and turns on. She's into psychedelics and flower power, antiwar rallies and love-ins, drugs and needles. Eventually it becomes clear that between them Forrest and Jenny have covered all of the landmarks of our recent cultural history, and the accommodation they arrive at in the end is like a dream of reconciliation for our society. What a magical movie.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film credits.

Forrest Gump (1994)

Rated PG-13 For Drug Content, Sensuality and War Violence

135 minutes

Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump

Robin Wright as Jenny Curran

Gary Sinise as Lt. Dan

Directed by

• Robert Zemeckis

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Show Business: The World According to Gump

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You see them — folks of all ages and both sexes — floating out of the movie theater on waves of honorable sentiment. The kids look thoughtful, the grownups wistful. Couples are holding hands. This is not a Speed crowd; these people haven’t just exited a roller-coaster movie — they’ve completed an upbeat encounter session with America’s recent past. No question: one more audience has been Gumped.

Forrest Gump , a romantic epic starring Tom Hanks as a slow but sweet-souled Alabama boy who lucks into nearly every headline event of the past 40 years, is the summer sensation: a popular hit and an instant cultural touchstone. As the film’s director, Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit), says, Gump has “no typical storytelling devices: no villain, no ticking clock, no burning fuse.” Yet it has exploded at the North American box office. In its second week of release, when ticket sales for even the most robust hits drop perhaps 20%, Gump held even. This past weekend it reached the $100 million mark; an industry savant predicts, quite conservatively, that it will finally earn $165 million.

Gump has warmed the collective heart of moviegoers; they spread the word, command their friends to go. They storm music stores for the two-CD album, featuring 32 songs from the rock era. They snap up copies of Winston Groom’s 1986 novel, on which the film was based, and copies of Gumpisms: The Wit and Wisdom of Forrest Gump , a pocket-size book of aphorisms from the novel. Then they run back to the theater to relive the experience. “It makes you look at things in a better way than you used to,” says W. Bart Edwards, a Gainsville, Florida, psychiatrist who worked in a veterans’ hospital and sees the film as a salve for Vietnam survivors. “It’s like a happy tear-jerking.”

Vietnam is just one nightmare in Forrest’s odd odyssey. Born with a 75 IQ and deemed an embarrassment by everyone except his loving mother (Sally Field), the boy discovers two things: he can run like a gale-force wind, and he will always love his neighbor Jenny (Robin Wright). He goes to war with one friend, a young black man (Mykelti Williamson) dreaming of shrimp boats, and comes home with another, career soldier Dan Taylor (Gary Sinise). And wherever he is, he bumps into famous people: George Wallace and Richard Nixon, J.F.K. and L.B.J., Elvis and John Lennon (all integrated onscreen with Hanks through ingenious special effects). Almost everyone Forrest knows dies. He survives, through his goodness and the miracle of idiot grace.

“I don’t want to sound like a bad version of ‘the child within,”‘ says co- producer Wendy Finerman, who discovered the novel in galleys nine years ago and nurtured the film to fruition. “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 suppose to do: make you feel alive.”

The movie does that. It is a smart, affecting, easygoing fable with plenty of talent on both sides of the camera. The key ingredient is Hanks, the one actor whom the mass audience trusts as an exemplar of quality. He can sell a tough subject to tough customers because they know the film will not be so much about issues as about the decency with which his character faces up to them. That goes for Gump. “The film is nonpolitical,” Hanks says, “and thus nonjudgmental. It doesn’t just celebrate survival, it celebrates the struggle.”

Classically trained and sitcom-bred, Hanks knows that the starkest drama can always use a leavening of wit. For most of the film, he underplays Forrest’s reactions at a level somewhere between a fretful deadpan and the rural slyness of the early Andy Griffith. So when he releases his feelings at the end (when questions of fatherhood and family traits are involved), the scene gushes like a geyser.

So does the audience. “I want to stand up and yell, ‘Go, Gump, go!”‘ says Chris Jackson, a Chicago bartender. “I sat there with tears dripping down my face.” This is the common testimony: cheering and tearing. “People cheered at our audience-research sessions,” says Finerman, “so we knew we had something. What amazed us was that all four quadrants — older men and women, younger men and women — wanted to see it.” That’s another clue to Gumpmania: it’s a movie that makes grown men cry. From I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang to Field of Dreams, the male weepie has been a dependable genre. And Gump, to its credit, is not one of those cry-by-night (but you hate yourself in the morning) exercises in emotional blackmail. It’s fairly honorable about picking your heart’s pocket.

That must be what attracted Finerman, whose eight-year crusade to make this movie is already a Hollywood legend. In retrospect, though, Forrest Gump seems a can’t-miss proposition. Consider that the only three movies of the past two decades to win both the year’s box-office crown and the Oscar for Best Picture — Rocky, Kramer vs. Kramer and Rain Man — were canny, poignant fables of men in domestic crisis. Throw in two other high-grossing Oscar winners, Platoon and Terms of Endearment, and you have the recipe for a “mature,” feel-good smash. Let’s see: retarded man, family man, Vietnam hero and lots of decent folks on their deathbeds. The movie is not only a greatest-hits rendering of 25 years of Americana, it’s a distillation of humanist culture in commercial movies.

It is also a sleek Hollywoodizing, a ruthlessly canny face-lift of Groom’s novel. In the book, Forrest was just as naive but not quite so innocent or lucky: he had some sex, did some drugs and missed out on the nuclear family that in the movie Forrest finally gets to tend. In pumping up Jenny’s role, screenwriter Eric Roth transferred all of Forrest’s flaws — and most of the excesses Americans committed in the ’60s and ’70s to her. Wright’s Jenny is a frail soul in tailspin, a battered child in a beautiful woman’s body. And Forrest is her redeemer. The suspense of the movie is whether she will allow him to save her.

Zemeckis says, without apparent irony: “I imagined Norman Rockwell painting the baby boomers.” And that is Gump : a social tragedy sanitized for a Saturday Evening Post cover. It celebrates innocence, acceptance and, not least, good manners in a tale set in the very era when Americans were supposed to have misplaced these virtues. The movie offers a cheerful alternative history — a Golden Book version — of the Vietnam War: it’s all about the emotional triumphs of these nice American soldiers, and hardly a Vietnamese even appears. There are precious few villains: only the boys who throw rocks at young Gump, Jenny’s sexually abusive father and the SDS leader who slaps her around. Everyone else is either a celebrity or a victim.

For younger viewers, then, Forrest Gump serves as a gentle introduction to the ’60s: baptism not by fire but by sound track. And to those who raged, suffered or sinned through that insane decade, the movie offers absolution with a love pat. Whaddaya know? We waged a stupid war that destroyed both another country and the best part of ourselves; we tore up our streets and our psyches in a kind of Cultural Revolution; we practically killed ourselves with drugs — and it turns out we’re not guilty. By allowing us to relive all the evils of recent history through invulnerably innocent, uncontaminated Forrest, the movie lets us achieve a vicarious virtue.Thank you, Forrest Gump . We feel so much better.

“Filmmakers often say the American public doesn’t want complicated films full of thought,” says Field, who is outstanding as the heroic mom in this edgy valentine. “They are wrong. They underestimate the intelligence of the American audience.” But does Forrest Gump make you think? No, it makes you feel — or, at best, makes you think about what you feel, and about how long it has been since a movie found those remote corners of sympathy and sentiment.

From a film industry that softens virtually any contentious social issue — aids, the Holocaust, Vietnam — into a fable with a happy ending, Forrest is the ultimate sentimental figure. He embodies that noble Hollywood precept, the spiritual superiority of the handicapped. Forrest is not the ranter on the subway or the sullen, overgrown lad at the back of the class. He is — well, just who is he?

The neat trick about Forrest is he can symbolize so many people. New York Times columnist Frank Rich has compared him to Bill Clinton. But Forrest’s simple optimism and his success as an entrepreneur and a reviver of American confidence could make him an emblem of ’80s conservatism: not only Reaganomics but what Republicans might call Reaganethics. He’s E.T. with a little Gandhi thrown in. He’s Candide making the best of the worst of all possible worlds. And in his influence on events, from the capture of the Watergate burglars to John Lennon’s composition of the song Imagine, he seems almost omnipotent. All-innocent and all-powerful, the ideal guru for the nervous ’90s: Forrest God.

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‘Forrest Gump’ – Film Review and Analysis

One film that captures both your imagination and your heartstrings is the classic American film, Forrest Gump. Released in theaters over two decades ago in 1994, it has become one of the most beloved films of all time and enjoyed high amounts of praise from both critics and moviegoers alike. The film was notable for the fact that it won many different awards and accolades such as the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director for Robert Zemeckis, Best Actor for Tom Hanks, among many other distinctions. I would argue that this film along with Big helped to launch Tom Hanks as one of Hollywood’s rising stars and set him on a monumental acting career, which included many future box office hits. Five years ago, the U.S. Library of Congress recognized Forrest Gump as being a film that is historically, culturally, and aesthetically significant and selected it for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

Forrest Gump is about an everyman who has a slight disability of not being as smart as everyone else with an IQ of 75. However, despite him learning this fact as a child and being bullied about it, he manages to not let this handicap ruin his life but instead learns to preserve and make the most of things. The story of Forrest Gump takes place over the tumultuous and transformative decades of the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s when America went through a number of political, social, and economic changes. One of the true delights of this film is seeing how many of these changes Forrest witnesses and is actually apart of.

During the film, we see him shaking his hips with Elvis Presley at his mom’s guesthouse in Alabama, serving in the U.S. Army after being drafted in the Vietnam War, starting a fight during the midst of a Black Panther group meeting, and meeting Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. Despite his lack of formal intelligence, Forrest does not let that stop him from being an ‘All-American’ college football player, a veteran of the Vietnam War, a shrimp boat, a wealthy man due to his investments in a little company called Apple Inc, and lastly and most important, a loving son, friend, father, and husband. In addition to serving in Vietnam and witnessing Elvis Presley in person, Forrest also helps a black woman become the first African-American to integrate into an all-white school, helps to break the seal on the Watergate scandal when he sees people breaking into DNC headquarters, and becomes an international ping-pong star while helping to improve relations between the United States and the People’s Republic of China. He’s an every man who takes life as it comes regardless of the good or bad and finds himself involved in extraordinary events that shape American history.

As Forrest gets wrapped up in these events over the course of the film, he takes an almost child-like innocence to them even in the cases of war, violence and prejudice. He’s aware of these things and knows right from wrong but tries to live a simple and uncomplicated life despite all he’s been through. He wants to be a good son to his mother; he desires to be with the love of his life, Jenny, to have good friendships with his fellow soldier Bubba and Lieutenant Dan, and to be a responsible father to his son at the end of the movie. He may lack intelligence in terms of critical thinking and solving problems; he has the ability to display maturity, show emotional intelligence and is able to show kindness and love towards others despite his differences with them.

While he may not know his father, and his wife Jenny disrespected and left him in the cold over the years when she was dealing with her own demons, he has the ability to look past these grievances and live a good and fulfilling life. Forrest endures other traumas and heartbreak in the Vietnam War when he sees his fellow soldiers and friends killed or disabled like his good friend Bubba and his lieutenant, Dan Taylor. While he could have given up on life or become bitter and disenchanted, Forrest instead finds new purposes in playing ping-pong around the world, starting a very profitable shrimp boat company with his old Lieutenant Dan, and runs around the United States for three years straight to help get past those losses and betrayals that has haunted him. Forrest is an example of a man who never gives up and keeps moving forward despite his past. He simply does not let his past define him. Like all of us, he’s been giving good and bad fortune but he makes the best of things regardless of the circumstances.

During the long run scene of Forrest’s, people become inspired by his example and ask him for advice and guidance. He doesn’t have much to say to them but they happen to find comfort in the fact that he’s doing this just for its’ own sake. Forrest simply can’t help them all figure life as they have to each follow their own path and find inspiration wherever they can. Once one path ends, another one opens up to be explored afterwards. As Forrest states when reporters ask him why he’s running, “I just felt like running.” Sometimes, you don’t need a reason to be doing something if you feel like it.

While many other people are inspired and are given hope from Forrest’s example, Forrest is inspired by other people such as his mother played by the wonderful Sally Field, along with his fellow soldier Bubba and his Lieutenant Dan. His mother teaches him about love, respect, and finding your own path in life. She gives Forrest a quote on her death-bed that he takes to heart and has become one of the most famous movie quotes of all-time. “Life is like a box of chocolates, Forrest, you never know what you’re gonna get.” Forrest asks his mom what his destiny may be. She tells him that he can’t answer that for him and ask he needs to figure that out for himself. She does let him know that it was her destiny to be his momma and that she’s very proud of the man that he has become.

Forrest’s relationship throughout the film with Jenny is complicated and unfortunate as the ways their lives converge and diverge leads to pain and heartbreak but also compassion and understanding. Jenny is Forrest’s first and only love. They grow up together and spend time getting to know each other. Forrest is a breath of fresh air for Jenny who has to deal with an abusive father at home. Even through college, they remain close but still friends.

Jenny’s path through life takes her to some lonely places and she deals with abusive boyfriends, drug abuse, and hostile friends like the Black Panther party. Even with her flaws, Forrest still loves her as always and asks her to marry him. She eventually agrees to be his bride making him the happiest man in the world. Tragically, their marriage is cut short by the fact that Jenny has HIV/AIDS and has become really sick. However, the love that Jenny shares for Forrest allows them to have a son together before she passes away. While a devastating loss for Forrest like it was to lose his mother and Bubba, his best friend, Forrest’s destiny is renewed in the love he has for his son, Forrest Jr. as he takes care of him after Jenny’s death.

Forrest Gump is a special movie that has resonated with millions of people around the world. Many folks have been inspired by the message of this movie and have gone to improve their lives in enumerable ways. The story of Forrest Gump is a story of hope, love, perseverance, respect, and tolerance. Anybody who watches Forrest Gump will get something out of the movie because of its’ overall message. Like the feather that floats by Forrest at the beginning and ending of the film, you make the most of what we’re dealt with in life and it’s you alone who can shape your destiny through the choices you make, the people you befriend, and the impact you create. We may all be floating on the breeze like a feather unsure of where we’re going but we can steer the direction of that feather to new places and new conclusions.

Forrest Gump is a special character in a special movie that rekindles for viewers what they love about the big screen by showing our capacity as human beings to love, cry, laugh, and share good times and bad with those friends and family as Forrest does. Anybody who watches Forrest Gump can relate to Forrest and what he goes through. That is what makes this movie such an endearing, popular film and why it will last for many more years as one of the most iconic pieces of work in American cinema.

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Forrest gump, common sense media reviewers.

Moving and wonderful, but parent preview a good idea.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Stresses importance of family, friendship, and loy

Forrest, through his big heart, seems to bring out

Forrest's friends Bubba and Lt. Dan Taylor are Bla

Other kids taunt and throw rocks at young Forrest;

Jenny works as an adult performer at one point, pl

Language includes "s--t," "f--k" (a couple of time

Brand names (like Apple) are mentioned, but genera

A central character takes lots of drugs during one

Parents need to know that Forrest Gump is an Oscar-winning film by Robert Zemeckis (based on the novel by Winston Groom) that follows the title character (Tom Hanks) through his brushes with important people and moments in U.S. history. Expect strong language ("s--t," "f--k," and more), violence (including…

Positive Messages

Stresses importance of family, friendship, and loyalty. Serious issues like child abuse and war are addressed. Other major themes include gratitude, integrity, and perseverance.

Positive Role Models

Forrest, through his big heart, seems to bring out the best in people. He stumbles into much of his good luck serendipitously, but he also works hard and devotes himself to whatever he's focused on. Other characters have more complex motivations and backstories, but Forrest helps keep them pointed in the right direction.

Diverse Representations

Forrest's friends Bubba and Lt. Dan Taylor are Black and disabled, respectively, each positive but with stereotypical traits (Bubba's actor wore a prosthetic to have a bigger lower lip; the wheelchair-using veteran is implied to be self-destructive with suicidal ideation). Jenny often needs to be rescued by Forrest and isn't given much agency. As a child, Forrest is "miraculously" healed from a spine illness; the scene of him shedding his leg braces as he sets off into a run is ableist.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Other kids taunt and throw rocks at young Forrest; he's insulted throughout his life for having a low IQ score. Fistfights and explosive/bloody Vietnam War combat scenes. The scene in which young Jenny hides from her abusive father is disturbing, as are a couple of major characters' deaths. Serious wounds from war. Implied sexual abuse of children. Historical events discussed or alluded to include assassinations. It's implied that characters have suicidal ideation.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Jenny works as an adult performer at one point, playing guitar naked (she's covered by the instrument from the front, but you can see her nude from the back). Foreplay includes Forrest putting his hand on a woman's breast while her roommate is in the room (the outline of her breast and her naked backside are seen). Kissing/groping, women in their underwear. Lt. Dan and Forrest are seen shirtless, and adults have sex in a non-explicit scene. Characters look at a pornographic magazine, but no nude pictures are shown in detail. A child overhears the sounds of two adults having sex.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Language includes "s--t," "f--k" (a couple of times), "goddamn," "ass," and more, as well as insults like the "N" word, "stupid," and "idiot."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Brand names (like Apple) are mentioned, but generally within a specific historical/cultural context.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

A central character takes lots of drugs during one part of the movie, with cocaine, bongs, pill bottles, needles, and pipes visible. Other characters drink and smoke cigarettes.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Forrest Gump is an Oscar-winning film by Robert Zemeckis (based on the novel by Winston Groom) that follows the title character ( Tom Hanks ) through his brushes with important people and moments in U.S. history. Expect strong language ("s--t," "f--k," and more), violence (including bloody/explosive Vietnam War scenes and child abuse), and drug use (cocaine is seen, and characters drink and smoke cigarettes). There are sexual situations (foreplay, kissing, implied sex, the outline of a breast and a backside, and more) but nothing explicit. Despite the mature content, its positive messages and entertaining take on modern American history make it a fine choice for families with teens. Black and disabled characters are featured in a positive light, but they also perpetuate stereotypes. Women, especially Forrest's love, Jenny ( Robin Wright ), are given no agency. Parents may want to preview the movie for its treatment of serious topics like abuse, the civil rights movement, drugs, and war. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (73)
• Kids say (292)

Based on 73 parent reviews

A great movie but not for young teens, skip the sex scenes, drug scenes, and prostitute scenes. This film is able to make the audience cry with tears!!!

Great movie for teens, what's the story.

FORREST GUMP tells the story of the title character ( Tom Hanks ), a childlike man who unknowingly takes part in some of the most significant moments in modern American history, sometimes becoming an accidental hero. Forrest dreams of being reunited with his lifelong love Jenny ( Robin Wright ), who seems to become more elusive as they age.

Is It Any Good?

This film serves up an abundance of surprising treats, sometimes sweet and sometimes bitter. Though its strong language, violence, and sexual situations make it iffy for young children, Forrest Gump can introduce teens to prominent moments in 20th century United States. Through the use of Oscar-winning visual effects, Forrest interacts with U.S. presidents, accidentally uncovers the Watergate scandal, and inspires John Lennon to write the song "Imagine." Although mostly witty, the film's tongue-in-cheek rewriting of major U.S. events often erases the contributions of Black Americans, such as attributing Elvis Presley's famous "pelvis dance" to Forrest, rather than to the Black musicians that Elvis was inspired by in real life.

The encounters sometimes border on the absurd, but they're anchored by Hanks' extraordinary performance. He makes Forrest a sympathetic character instead of a stereotype of someone with a learning disability. Superb acting by the entire cast, especially Wright as Jenny and Gary Sinise as Forrest's Army lieutenant, adds substance to this sentimental tearjerker.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about American history and how it's seen through Forrest Gump's eyes. Are historical events depicted in an accurate way? Should movies depict history accurately, or are they allowed poetic license?

Which historical events before your time would you have liked to be a part of? Which characters from history would you like to meet?

What would you say Forrest Gump 's main message is? Are viewers meant to admire Forrest? To sympathize with him?

How do the characters in Forrest Gump demonstrate integrity , perseverance , and gratitude ? Why are these important character strengths?

Movie Details

• In theaters : July 6, 1994
• On DVD or streaming : September 30, 2014
• Cast : Robin Wright , Sally Field , Tom Hanks
• Director : Robert Zemeckis
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Paramount Pictures
• Genre : Drama
• Topics : Book Characters , History
• Character Strengths : Gratitude , Integrity , Perseverance
• Run time : 135 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : drug content, sensuality and war violence
• Awards : Academy Award , Golden Globe
• Last updated : January 17, 2024

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Forrest Gump Reviews

Forrest was an ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Mar 3, 2024

Zemeckis has made a fast movie about a slow hero; he transforms Forrest's daffy misconceptions into lyrical flights. Forrest Gump has a softer, more delicate touch and a richer current of feeling than any of the other holy-innocent movies.

Full Review | Mar 1, 2024

What makes Forrest Gump a stunning triumph, a departure from the mediocre norm? A big reason is the way the film provides a fresh perspective on the familiar experience, through the eyes of its unforgettable protagonist.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Mar 1, 2024

Forrest Gump isn't a movie for cynics. Instead, it's one of those rare films that seduces viewers into overlooking its faults with the sheer goodness of its heart.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Mar 1, 2024

Hanks' performance [is] a triumph of dignity, decency, and warm-hearted humor... Even more than his Oscar-winning achievement in Philadelphia, this is a role that will be remembered as long as people care about great acting.

Forrest Gump is a very fine hour for everybody involved. And it's concrete evidence that Tom Hanks is the best actor working in American film today.

Forrest Gump is for big kids what playing Nintendo is for little ones -- that is, the neato thing about Robert Zemeckis' film is the clever techno-wizardry produced by Ken Ralston and Industrial Light and Magic.

Hanks never strikes a false note, never panders to his mentally slow character nor tries to make him more than he is, despite a script that occasionally calls on him to utter what presumably are intended to be simple profundities.

There's an undeniable kick to the idea of recapitulating to the Boomerography as a tale told by an idiot, but the thrill inexorably fades.

Intended as a paean to simplicity and a meditation on the quirks of destiny, "Gump" is instead simple-minded and calculated, a cloying, reactionary fable in praise of stupidity.

Forrest Gump is about as good as Hollywood movies get.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Mar 1, 2024

Hanks' immersion in character and his convincing interaction with fellow players make Forrest Gump -- gimmicks and all -- a pleasure.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 1, 2024

The best art takes the biggest chances, thereby losing people who can't stretch with it. Forrest Gump is worth the effort.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Mar 1, 2024

Forrest Gump is going to touch a lot of people's lives. It also has a good shot at bringing Tom Hanks a second Oscar for best actor.

Loosely adapted from Winston Groom's satirical novel, Forrest Gump provides an incredibly rich and daffy historical pastiche.

Forrest Gump is a rare treat: a movie that delivers a message of hope and faith without delving into preachiness. Much of that success is due to Hanks' majestically deadpan performance.

It turns tedious toward the end... But when it's good, it's very good, and the way it blends star Tom Hanks, who plays the title character, into actual historical film footage will tickle you to no end.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 1, 2024

Forrest Gump manages to examine some of the basic questions of human life and to add perspective to the two most disruptive decades in modern history.

Director Robert Zemeckis is no stranger to spectacular effects. But seldom do knockout technology, superb acting and witty writing meld so satisfactorily.

It requires a delicate touch to keep from becoming precious. Director Robert Zemeckis is up to the task.

Forrest Gump

By Todd McCarthy

Todd McCarthy

• Remember Me 14 years ago
• Shutter Island 14 years ago
• Green Zone 14 years ago

A picaresque story of a simpleton’s charmed odyssey through 30 years of tumultuous American history, “ Forrest Gump ” is whimsy with a strong cultural spine. Elegantly made and winningly acted by Tom Hanks in his first outing since his Oscar-winning “Philadelphia” performance, Robert Zemeckis’ technically dazzling new film is also shrewdly packaged to hit baby boomers where they live. Pic offers up a non-stop barrage of emotional and iconographic identification points that will make the postwar generation feel they’re seeing their lives passing by onscreen. Paramount’s target audience is obvious, and boffo B.O. should ensue.

In a part Dustin Hoffman might once have killed for, Hanks plays a kind of semi-imbecile whose very blankness makes him an ideal audience prism through which many of the key events of the ’50s through early ’80s can be viewed. Lacking any ideology or analytical powers, Gump is the immutable innocent moving in a state of grace through a nation in the process of losing its innocence, an Everyman who acts instinctively in an age defined by political divisiveness.

Although hard to pigeonhole, the picture unavoidably recalls the idiot-savant classic “Being There,” and significantly resembles “The World According to Garp” in tone. Most often mentioned, however, will be its similarity to Woody Allen’s “Zelig,” as some of the biggest laughs stem from wizardly interpolations of the Gump character into newsreel and TV footage of several U.S. presidents and other leading figures.

Popular on Variety

As Gump narrates his story to a succession of listeners at a Savannah, Ga., bus stop, a most curious life is revealed in evocative, often jokey flashbacks. Gump is raised in an old plantation mansion, now a boarding house, by his abandoned mother (Sally Field), who tells the boy that he’s no different from anyone else despite his 75 I.Q. Outfitted with leg braces and shunned by other boys, young Forrest finds his only friend in a beautiful little girl, Jenny, herself the victim of abuse at home.

Once Forrest, in a startling scene, literally breaks free of his leg shackles, he becomes “a running fool,” darting about wherever he goes at terrific speed. Even though he doesn’t understand the rules, he becomes a star running back on the high school and college football teams, and it’s at the U. of Alabama that the grown-up Forrest has his first date with destiny, as a dopey-looking bystander next to Gov. George Wallace as the first black students are admitted through the school’s doors.

After another encounter, with JFK, Forrest heads for Vietnam, where his dim-wittedness makes him the ideal Army soldier. On the way, he meets Bubba Blue (Mykelti Williamson), another not especially swift fellow who’s like Forrest’s black brother, a man whose dreams of a shrimping life give Forrest something to aspire to once they’re back.

After an intense battle, Forrest saves the lives of several men, including his commanding officer, Lt. Dan (Gary Sinise), who nonetheless loses his legs, and Forrest returns home to receive the Medal of Honor from LBJ and have a chance reunion with Jenny (Robin Wright), who’s become a camp follower of SDS and Black Panther types.

Through it all, Forrest retains his love and idealized image of Jenny. She, however, indulges in the try-it-all excesses of the era, becoming a stripper, hippie, activist, druggie and more. Jenny keeps popping into Forrest’s life at intervals, never quite ready to settle for his unquestioning love until it’s almost too late.

Meanwhile, Forrest’s eventful life comes to embrace a stint as a champ ping-pong player, a down-and-out period with Lt. Dan in New York, a hilarious key role in the Watergate saga, amazing success as a shrimp boat captain, the resumption of his life as a runner, which sees him become a sort of mystical guru figure to the jogging set, and finally the unexpected arrival of fatherhood.

In covering so much ground, literally and figuratively, Eric Roth’s intelligently structured, finely tuned screenplay also serves up innumerable cultural touchstones that will have most viewers in the 30-50 age range melting in recognition. Main themes here have to do with the impulse to recapture the past; the wish to return to one’s childhood, or at least the site of it; the desire to fulfill your life with your original true love; the need to refashion the simple feeling of homeafter many aimless years; and assuming the responsibilities of parenthood after much delay.

At just short of 2 1/2 hours, pic is a bit indulgent, long and excessive at times, but this is more than compensated for by its humor and sharp-witted storytelling. For the minority of nay-sayers the film will encounter, pic’s key problem will be its preoccupation with lost innocence and certain other self-centered hang-ups.

Pic is weakest in the Forrest-Jenny relationship; the characters have nothing but their childhood connection going for them. Changes in Jenny’s life are mostly marked by the alterations to Wright’s coiffure and costumes, and the actress has little to play until the late moments.

On the other hand, Gump reps another career triumph for Hanks after his Oscar turn. Affecting a Southern drawl and affable sweetness, the actor draws the viewer close to his curious character immediately, and manages to keep one intrigued and amused throughout. His comic timing is as sharp as ever, even when interacting with real-life figures in docu footage, and his malleable physicality contributes a great deal to the intermittent hilarity.

In the key supporting roles, Sinise and Williamson are excellent, while Field pops up as Forrest’s loving mom at the beginning and near the end.

Zemeckis’ direction is supple, and in this instance he has well balanced his long-term interest in technical matters with concern over performance and content. From the extraordinary, descending opening shot on through a vivid ground-level Vietnam firestorm and the documentary facsimiles, the film is a superior example of Hollywood craftsmanship, with outstanding contributions from lenser Don Burgess, production designer Rick Carter, costume designer Joanna Johnston and numerous special-effects hands.

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.

• Production: A Paramount release of a Steve Tisch/Wendy Finerman production. Produced by Finerman, Tisch, Steve Starkey. Co-producer, Charles Newirth. Directed by Robert Zemeckis. Screenplay, Eric Roth, based on the novel by Winston Groom.
• Crew: Camera (DuArt, Technicolor; Deluxe prints; Panavision widescreen), Don Burgess; editor, Arthur Schmidt; music, Alan Silvestri; executive music producer, Joel Sill; production design, Rick Carter; art direction, Leslie McDonald, Jim Teegarden; set design, Erin Kemp, James C. Feng, Elizabeth Lapp, Lauren E. Polizzi; set decoration, Nancy Haigh; costume design, Joanna Johnston; sound (Dolby), William B. Kaplan; visual effects supervisor, Ken Ralston; special visual effects, Industrial Light & Magic; assistant director, Bruce Moriarty; second unit director, Starkey; second unit camera, David M. Dunlap; casting, Ellen Lewis. Reviewed at the Bruin Theater, L.A., June 27, 1994. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 142 MIN.
• With: Forrest Gump - Tom Hanks Jenny Curran - Robin Wright Lt. Dan Taylor - Gary Sinise Bubba Blue - Mykelti Williamson Mrs. Gump - Sally Field Young Forrest - Michael Conner Humphreys Young Jenny - Hanna R. Hall

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• Cast & crew
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• Forrest Gump

The history of the United States from the 1950s to the '70s unfolds from the perspective of an Alabama man with an IQ of 75, who yearns to be reunited with his childhood sweetheart. The history of the United States from the 1950s to the '70s unfolds from the perspective of an Alabama man with an IQ of 75, who yearns to be reunited with his childhood sweetheart. The history of the United States from the 1950s to the '70s unfolds from the perspective of an Alabama man with an IQ of 75, who yearns to be reunited with his childhood sweetheart.

• Robert Zemeckis
• Winston Groom
• Robin Wright
• Gary Sinise
• 3.2K User reviews
• 110 Critic reviews
• 82 Metascore
• 51 wins & 74 nominations total

• Jenny Curran

• Lieutenant Dan Taylor

• Nurse at Park Bench

• Young Forrest
• (as Harold Herthum)

• Elderly Woman
• Elderly Woman's Daughter
• Southern Gentleman …

• Young Elvis Presley

• School Bus Driver
• (as Siobhan J. Fallon)
• School Bus Boy
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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• Trivia When Forrest gets up to talk at the Vietnam rally in Washington, the microphone plug is pulled and you cannot hear him. According to Tom Hanks he said, "Sometimes when people go to Vietnam, they go home to their mommas without any legs. Sometimes they don't go home at all. That's a bad thing. That's all I have to say about that."
• Goofs When Forrest is given his discharge papers, he sets down his ping-pong paddle and (computerized) ball to salute the officer. When he picks the paddle back up, he also pretends to pick up the ball, which didn't end up getting animated.

Jenny Curran : Do you ever dream, Forrest, about who you're gonna be?

Forrest Gump : Who I'm gonna be?

Jenny Curran : Yeah.

Forrest Gump : Aren't-aren't I going to be me?

• Alternate versions In the TBS and the ABC version, the line at the end of the dorm scene is cut, "I think I ruined your roommate's bath robe".
• Connections Edited from The Birth of a Nation (1915)
• Soundtracks Lovesick Blues Written by Cliff Friend and Irving Mills Performed by Hank Williams Courtesy of PolyGram Special Markets

User reviews 3.2K

• Apr 6, 2006
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• What is Forrest Gump about?
• Why did Jenny leave Forrest before he went on the long run?
• July 6, 1994 (United States)
• United States
• Official Facebook
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• Forrest Gamp
• Chippewa Square, Savannah, Georgia, USA (bus stop bench)
• Paramount Pictures
• The Steve Tisch Company
• Wendy Finerman Productions
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $55,000,000 (estimated)
• $330,455,270
• $24,450,602
• Jul 10, 1994
• $678,226,465

Technical specs

• Runtime 2 hours 22 minutes
• Black and White
• Dolby Atmos

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FILM REVIEW

FILM REVIEW; Tom Hanks as an Interloper in History

By Janet Maslin

• July 6, 1994

When a television news report overheard in "Forrest Gump" mentions American astronauts, the audience can be forgiven for wondering whether the title character will soon be seen walking on the moon. The charmed life of Forrest Gump has led him practically everywhere else, from the White House (where Presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon appear to be greeting him amiably) to an Alabama boarding house (where he gives pelvis-shaking lessons to a guest, the as-yet-unknown Elvis Presley).

And "Forrest Gump" is such an accomplished feat of cyber-cinema that it makes these tricks, not to mention subtler ones, look amazingly seamless. As he did in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" and the "Back to the Future" films, Robert Zemeckis is bound to leave viewers marveling at the sheer wizardry behind such effects. Even the opening credit sequence, featuring a feather that drifts along a perfectly choreographed trajectory until it reaches its precise destination -- a fine visual embodiment of Forrest's own path through life -- is cause for astonishment.

But as with Mr. Zemeckis's "Death Becomes Her," the audience won't simply ask how; it will also wonder why. This film maker, the one who made Meryl Streep appear to speak with her head on backward, remains much more successful at staging brilliant technical sleight-of-hand than at providing the dramatic basis for his visual inventions. Structured as Forrest's autobiography, and centering on his lifelong love for an elusive beauty named Jenny, "Forrest Gump" has the elements of an emotionally gripping story. Yet it feels less like a romance than like a coffee-table book celebrating the magic of special effects.

Luckily, "Forrest Gump" has Tom Hanks, the only major American movie star who could have played Forrest without condescension and without succumbing to the film's Pollyanna-ish tone. "Let me say this: bein a idiot is no box of chocolates," says the slow-witted narrator of Winston Groom's tart, playful novel, on which Eric Roth's screenplay is based. The film's Forrest expresses this thought in much more saccharine fashion, announcing that his mother used to say life was like a box of chocolates because "you never know what you're gonna get."

On screen, "Forrest Gump" doesn't get much tougher than that. It's a loose string of vignettes, presented at an unemphatic, page-flipping pace by Mr. Zemeckis, and establishing Forrest as an accidental emblem of his times. Forrest's love of Jenny (Robin Wright) is the film's only unifying thread, but it's a thread stretched almost to the breaking point. You are sure to watch this story chiefly for its digressions, especially those expressed with Forrest's comically oblivious powers of description: "Now the really good thing about meetin' the President of the United States is the food."

Forrest says this when, having been named an All-American, he visits the Kennedy White House and winds up drinking too much Dr. Pepper. Typical of the film's magic is a brief glimpse of Forrest writhing uncomfortably and telling the President that he has to go to the bathroom, with a naivete that makes Mr. Kennedy chuckle.

The President's voice sounds authentic, his mouth movements match his movie dialogue, and he and Mr. Hanks appear to be on precisely the same film stock, in the same frame. Special kudos for this go to Ken Ralston, the film's special-effects supervisor, and to Industrial Light and Magic, pushing the technical envelope further than ever. Superb gamesmanship like this is its own reward, even if it accounts for only a fraction of the film's screen time and sometimes is allowed to wear thin (a patently phony shot seating Forrest next to John Lennon on the Dick Cavett show, with Mr. Lennon's small talk consisting of "Imagine" lyrics).

Disabled as a young boy but goaded by his loving Mama (Sally Field) to make the best of his abilities, Forrest eventually becomes a football star, a war hero, a successful businessman and an international Ping-Pong champion. Is Mr. Hanks hitting real Ping-Pong balls at high speed? Or have the balls and whacking sounds been artificially added? By the time this sequence comes around, viewers will have lost all ability to distinguish real images from clever counterfeits. The single most dazzling special effect turns Gary Sinise, as Forrest's Vietnam friend and subsequent business partner, into a double amputee.

Meanwhile, American popular culture explodes around Forrest, allowing Mr. Zemeckis to contrive a string of Zeitgeist-laden picture postcards. Jenny goes from country girl to hippie to political activist to druggie and onward. When she goes to San Francisco during the flower-power days, viewers will know exactly which pop song to expect in the background.

In fact, "Forrest Gump" is so loaded with hit songs and eye-catching costumes that these superficial elements often supplant the narrative. When Forrest, demonstrating the kind of benign whimsy that brings to mind Kurt Vonnegut's early fiction, decides that he feels like running across America for a couple of years, "Running on Empty," "It Keeps You Runnin'," "Go Your Own Way" and "On the Road Again" are all used for musical accompaniment. While en route, he also invents one very popular bumper slogan and the "Have a Nice Day" T-shirt logo.

If Forrest is a holy fool, Mr. Hanks makes his holiness very apparent. Only in this touching, imaginatively childlike performance does the film display any emotional weight. Sitting on a bench at a bus stop during most of the film, eagerly recounting his life story for a succession of strangers, Mr. Hanks's Forrest has an unerring sincerity and charm. If it's difficult to reconcile this sweet, guileless performance with the film's technical obsessiveness (a special satellite was used to track the sun's position and determine optimum lighting for the film's outdoor scenes), well, maybe it should be.

Deserving of special mention among the actors are Mykelti Williamson, as the Army buddy who turns out to be a perfect match for Forrest, and Mr. Sinise, whose dark, bitter performance offers an element of surprise. Ms. Wright's role is structured mostly as a set of costume changes, but she is as strong and resilient as the material requires. Ms. Field, unfazed by the job of playing Mr. Hanks's mother, charges through the story in flowery, emphatically genteel Southern costumes. Like everything else about "Forrest Gump," she looks a little too good to be true.

"Forrest Gump" is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). It includes brief nudity, sexual references and mild profanity. FORREST GUMP Directed by Robert Zemeckis; written by Eric Roth, based on the novel by Winston Groom; director of photography, Don Burgess; edited by Arthur Schmidt; music by Alan Silvestri; production designer, Rick Carter; produced by Wendy Finerman, Steve Tisch and Steve Starkey; released by ParamountViacomcoei. Running time: 140 minutes. This film is rated PG-13. WITH: Sally Field, Tom Hanks, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson and Robin Wright.

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• DVD & Streaming

Forrest Gump

• Comedy , Drama , Romance

Content Caution

In Theaters

• July 6, 1994
• Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump; Robin Wright as Jenny; Mykelti Williamson as Bubba Blue; Gary Sinise as Lt. Dan Taylor; Sally Field as Mrs. Gump; Haley Joel Osment as Forrest Junior; Michael Connor Humphreys as Young Forrest; Hanna Hall as Young Jenny

Home Release Date

• April 27, 1995
• Robert Zemeckis

Distributor

• Paramount Pictures

Movie Review

You never know who you might sit next to on a bus stop bench. Could be a simple gardener or a business magnate. Perhaps a war vet or world-class athlete. He might be just a wandering stiff, a few croutons shy of a garden salad.

Or maybe—just maybe—he’s all of the above.

Forrest Gump has never been the brightest bulb in Greenbow, Ala. Blessed with an IQ of 75, his eccentricities growing up stuck out even more than the leg braces he wore. His Mississippi mud-slow brain made him a big, almost defenseless, target.

‘Course, that current runs wide and deep and strong, too. His mamma always told him that you “have to do the best with what God gave you.” And so Forrest did—using his strength and skill and guileless charm to ultimately influence history itself.

When Forrest was confronted with a phalanx of rock-throwing bullies, his best friend, Jenny, told him to run. And so Forrest did—out of his leg braces, into college and, eventually, across America itself.

Bubba Blue told Forrest that he should really go into the shrimping business. And so Forrest did—becoming a rich man in the process.

But it wasn’t all peas and carrots for the guy. He’s dealt with loss. He’s experienced disappointment. No one—not even Forrest Gump—escapes pain in this life.

Forrest’s mamma always said that life is like a box of chocolates, but for Forrest, the unexpectedness of life is only half the story. For him, each bite is both sweet and bitter—a bit of heaven that can still burn your eyes.

Positive Elements

In 1 Corinthians 1:25, the Apostle Paul tells us that “God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.” And in Forrest—a protagonist with weak legs, a weak mind and few of the advantages that many of us take for granted—we see something of God’s curious strength. Forrest rescues people from both physical and spiritual death. He risks his all for those he loves. When he makes a promise, he keeps it—even when there’s no one, precisely, to keep it to.

It’s important to note that Forrest’s character didn’t spring from a vacuum. His mother filled his head with positive platitudes that buoyed him throughout his life. And when it came time for him to leave her 24-7 care and go to school (a very hostile environment for anyone who looks and acts a little different), he thankfully met Jenny—a girl who became his best friend and more.

Forrest returns Jenny’s friendship by becoming her defender and protector. Whenever she sinks into trouble (which is pretty much all the time), Forrest pulls her out. “I’m not a smart man,” he tells her. “But I know what love is.” And so he does. He loves the wandering girl with a tireless, sacrificial passion that we could all stand to emulate better.

Other instances of Forrest’s outright decency include him picking up a book for an African-American student at the University of Alabama—the day the school was forced to accept blacks. And him giving money to Bubba’s mother, allowing her to finally move up a bit in the world. And him throwing a lifeline to Lieutenant Dan, his one-time commander who lost both legs in Vietnam. If Forrest’s life was that box of chocolates, he sure share his sweets a lot.

Spiritual Elements

Forrest Gump is a surprisingly spiritual story, and I could monopolize the rest of the review writing about it. I could delve into how Forrest’s love for Jenny echoes the relationship of Hosea and Gomer in the Old Testament. I could talk about the story’s take on chance and fate. I could rattle on about the feather that floats through Forrest’s life.

Forrest has a deep and unquestioning faith in God and heaven. He assumes folks who’ve died in his life have gone up to heaven, and he knows he’ll get there too. Lieutenant Dan isn’t so prone to such childlike belief. He complains that that’s all any of his fellow wounded vets talk about, and he scoffs at the idea of “walking” with God in heaven. When he and Forrest begin trawling (unsuccessfully) for shrimp, Dan snidely suggests that Forrest pray. From then on, Forest goes to church every Sunday. He tells us that Dan would sometimes go with him, but that he always seemed to leave the praying up to Forrest. (We see Dan in the back of the sanctuary, drinking.)

“Where the h— is this God of yours?” Dan snaps at Forrest while they’re shrimping. “It’s funny that Lieutenant Dan said that,” Forrest narrates. “Cause right then, God showed up.”

He comes in the guise of a storm, we’re shown, and Dan challenges Him from the ship’s mast, shouting into the wind. “You and me!” he hollers. “I’m right here!” (The scene echoes the biblical trickster Jacob wrestling with God in the wilderness—a fight that left Jacob with a limp. It’s telling, perhaps, that Dan would later limp to Forrest’s house on artificial legs.) Once the storm is over, Dan gives Forrest an overdue thank-you for saving his life, then dives into the ocean—a baptism of sorts.

“I think he made his peace with God,” Forrest tells us.

As kids, Forrest and Jenny pray that God would turn Jenny into a bird so she could fly away from her abusive father. We learn that Forrest gives his church loads of money when he strikes it rich. On a talk show, Forrest talks about China’s lack of churches with John Lennon. “No religion, too?” Lennon says.

Sexual Content

It’s revealed that Jenny was physically and sexually abused as a child: Forrest describes her father as a “loving man” who was always “kissing and touching” his daughters. The rest of her life echoes that tragic beginning.

She makes out with a guy in a car who seems to be hurting her. But when Forrest pulls her out and punches the dude, she yells that she doesn’t want his help. We see pictures of her in Playboy (and the camera sees the side of her breast, as well as getting a look at another model’s bare breast). She becomes a stripper who plunks out folk tunes while naked on stage. (Portions of her backside and breasts are seen.) We see her get pretty friendly with several men, and the film suggests that her promiscuity and/or drug use eventually lead to her contracting AIDS.

Her relationship with Forrest is platonic in the beginning. But she changes all that when, in college, she takes off her bra and presses his hand to her breast. (Her back is turned to the camera.) It’s implied that Forrest immediately has an orgasm. Forrest asks Jenny to marry him, but she says no—then sneaks into his room in the dead of night, tells him she loves him and has sex with him. (She snuggles in with him, taking off her nightgown, her back again to the camera.)

Dan makes out with a partially undressed woman, then forcefully tosses her aside, sending her sprawling. Another sexy lady tries to do the same with Forrest (but he pushes her away). In order to get Forrest into a “normal” school, his mamma has sex with the principal. Grunting and gasping is heard from the Gump house before we see the man leave, wiping his brow. (Young Forrest mimics the noises.) Much older, Forrest walks around naked in a shower room, his privates only obscured with a towel. We also see his rear on occasion.

Violent Content

Forrest fights in Vietnam, and some of his friends are wounded and killed there. He rescues several, covered in blood and gore. When one soldier dies, the camera focuses on his blood-coated hand. Lt. Dan’s shattered legs look like hamburger. Other men fall in the face of gunfire (we sometimes see a mist of blood) or explosions (which blast the bodies out of view).

Jenny threatens to jump off a bridge, and later she climbs out on a balcony, nearly committing suicide there, too. She’s roughly slapped by one of her boyfriends, and Forrest responds by pummeling the guy’s face. He punches out another boyfriend of hers, too, and attacks a strip club patron who tried to grab at Jenny. Forrest is hit with rocks thrown by bullies, and is nearly run over by a truck. A boat crashes into a dock. We see news footage of bloody moments in history, several of them assassinations or assassination attempts on presidents.

Crude or Profane Language

Forrest attends an antiwar rally and remarks about how much the main speaker “liked to say the f-word.” Onscreen, the obscenity is obscured in some way (by an acronym or by getting partially drowned out) in every instance except one. We also hear the s-word about 10 times (and it’s printed on a bumper sticker). Somewhat milder outbursts include the words “b–ch,” “b–tard,” “d–n,” “h—” and “a–.” Crude and or racist comments include “t-ts,” “retard,” “n-gger” and other slurs. God’s name is abused more than 20 times, almost all of the time with “d–n.” Jesus’ name is misused three or four times.

Drug and Alcohol Content

Jenny snorts coke, and we see her smear a mirror clean of the stuff. A male companion injects something into his vein. Her father totes a bottle of booze. After Dan loses his legs, he tries to lose himself in alcohol. We see him drinking constantly, telling Forrest to fetch him more. He and Forrest “celebrate” New Year’s at a crowded bar. (Forrest drinks Dr. Pepper.) Empty bottles litter Dan’s apartment.

Dam also smokes cigars. And others are shown lighting up, including Forrest’s school bus driver.

Other Negative Elements

Forrest gets shot in the buttocks and pulls down his pants to show the wound to President Lyndon Johnson. He steps in dog poo while running. He comically tries not to pee in his pants while meeting President John F. Kennedy. Against his better judgment, he lies about what kind of Ping-Pong paddle he uses (to earn money doing an advertisement). We see Dan use an outdoor half-wall latrine.

“Do you ever dream, Forrest, about who you’re gonna be?” Jenny asks.

“Aren’t … aren’t I going to be me?” Forrest responds.

And throughout Forrest Gump , he is indeed always … him. He’s too slow to pretend to be smart. He’s too honest to try to deceive. He believes in God, trusts his mother and knows that one’s character is revealed not through thought, but deed. His sacrificial love is something to behold. He’s exasperatingly, charmingly and, in the end, inspiringly himself. That’s not something most of us can say.

Not all of his decisions are outstandingly upright and moral, of course. But when Forrest Gump goes awry—and it does go awry—it’s usually because of the people surrounding Forrest, not he himself. Mamma prostitutes herself for a favor. Jenny sleeps with each and every guy who catches her eye, stripping and doing drugs and generally losing control of her life. Lt. Dan drinks with his right hand while flipping God off with his left.

In a storm of sin and trouble, Forrest sits in an eye of innocence. And most of the ick we see here serves as a worldly counterpoint to Forrest’s own simple “righteousness.” It’s designed to be icky—but it is still ick.

AN IMAX UPDATE: Forrest Gump was released in 1994 to commercial and critical acclaim. It was the highest-grossing film of the year (its $329.7 million trumping The Lion King’ s $312.9 million), and it won six of the 13 Oscars it was nominated for, including Best Director (Robert Zemeckis), Best Actor (Tom Hanks) and Best Picture. For some, the film has not aged well: Its historical references can feel a little precious now, its sweet message and innocent hero out of step with our more jaded, satirical age. Yet the character and his character are still indelible 20 years later as the film gets re-released on giant IMAX screens, and several of Mrs. Gump’s platitudes (“Stupid is as stupid does,” “Life is like a box of chocolates”) have wormed their way pretty deep into popular culture.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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Forrest Gump Review

05 Oct 1994

142 minutes

Forrest Gump

The charmed and charming life journey of an innocent tossed through three decades of America's turbulent modern history makes for an original and hugely appealing story. Its mesmerising potential only falters because director Robert Zemeckis' agility with ingenious special effects occasionally outpaces his narrative judgement, as it did in Death Becomes Her and, to a lesser extent, in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. It is still his most emotionally satisfying work to date, though, and however mildly or sharply one is struck by its dramatic flaws, there can be few who would deny the film's entertainment value or the captivation of Tom Hanks' performance as the eponymous Gump.

State-of-the-art computer digitalised compositing enables Forrest to interact with Presidents JFK, LBJ and Nixon, pop stars like John Lennon and TV personalities galore, creating other illusions to quite astounding effect. Less successful is the strand throughout the film in which Wright's Jenny counterpoints Forrest's naïve plod - always following his heart and his inner voice of right-doing in a country losing direction - with her extended walk on the wild side through promiscuity, drugs and loss of belief. Overlong, the film begins to slide into a sentimentalised panorama of the times with distracting, though admittedly frequently hilarious, spectacles.

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Forrest Gump (United States, 1994)

Since its theatrical release in the summer of 1994, Forrest Gump has become one of those movies seemingly everyone is familiar with. It's a cultural touchstone with lines like "Life is a box of chocolates" appearing everywhere from tee-shirts to greeting cards. The film's popularity was italicized by the way it rampaged through the 1995 Oscars, winning six awards (including the "big three" of Best Picture, Director, and Actor). Now, for its 20th anniversary, the decision has been made to do something Hollywood almost never does during the home video era: a big screen re-release.

How to get people into theaters to watch (or re-watch) Forrest run when it's a lot easier to do it at home? Enter the IMAX gimmick. Calling it anything less crass would be dishonest since there's no inherent reason why Forrest Gump should be bulked up for IMAX (or pseudo-IMAX, depending on how one views the smaller AMC version of the product). Still, commercial considerations aside, there's something majestic about watching this tall tale unfold on a larger screen than one can find in the average family room. The IMAX format is a nice way to entice some viewers to see the movie in a theater while maintaining the original composition.

The original review holds up today because, unlike some decades-old motion pictures, this one doesn't seem dated. It wears its age well. Here's what I wrote in 1994 when the movie was first released:

Ever find the grind of life getting you down? Is the day-to-day struggle threatening to drag you under? If so, there is a movie out there that can replenish your energy and refresh your outlook. Passionate and magical, Forrest Gump is a tonic for the weary of spirit. For those who feel that being set adrift in a season of action movies is like wandering into a desert, the oasis lies ahead.

Back when Tom Hanks' movie career was relatively new, the actor made a film called Big, which told the story of a young boy forced to grow up fast as a result of an ill-advised wish made at a carnival. In some ways, Forrest Gump represents a return to the themes of that earlier movie. In this case, the main character remains a child in heart and spirit, even as his body grows to maturity. Hanks is called upon yet again to play the innocent.

Forrest Gump (Hanks), named after a civil war hero, grows up in Greenbow, Alabama, where his mother (Sally Field) runs a boarding house. Although Forrest is a little "slow" (his IQ is 75, 5 below the state's definition of "normal"), his mental impairment doesn't seem to bother him, his mother, or his best (and only) friend, Jenny Curran (played as an adult by Robin Wright). In fact, the naiveté that comes through a limited understanding of the world around him gives Forrest a uniquely positive perspective on life. Across the span of the next thirty years, Forrest becomes a star football player, a war hero, a successful businessman, and a pop icon. Through it all, however, there is one defining element in his life: his love for Jenny. She is never far from his thoughts, no matter what he's doing or where he is.

A trio of assets lifts Forrest Gump above the average "life story" (melo)drama: its optimism, freshness, and emotional honesty. Though the movie does not seek to reduce every member of the audience to tears, it has moments whose power comes from their simplicity. Equally as important is laughter, and Forrest Gump has moments of humor strewn throughout.

During the 60s and 70s, no topic more inflamed the turbulent national consciousness than that of Vietnam and those who were sent overseas to fight. Forrest, as might be expected, has a singular viewpoint on his time spent there: "We took long walks and were always looking for this guy named Charlie." This observation emphasizes the essence of the title character's nature.

Through the miracle of visual effects, Forrest meets his fair share of famous people - George Wallace, Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon, and John Lennon. While mixing the real footage of these notables with new images featuring Hanks is not a seamless process, the result is nevertheless effective. (This is a precursor of what would become commonplace in future films as the effects work employed here became refined.)

Forrest Gump has several messages, few of which require much digging into the subtext to unearth. The most frequently recurring theme is an admonition not to give up on life. Why surrender when you don't know what lies ahead? By contrasting Forrest's life with the lives of those around him, and by showing how the passage of time brings solace to even the most embittered hearts, the movie underlines this point.

Tom Hanks won 1994's Academy Award for Philadelphia , but his performance here is more nuanced. [With Forrest Gump , he would become only the second man to win back-to-back Lead Actor Oscars, joining Spencer Tracy.] The Alabama accent may seem a little awkward at first, but it doesn't take long for the acting to dwarf the twang. Hanks fashions a human character free of guile and deceit, and barely able to comprehend a concept like evil. Robin Wright gives the best performance of her career, surpassing what she accomplished in The Playboys . Looking and seeming like a younger Jessica Lange, she is believable as the object of Forrest's undying affection. The scene-stealer, however, is Gary Sinise. A renowned stage director and actor, Sinise is probably best known to film-goers (to the extent that he is known at all) for his portrayal of George in 1992's Of Mice and Men (which he also directed). In this movie, his portrayal of Lieutenant Dan Taylor is riveting. The passion and pain he brings to the middle portions of Forrest Gump hold together some of the film's weaker moments.

The soundtrack boasts a variety of sounds of the era - perhaps too wide a variety. Often, music can be useful in establishing a mood, but Forrest Gump rockets into the realm of overkill. There are sequences when the choice of song is inspired (the use of "Running on Empty" for Forrest's "long run" comes to mind), but the soundtrack could have used a little pruning. There are times when it seems as much designed to sell CDs as to cement the setting.

Ultimately, however, any such gripes about Forrest Gump are minor. This is a marvelous motion picture -- a mint julep on a hot summer's afternoon.

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Forrest Gump

By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

Forrest Gump is a movie heart-breaker of oddball wit and startling grace. There’s talk of another Oscar for Tom Hanks , who is unforgettable as the sweet-natured, shabbily treated simpleton of the title. The Academy is a sucker for honoring afflicted heroes. In Hollywood, it’s always raining rain men. Credit Hanks for not overplaying his hand. He brings a touching gravity to the role of an idiot savant from the South who finds strength in God, country, his childhood pal, Jenny (Robin Wright), and his good mama (Sally Field). When Forrest falls a few IQ points shy of minimal school requirements, Mama knows who to sleep with to bend the rules. Her son has a gift. As Forrest makes his pilgrim’s progress from the ’50s to the ’80s, he becomes a college football star, a Vietnam war hero, a shrimp tycoon and even a father.

Taking a cue from Zelig, director Robert Zemeckis places Forrest in a vivid historical context — he talks with JFK, LBJ and Nixon, among other luminaries. The effects dazzle, though never at the expense of the story. Winston Groom, who wrote the 1986 novel, saw Forrest as a modern Candide, an optimist in the face of strong opposing evidence. But Groom is no Voltaire, and neither is screenwriter Eric Roth ( Mr. Jones, Memories of Me ), who blunts his satire with choking sentiment. It’s Hanks who brings humor and unforced humanity to the literary conceit of Forrest, though the slim actor scarcely resembles the 6-foot-6-inch, 240-pound bruiser of the book.

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In a college dorm with Jenny, who lets him touch her breast, the virginal Forrest ejaculates instantly, losing her interest and his self-respect. In the Army, Forrest saves his captain (Gary Sinise), whose legs are later amputated, and the captain resents him. Forrest is everything we admire in the American character — honest, brave, loyal — and the film’s fierce irony is that nobody can stay around him for long.

Zemeckis doesn’t fall into the trap of using Forrest as an ad for arrested development. He knows the limits of a holy fool who can’t understand the hypocrisy of postwar America that this picaresque epic so powerfully reveals. The peace-love pretensions of the ’60s are skewered as neatly as the greed decades that follow. But there is something of Forrest that Zemeckis would like to see rub off on us: his capacity for hope. It’s an ambitious goal in this age of rampant cynicism. Godspeed.

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Forrest gump true story: every historical event & how accurate they are.

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• Forrest Gump's charm lies in its deliberate disregard for historical accuracy, serving as a neutral tour guide through major events.
• The movie adjusts factual occurrences for dramatic effect, blending Forrest into real telecasts and events for a compelling narrative.
• While the Forrest Gump true story is inspired by Winston Groom's novel, the book features even more outrageous and outlandish adventures.

As Forrest Gump explores the life of Tom Hanks' titular character, he finds himself in the midst of some of the biggest historical events of the 1960s and '70s, but the Forrest Gump true story is anything but — and this deliberate disregard for historical accuracy is where the movie gets its charm. Forrest Gump premiered in 1994 to intense critical acclaim, eventually winning the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Actor for Tom Hanks. Forrest Gump has polarized audiences ever since, with some viewing it as a hollow glorification of the 20th century, while others see it as a compelling tale of division and passion in American history.

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Forrest is essentially a neutral tour guide through the second half of the 20th century, comedically involved in some of the most controversial and notable historical events without having a solid opinion about their politics. While the tragic figure Jenny becomes a victim of some of the significant phenomena, Forrest is taken along for the ride with little agency or awareness of their importance. Forrest Gump uses real historical events as a way to introduce Forrest and his acquaintances as products of America’s turbulent narrative , but many of the factual occurrences were adjusted to account for Forrest’s inclusion and dramatic effect. Here's the Forrest Gump true story explained.

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Elvis’ Dance Moves

In the Forrest Gump true story, when Forrest is still a child, a pre-fame Elvis Presley comes to stay at his house . One day, Forrest starts dancing while Elvis is playing guitar and singing in his room. The dance moves Forrest just so happens to be performing are the hip-swinging moves that would become the real Elvis’ signatures. Forrest Gump 's Elvis also sings a rough version of what would become his major hit “Hound Dog.” A bit later Forrest and his mother see Elvis performing the song and dance on TV, to which Forrest’s mother is mortified.

The Forrest Gump true story doesn’t give an exact date for when Elvis stayed at the house, but the timeline of his performance puts it around 1956. The program Forrest and his mother saw Elvis performing on was The Milton Berle Show on June 5th, 1956. By this time, Elvis had already been touring for about a year and a half, made several television appearances, and was all over the radio with “Heartbreak Hotel.” While he was already making a name for himself, it was this appearance and the scandalous dancing that turned him into a star.

The comedic aspect of Elvis's inclusion in the Forrest Gump historical events is that Forrest and his awkward dancing from his leg braces inspired Elvis's controversial pelvic dancing. Unfortunately for Forrest Gump ’s accuracy, Elvis is rumored to have begun the hip-swinging in 1954 at his first paid concert in Tennessee as an attempt to cover up his nervous leg-shaking. Also, since Elvis had been touring long before his “Hound Dog” performance, it’s curious why he would have been staying in the Gump home instead of a hotel.

George Wallace’s Stand in the Schoolhouse Door

Forrest, as a student at the University of Alabama in the Forrest Gump story, was present for Alabama Governor George Wallace’s infamous “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door” where he attempted to bar two admitted black students from entering the school. The event took place on June 11, 1963, as desegregation was being enacted within the resisting South. What Forrest Gump didn’t depict was President John F. Kennedy’s Executive Order sending the Alabama National Guard to physically remove George Wallace. He eventually moved after continuing to spout racist ideals, and Vivian Malone and James Hood successfully registered as the first two Black students at the University of Alabama.

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Forrest Gump transitions the scene between Forrest physically witnessing the incident in the crowd and the real-life newscasts on the event in the Forrest Gump true story. The movie eventually blends the viewpoints when Forrest is digitally rendered into the background of the real telecasts. Forrest realizes his football coaches’ racist tendencies when they view the newscast and see Forrest picking up and kindly returning Vivian Malone’s notebook she had dropped upon entering. Malone never actually dropped anything and the real video appears to show her holding a purse instead of a notebook, but the edit was a clever way of directly including Forrest Gump in historical events.

Forrest Meets JFK

As a successful player at the University of Alabama in the Forrest Gump true story, Forrest Gump travels with the Collegiate All-American Football Team to meet President John F. Kennedy at the White House in 1963. As when recounting most historical events, Forrest Gump splices between Forrest in faux newscasts and his physical presence at the event. Forrest is amazed by all the free food and drinks at the event, drinking at least 15 bottles of Dr Pepper.

By the time the football team individually meets the president, Forrest can only muster up “ I have to pee ” as he shakes JFK’s hands. He then recounts how a few weeks later the president was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. While Forrest Gump wanted an easy narrative reason for Forrest to meet one of the most famous American presidents of all time in the Forrest Gump true story , the event in which they meet never actually occurred. The Collegiate All-American Football team was announced on December 6, 1963. This would put the meet-and-greet a few weeks after JFK was assassinated on November 22nd, so there’s no way the two could have met in that capacity.

Vietnam War

Many of Forrest Gump ’s historical events are featured as quick snippets of the Forrest Gump true story, whereas the Vietnam War takes up a substantial amount of time in Forrest’s life in the ‘60s and ‘70s . Forrest enlisted in the Vietnam War in 1967 with the 47th Infantry Regiment, which is a real United States regiment dating back to World War I . Forrest believes his division is looking for a single man named “Charlie,” which is actually the nickname the U.S. gave to the North Vietnamese. He makes friends with the other men in his battalion, especially Bubba, a neurodivergent Southern man who asks Forrest to go into the shrimping business with him. Bubba is tragically killed on the battlefield, and an injured Forrest is sent to an army medical center.

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Many Vietnam War veterans have commended Forrest Gump ’s battle scenes for the accuracy of what they experienced. The one aspect many have decried is his sprint across the field, which would be extremely unlikely for one to do successfully on the battlefield unless they were an extraordinary runner like Forrest. Certain Vietnam War veterans have also commended the film for its historical accuracy around the Vietnam veteran experience ( via VVA ) . While not specific to the Vietnam War , the Forrest Gump true story also deals with the strained return from war with severely injured veterans like Forrest's friend Lieutenant Dan.

Anti-War March on the Pentagon Rally

While on leave from the army in the Forrest Gump true story, Forrest Gump returns to the United States and visits Washington D.C. As he is walking around taking pictures, a woman mistakes him as a part of the “Vietnam Veterans Against The War In Vietnam.” He marches along with the group to the center stage at the anti-war March on the Pentagon rally. A man wearing an American flag shirt who continually “ says the ‘F’ word ” brings him on stage in front of a monstrous crowd to speak. A soldier unplugs the speakers and cuts off Forrest’s entire speech. After announcing his name, Jenny, who is a counter-culture protester at the rally, runs through the Reflecting Pool to reunite with Forrest.

An important piece of information from the Forrest Gump true story left out by the movie is the name of the man in the American flag shirt: Abbie Hoffman. Hoffman was a well-known activist in the late '60s and early '70s , who was played by Sacha Baron-Cohen in The Trial of the Chicago 7 . Forrest’s participation in the event is entirely fictional: no woman ran through the Reflecting Pool to meet the speaker, Vietnam veterans didn’t give speeches, and the speaker plugs weren’t intentionally pulled. What the movie did get right was the monstrous size of the crowd and its enthusiasm: over 50,000 protesters from different backgrounds of hippies, war veterans, middle-class professionals, and black activists attended the rally.

Ping-Pong Diplomacy

While recovering from his injury in the army hospital, Forrest becomes a talented ping-pong player in the Forrest Gump version of history. He graduates from crushing other soldiers to playing against himself, eventually being sent by President Richard Nixon to play on the All-American Ping-Pong Team in China. The event became known as “ping-pong diplomacy” due to its instrumental nature in healing the relationship between the U.S. and China. Forrest was in one of the first U.S. groups to enter China in over 20 years and came home as an international ping-pong master and celebrity.

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Forrest Gump ’s depiction of ping-pong diplomacy in the Forrest Gump true story is quite accurate if one switches Forrest for Glenn Cowan, who actually took on the ping-pong celebrity title. China and the United States had been feuding for the preceding 20 years with a Chinese embargo on Americans until realizing international ping-pong could unite the nations. U.S. player Glenn Cowan positively encountered Chinese player Zhuang Zedong at the 1971 World Table Tennis Championships in Japan, allowing the two nations to find common ground as a way to repair their diplomatic relationship. The event Forrest participated in took place in April 1971 after Mao Zedong and Richard Nixon agreed to permit the U.S. All-American Ping-Pong team to play matches for a week in China.

John Lennon Interview on The Dick Cavett Show

Forrest’s ping-pong skills turn him into a national celebrity during the Forrest Gump true story, garnering him a spot being interviewed on The Dick Cavett Show alongside The Beatles’ John Lennon . Forrest Gump inserts Forrest into the real-life interview, editing it in a way that Forrest, John, and Dick’s remarks inspire the lyrics to Lennon’s hit song “Imagine.” The real interview took place on September 8, 1971, and had Lennon’s wife Yoko Ono in Forrest’s place, where they discussed why The Beatles broke up. The Forrest Gump version of the Dick Cavett interview has Dick ask questions about Forrest’s service and time in Vietnam, which were recorded alongside Tom Hanks in 1994 and digitally rendered into the 1971 John Lennon interview.

Watergate Scandal

Forrest discusses how the U.S. ping-pong team was invited to the White House to meet President Nixon, where Nixon personally sends him to a “nicer” hotel at the Watergate complex in the Forrest Gump true story. That night, Forrest witnesses men in another building searching through an office with flashlights. Thinking the men are struggling to find a fuse box, Forrest phones the hotel to inform them and send maintenance. Forrest Gump 's next scene cuts directly to Nixon’s televised resignation speech, indicating Forrest was responsible for reporting the Watergate Scandal .

The Watergate Scandal is an infamous political scandal involving a break-in at the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters in Washington D.C, which is featured in Forrest Gump's historical events. An investigation of Watergate and Nixon was soon conducted after whistleblowers gave information to national newspapers, and Nixon resigned from office. While Forrest Gump gives a naive way for Forrest to be involved in Watergate, the scandal’s revelation didn’t come from an observer staying at the hotel. Also, the U.S. ping-pong team never stayed at the Watergate Hotel nor did they meet President Nixon at the White House in June 1972.

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What Forrest Gump 2 Had Planned & Why It Was Canceled

Eric Roth, who wrote the original 1994 film Forrest Gump , actually had a sequel planned and written, which would have seen Forrest involved in more historical moments while raising his son, Forrest Jr. These would have ranged from the AIDS epidemic to Forrest appearing in the back of O.J. Simpson's Bronco to Forrest dancing with Princess Diana . Roth actually had a complete treatment of Forrest Gump written, but it was one of the early 21st century's biggest historical events that kept the sequel from actually happening.

As Roth tells it, " I wrote the sequel, literally I turned it in the day before 9/11 and Tom and I and Bob got together on 9/11 to commiserate about how life was in America and how tragic it was... we looked at each other and said, ‘This movie has no meaning anymore '" ( via EW ). Essentially, 2001 wasn't the right moment for what Forrest Gump 2 would have offered . It's probably for the best that the sequel didn't happen anyway, as moments like those with O.J. Simpson wouldn't hold up in the present day.

The Forrest Gump Novel Adhered Even Less To History

The Forrest Gump true story is inspired by Winston Groom's eponymous novel, but it's surprising to learn that the book itself adhered even less to history. Groom's book does indeed feature Forrest in the aforementioned outlandish adventures, but the film didn't cover some of Forrest's most outrageous moments. For example, like in the movie, Forrest accidentally finds himself in an anti-war protest that leads to his incarceration in a mental hospital where he is put under observation. When it is discovered that he has a brain like a computer, it attracts the attention of NASA, who sends him to space with a monkey named Sue.

In addition, the Forrest Gump storyline in which he is competing at ping-pong in the book also sees the titular character save the life of communist revolutionary Mao Tse-tung and meet President Lyndon Johnson. Another plot thread sees Forrest meeting a chess champion who enters his name into a chess competition. After this, Forrest is recruited to star alongside famous movie actress Raquel Welch in a remake of The Creature from the Black Lagoon . The Forrest Gump story from Groom's book is meant to be much stranger than fiction, but it's still hard to believe just how much got left out of the movie.

Forrest Gump

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‘Forrest Gump,’ 25 Years Later: A Bad Movie That Gets Worse With Age

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“ Forrest Gump ” is an easy target: A sweet movie featuring one of the most beloved movie stars of all time. It’s a slick and inviting celebration of the human spirit through the lens of a wide-eyed innocent, and utilizes technology to brilliant ends. However, “Forrest Gump” deserves scrutiny, not because its cheesy protagonist has become a pop culture punchline — after all, Forrest’s box-of-chocolates metaphor works just fine — but viewed 25 years after its release lead to box office success and six Oscars, it remains a bad movie that gets worse with age, and much scarier than its cozy reputation suggests.

There’s a reason the movie became a beacon to an antiquated Republican Party when it came out in the run-up to the 1994 midterm elections: “Forrest Gump” preaches conservatism in its bones, whether its creators intended it that way or not. Through the lens of Tom Hanks ’ lovable naif, who somehow stumbles through every monumental moment in American history and emerges unscathed, “Forrest Gump” reads as a repudiation to any nuanced assessment of the country. It celebrates family values and obedience to the system over anyone who clashes with it. Every whiff of rebellion is suspect.

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This no-nothing white man becomes a war hero and a wealthy man simply by chugging along, participating in a country that dictates his every move. He never comprehends racism or the complexities of Vietnam; the movie portrays political activism and hippy culture as a giant cartoon beyond Forrest’s understanding, while presenting his apolitical stance as the height of all virtue.

Viewed in retrospect, “Forrest Gump” whitewashes and dumbs down American history at every turn. But that’s an old critique that shouldn’t stop the presses.

These days, it’s clearer than ever that “Forrest Gump” operates within the constraints of a dangerous fantasy in which these hard questions don’t matter. It’s fake news on an epic scale. Here’s a character born in the Deep South, the grandson of a Ku Klux Klansman, raised surrounded by segregation and bigotry. Though Forrest’s disinterest in these crude values suggests an innate colorblindness, he’s less conscious progressive than disinterested everyman. “Forrest Gump” idolizes that mindset, and what’s worse, director Robert Zemeckis exploits these major aspects of American history as empty signifiers for an exuberant technological experiment.

The special effects haven’t aged all that well, but they were pretty hokey in the first place. The CGI exists to gives this decade-spanning story its true raison d’etre: We get to see young Forrest teach Elvis to dance, shake hands with JFK and Nixon, address an anti-Vietnam protest (alongside Abbie Hoffman), and work the late-night circuit alongside John Lennon. In theory, Forrest’s ability to wander through the “real” world as a fictional character turns him into an avatar for America’s bumpy ride through the second half of the 20th century.

But consider what that means: Though Forrest makes serious strides by asking no hard questions or pushing back on whatever opportunities come his way, childhood sweetheart Jenny (Robin Wright) suffers for her sins. These seem to be comprised of childhood abuse, sexual promiscuity, a bad taste in boyfriends, and hippy protests. Forrest doesn’t get it; by virtue of empathizing with his worldview, the movie doesn’t, either.

When these allegations first came up around the time of the release, the “Forrest Gump” team punched back with a mixture of defiance and confusion. Zemeckis argued that he was playing to both sides of the aisle. “My film is a party to which everyone can bring a bottle,” he said. And when producer Steve Tish accepted his Oscar for Best Picture, he took it to the masses: “‘Forrest Gump’ isn’t about politics or conservative values. It’s about humanity.” Hanks echoed that sentiment. “The film is nonpolitical,” he said, “and thus nonjudgemental.” Two years later, Fox News coined the term “fair and balanced” to describe its partisan analysis of the new cycle with the same degree of credibility.

Movies provide windows into the world and the way it fits together; by that very definition, they take on political ramifications, especially when they utilize images loaded with preexisting definitions. As “Forrest Gump” careens through Americana, it can’t help but cast its gaze at the country’s fiery counterculture and roll its eyes. That strikes a notable contrast to the radical energy of several movies released the same year, including Spike Lee’s “Crooklyn” and “Natural Born Killers,” which provide much savvier explorations of American society and its various fragmented pieces through their sharp narrative frameworks.

Yet we remember “Forrest Gump” because it goes down easy, and pretends that the world just works that way.

Like the character himself, the positioning of “Forrest Gump” as lacking any political worldview stems from more innocent times when that argument held some water. Before the country’s charged post-9/11 climate, before the fractured discourse of social media, before Sean Hannity and deep-fakes and catfishing and whatever else has made this world so freakish and unreliable, “Forrest Gump” coasted along without any serious challenge to its logic. (While the similar embracing of “Green Book” might suggest that nothing has changed, the backlash already seems to have put that misconceived movie in its place.)

Viewed today, “Forrest Gump” has the eerie aura of a science fiction movie, with its wandering central figure coming across like an alien who perceives every meaningful aspect of the world around him as so foreign he can only gaze back at it and speak his mind. However, the movie was prescient in one significant fashion. It presents a grinning idiot savant as epitomizing everything about America, suggesting that he could catapult to fame and fortune he doesn’t really earn, while people enduring genuine struggles to make a difference in the world struggle all the way to the grave. To that end, for better or worse, “Forrest Gump” was ahead of its time.

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Forrest Gump Parent Guide

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Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) is a simple man who manages to find his way into some of the most complicated historical moments of the 20th century.

Release date September 5, 2014

Run Time: 142 minutes

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The guide to our grades, parent movie review by rod gustafson.

Forrest Gump is a critic’s dream. Tom Hanks, Sally Field, Gary Sinise, and all the rest of the cast hand in superlative performances. The special effects are almost invisible, as they place Gump into the past so he can meet many historical figures. Yet every time I watch this movie, I am left with a hard question to answer: What is the film really trying to say?

Forrest Gump (played by Tom Hanks) is a simple man, a popular theme in movies as the public yearns for a way to strip complications from life. Yet Forrest encounters complications—he just doesn’t see them. Like a dog headed for dinner, his sights are set on his goal and nothing stops him from getting there. He has complete trust in everyone he meets, and accepts everyone into his life, no matter how they might treat him. He believes in God, prays regularly, and tries to do good wherever he goes. In this regard, Forrest Gump is a movie that promotes strong positive ideals, and helps you appreciate that the best people in this world are often overlooked.

Forrest Gump offers many artistic and technical achievements. However parents are well advised to heed the PG-13 warning. Gump has a good deal of foul language, sex, and violence, relative to what’s appropriate for family viewing. As parents, if your children want to see this movie, please watch it before, or at least with them.

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Why is Forrest Gump rated PG-13? Forrest Gump is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for drug content, some sensuality and war violence

Page last updated July 17, 2017

Forrest Gump Parents' Guide

What do you think Forrest Gump is trying to say? Because the main character doesn’t understand the complexities of the situations he, the viewer of the film is expected to interpret. Despite this freedom, how does the script manipulate the audience?

The most recent home video release of Forrest Gump movie is December 9, 2014. Here are some details…

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Lee Daniel’s The Butler is another ambitious effort by moviemakers to capture an era by placing characters within many of the important historical moments.

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The 19 most offensive movies ever made, from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood to Forrest Gump

Louis chilton selects some of the most controversial movies ever released, article bookmarked.

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M any filmmakers yearn for their work to be at the centre of a public conversation . But it’s not always a good thing.

Sometimes, movies – even great ones – are put under the microscope for problematic characters, plotlines or moments.

Often, this is a result of changing social standards . Films like The Jazz Singer utilised blackface at a time when it was more or less completely socially acceptable. Watch it now, however, and you’ll likely be mortified.

Other films, of course, are problematic the moment they hit cinemas – such as Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood .

In some cases, the question of whether or not a film is offensive can provoke strong debate among fans and even those involved in making the film. Last year, Michael Caine was in the news after hitting back at claims that the 1964 film Zulu was a “key text” for white supremecists .

Whatever the reason, it’s clear that the history of cinema is littered with examples of films that have become difficult to watch.

Here are 19 of the most problematic films ever made.

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Stanley Kubrick’s controversial – and, for many years, banned – adaptation of Anthony Burgess’s cult novel is certainly not without its problematic elements, most famously the sickening depiction of rape. It wasn’t just the public who found Kubrick’s film unsavory: the filmmaker himself pushed for A Clockwork Orange to be removed from cinemas amid fears of copycat violence.

American Beauty (1999)

Sam Mendes’s suburb-set Best Picture winner would be problematic today even if it weren’t for the allegations against lead actor Kevin Spacey. As it is, Spacey’s involvement adds a whole other layer of discomfort to this story of a middle aged father who lusts after his teenage daughter’s friend (Mena Suvari). A topless scene involving a then 16-year-old Thora Birch also would also likely raise eyebrows today.

The Birth of a Nation (1915)

Many of the most overtly racist films of early cinema have been omitted from this list – describing, for instance, the works of Leni Reifenstahl as “problematic” wouldn’t quite cut it. But DW Griffith’s Birth of a Nation is still celebrated to this day as a revolutionary cinematic milestone, despite its foul and pervasive racism. Some modern film historians have argued that Griffith’s cinematic “innovations” actually originated elsewhere – but even if they weren’t, there’s no excusing this horrific celebration of the KKK.

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Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)

This enduringly popular Audrey Hepburn vehicle features one of the most infamous racist caricatures of all time. Mickey Rooney plays the bucktoothed, heavily accented Japanese landlord Mr Yunioshi, a grotesque stereotype. Decades after the film’s release, both director Blake Edwards and Rooney himself had expressed regret at the offensive inclusion.

Dumbo (1941)

Many of Disney’s early animated movies (and some of the later ones) contain countless problematic elements. Dumbo is infamous for its racism, with the characters of the talking crows – voiced in a caricaturish African-American dialect – particularly damning.

Flash Gordon (1980)

Most sci-fi films from the 1970s and 1980s have tended to age poorly – but this is usually down to shoddy special effects. Flash Gordon , however, is dated for a different reason: the insidious character of “Ming the Merciless”, played by Max von Sydow. The broad, racist villain figure caused the BBFC to raise Flash Gordon ’s age rating in 2020, with a warning about “discriminatory stereotypes” added to its recent re-release.

Forrest Gump (1994)

Robert Zemeckis’s Forrest Gump could well be one of the most problematic films ever made – and certainly one of the most to have won Best Picture. Whether we’re talking about Tom Hanks’s broad, cartoonish portrayal of a man with learning disabilities, the film’s puritanical slut-shaming towards Robin Wright’s Jenny, or everything to do with its handling of race, Gump is one rancid box of chocolates.

Gone with the Wind (1939)

A confirmed favourite film of one Donald J Trump, this American epic has been accused of whitewashing the horrors of slavery and looking at the civil war through rose-tinted glasses. A scandal engulfed the film anew in 2020 when it was temporarily removed from streaming service HBO Max due to its problematic elements.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

This follow-up to Steven Spielberg’s timeless adventure throwback Raiders of the Lost Ark featured plenty of memorable set-pieces and high-wire derring-do – as well as a lot of unfortunate racism. Temple ’s potrayal of India is rife with troubling and outdated stereotypes, leading to the film being banned in India when it was released. Meanwhile, Kate Capshaw’s Willie Scott is every bit the problematic damsel in distress.

The Jazz Singer (1927)

Al Jolson’s musical film The Jazz Singer will forever hold a place in film history as the movie which heralded the onset of the age of the “Talkie”. However, it’s not such an easy watch these days, thanks largely to the blackface used by Jolson during his performance. At the time, of course, blackface and minstrel shows were not widely considered offensive.

Last Tango in Paris (1972)

Sometimes, films become problematic after behind-the-scenes stories come to light – which happened in the horrifying case of Last Tango in Paris . In the film’s most infamous scene, Marlon Brando’s character rapes a young woman from Paris (the late Maria Schneider), using a stick of butter as lubricant. Schneider later spoke out about filming the scene, claiming that it was not in the script. “I was so angry,” she said. “Marlon said to me, ‘Maria, don’t worry, it’s just a movie,’ but during the scene, even though what Marlon was doing wasn’t real, I was crying real tears. I felt humiliated and to be honest, I felt a little raped, both by Marlon and by [director Bernado Bertolucci].”

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

This groundbreaking epic from David Lean is a long, expensive and thematically dense work of real cinematic bombast. While there are complexities to its handling of race, critics have argued that its portrayal of TE Lawrence’s (Peter O’Toole) exploits in the Middle East are wrapped up in problematic “white saviour” narratives. Furthermore, Alec Guiness’s casting – as Prince Faisal – wouldn’t fly today, particularly given the actor’s use of brownface.

Manhattan (1979)

Can you ever truly separate the art from the artist? Everyone has their own take on the issue, but it’s particularly hard with a film like Manhattan . Woody Allen, whose late career has been coloured by long-denied allegations of child sexual abuse, directs and stars in this black-and-white romcom which pairs his 42-year-old character with a 17-year-old high school student love interest, played by Mariel Hemingway.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)

Quentin Tarantino is no stranger to a little controversy, and his 1960s-set Hollywood epic is up there with his most provocative works. While some films stumble into their problematic reputations over time, Once Upon a Time was scandalising from the get-go – as Tarantino contrived a perverse redemption arc for wife-killer Cliff Boothe (Brad Pitt) by having him brutally fustigate a cadre of young female assailants.

The Passion of the Christ (2004)

Mel Gibson’s biblical epic has been widely criticised for its depiction of Jewish people in the retelling of Jesus’s story. If you take into account the context of Gibson’s own offscreen antisemitism scandal, there’s plenty of cause for unease in watching this gory religious drama.

The Searchers (1956)

Racism abounded in old Hollywood films, particularly in westerns, which frequently saw white heroes butt up against Native American or Mexican foes. The Searchers , John Ford’s seminal 1956 western, was, on the one hand, a scathing indictment of the corrosive evil of racial hatred. On the other hand, it has also long been accused of racism itself in its problematic handling of its Native American characters.

Sixteen Candles (1984)

The feel-good films of John Hughes have come under a lot of scrutiny in recent years, with projects from The Breakfast Club to Weird Science to Uncle Buck facing censure for outdated racial and sexual content. Sixteen Candles may be Hughes’s worst offender, thanks to a shockingly cavalier plotline involving date rape. There was also the regrettable inclusion of Long Duk Dong, a discomforting Asian stereotype played by Gedde Watanabe.

Trading Places (1983)

This rags-to-riches (and vice versa) comedy starring Eddie Murphy and Dan Akroyd boasts a number of button-pushing scenes, including a supposedly lighthearted gag in which a character is sexually assaulted by a gorilla. However, it’s the scene of Dan Akroyd in blackface which remains most unpalatable – and makes this otherwise enjoyable movie a tough watch today.

Zulu (1964)

Cy Endfield’s well-regarded war drama depicts the Battle of Rorke’s Drift, which took place during the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879. Zulu has been accused by some critics of racism, with recent research by William Shawcross suggesting that the film could provide inspiration for “white nationalists and supremacists”. Michael Caine, who starred in the film, has described this claim as “the biggest load of bulls***”.

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Anya Taylor-Joy Revealed How Her Husband's Marriage Proposal Was "Forrest Gump"-Themed

You may or may not know that anya taylor-joy has been married for two whole-ass years — to musician malcolm mcrae, specifically., a nya revealed the sorta-secret marriage in an ig post — where else "two years ago, on april fools, i secretly married my best friend in new orleans," she wrote in the caption. "the magic of that day is ingrained in every cell of my being, forever. happy second ( first ) anniversary my love…you’re the coolest🫀.", n ow that the proverbial beans have been spilled, anya is revealing more about how the couple came to enter their current state of wedded bliss., s o, in a letterboxd interview alongside furiosa: a mad max saga co-star chris hemsworth , anya got deep about one of her cinematic faves..., s pecifically, the 1994 tearjerker classic forrest gump , which won six oscars including best picture and a best actor statuette for tom hanks ., “ forrest gump , i love that movie," she said. "i miss movies like that.", "just huge, epic sagas where you just feel every emotion under the sun and there’s like this beautiful poetry underneath it. i love it.”, c hris then asked anya, “did something special happen on the forrest gump bench” — referring to the iconic bench in savannah, georgia that the main character sits on throughout the film., “yes," she confessed. "my husband accidentally proposed to me on the forrest gump bench in savannah. complete accident and he’s a boy from alabama. and i’m blonde. so [it] just happened.", "i hear that music and i cry like a baby.”, you can watch the entire interview with chris and anya here ..

Anya Taylor-Joy Revealed The Story Behind Her Husband 'Accidentally' Proposing To Her On The Forrest Gump Bench, And I'm Not Crying, You Are

"Life is like a box of chocolates."

Anya Taylor-Joy may be best known for starring in horror movies and the recent Mad Max movie, Furiosa , but her real life sounds a lot more like a romantic comedy! The 28-year-old actress has been married to rock star Malcolm McRae for over two years, and as it turns out, his proposal to her had some major roots in Forrest Gump .

Anya Taylor-Joy’s Sweet Forrest Gump Proposal Story 

When Anya Taylor-Joy recently was asked about her favorite movies by Letterboxd , she shared that Robert Zemeckis ’ 1994 classic Forrest Gump is up there for her. She shared a sweet connection she has to the film with these words:

My husband accidentally proposed to me on the Forrest Gump bench in Savannah. Complete accident. And he's a boy from Alabama, and I'm blonde, so it just, it just happened. I hear that music, and I cry like a baby.

Well, this is the sweetest thing I’ll probably hear all week! Anya Taylor-Joy is a big fan of the Tom Hanks movie, and as it turns out, her partner asked her to be his wife right there on the iconic bench. As she explained, McRae hails from Alabama, just like Forrest does, and she’s blonde, just like Robin Wright ’s Jenny, so it was perfect! She continued to gush about the movie, saying this:

I love that movie. I miss movies like that. Just huge epic sagas where you just feel every emotion under the sun and there’s like this beautiful poetry underneath it.

Life is sure like a box of chocolates, and you never know what you’re gonna get!! In the case of Anya Taylor-Joy, she’s had a lot of luck in the world of Hollywood, and her hubby gave her a memorable proposal she’ll never forget! Given Taylor-Joy’s work over the years, one might not expect this connection to Forrest Gump , but alas!

Anya Taylor-Joy’s Had Two Secret Weddings 

Malcolm McRae and Anya Taylor-Joy celebrated their love in two big ways between 2022 and 2024. First, they officially tied the knot in New Orleans, Louisiana back in April 2022. Check out some of the gorgeous wedding photos that the Furiosa actress didn’t showcase until her two-year anniversary.

A post shared by Anya Taylor-Joy (@anyataylorjoy) A photo posted by on

As she wrote in the Instagram post, the couple opted for “anatomically correct heart cakes” for their wedding celebration. Given the actress also mentioned that Interview With A Vampire is one of her favorite movies alongside Forrest Gump , it’s not too surprising! Over a year later, the couple went for more star-studded wedding festivities when they had an Italian wedding complete with celebrity guests like Cara Delevingne, Nicholas Hoult , Miles Teller , Julia Garner and more.

You can see Anya Taylor-Joy in Furiosa, now playing in theaters. You can also check out CinemaBlend’s own interview with the actress along with Chris Hemsworth for the Mad Max prequel now.

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TV View: Touch of Forrest Gump about RTÉ match scheduling

Understandable if viewers had taken to off switch on their remotes for fare provided in meath-kerry group game.

Armagh's Rian O'Neill and Derry's Brendan Rogers in All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Round 2. Photograph: Lorcan Doherty/Inpho

Whatever about paywalls and all the GAAGo carry-on – some matches available, others out of view and untouchable, a bit like the gold in Fort Knox – there remains a touch of the Forrest Gump box of chocolates analogy about the match scheduling which RTÉ end up carrying on The Sunday Game Live.

You never know what you’re going to get!

Indeed, it would have been understandable if viewers had taken to the off switch on their remote controls for the fare that was provided in the appetiser which was the Meath - Kerry group game in the All-Ireland Football Championship double-header for the couch potatoes.

You’ll get the gist of how it went from the conversation between Seán Cavanagh and presenter Joanne Cantwell from their viewing point, which was actually behind the goalposts a wee bit away in Celtic Park where they were perched for the second helpings, the Derry-Armagh group match.

Donegal conceding so many goals is not typical of a side managed by Jim McGuinness

Derry’s season hangs by a thread after third successive loss since beating Dublin in the league decider

Kildare, Sligo, Fermanagh and Down top groups and secured Tailteann Cup home quarter-finals

When Joanne asked Seán what he was looking for from the second-half as Meath went about playing catchup to the Kingdom, he replied: “I don’t know. I hope the referee blows it up early. Is that a possibility?”

Tongue-in-cheek the answer may have been but it was entirely understandable given what had come our way in the first-half and the malaise seemed to afflict Kerry too on the resumption with co-commentator Éamonn Fitzmaurice’s frustration sounding as if he was ready and willing to wear the jersey again and to put back on his boots to spark some life into his old team.

It wasn’t needed, though, because David Clifford was just as frustrated with the lethargic goings-on and smashed the ball to the net for Kerry’s goal (and opening score of the half, all of 14 minutes after the throw-in) which brought order to things.

“Did we learn anything about Kerry? Not much,” pondered Ciarán Whelan from the TV gantry beside Joanne and Seán when it was all over, demonstrating all the hunger of a man keen to move on to the mains of Derry and Armagh on the pitch behind him.

Indeed, the intensity levels prematch in Derry were already far, far ahead of what was witnessed in Navan to the point that pitchside reporter Damien O’Meara and Marty Morrissey’s co-commentator Enda McGinley had to move position for fear of being injured by the on-pitch drills.

Anyway, the duo safely managed to get through the prematch sideline chat without injury for a match which O’Meara wondered might be a “tight and cagey” affair. It proved anything but.

And those others safely with microphones in hand could sense what was coming. “It almost feels like a shadow Ulster final without the cup being here,” remarked Cavanagh of the atmosphere at Celtic Park for a match which had plenty at stake, especially for Derry given how their season had turned so dramatically since being lauded as Allianz League champions and as potential Sam Maguire winners.

[  David Clifford bags a pair as Kerry end their goal drought to power past Meath  ]

Cavanagh – the Tyrone in him coming out – couldn’t resist getting in some (verbal) digs at Derry either. “It takes very little to make them implode and there is a lot of noise coming out,” he said of the league champions’ struggles since moving on to the championship. To which Joanne could only interrupt, “Oh, Seán!”

Still, following the rather skinny offerings from Paric Tailteann, the two Ulster rivals served up a far tastier dish that had its share of (actual) digs, skirmishes and, truth be told, some unsavoury shenanigans which had referee David Coldrick needing what Joanne referred to as “a million eyes” to keep tabs on it all.

But the scoreboard didn’t lie in letting us know which team were dominant, with Armagh’s goalscoring – the game plan brilliantly executed – proving irresistible to the point that Whelan at half-time remarked, “(Derry) look like a busted flush.”

“They are broken as a team,” agreed Cavanagh.

Marty Morrissey was also looking for answers as the match moved to the inevitable end game of an Armagh win. “What’s gone wrong with Derry?” he wondered.

McGinley responded with his thoughts of the “perfect storm” coming Derry’s way since the league win, referring to the key players who’d lost form, injuries and that they’d simply run out of energy.

Yet, as was noted by the analysts, Derry – with three championship defeats – still (for now) remain in the championship with the chance yet to progress. Dessert anyone?

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Philip Reid

Philip Reid is Golf Correspondent of The Irish Times

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