Wick's Review

Summary - Perfect 5.0

America. My theory is that Forrest Gump serves as personification of the early baby boomers, i.e. of the America of that era. Naive, idealistic, rambunctious, Forrest’s life functions as allegory for the cultural journey of the generation that came of age during the 60s.

Whether you buy that or not, this wonderfully charming movie – by turns funny and moving – showcases a classic Tom Hanks performance from his mid-90s heyday as The Biggest Movie Star In The World.

Acting - Perfect 5.0

Not enough praise can be heaped on Hanks’ lovely (there is no other word to describe it) performance as the big hearted simpleton at the center of this allegorical tale.

The movie is full of terrific performances, with Gary Sinise’s Lt. Dan standing out. It is perhaps cinema’s most affecting Vietnam vet.

Film - Perfect 5.0

Brilliant concept, terrific dialogue and clever FX make this a tour de force of the Hollywood craft.

Edge - Risqué 1.9

Reality - Surreal 2.3

Nope, Forrest couldn’t have been in all those places at all those historically consequential times. But it was fun to see him there, and there, and there, and there…

6 Comments

• Randy Dec 30, 2011 8:25PM

  Regarding Randy’s Review
  Wow… it has been four years hasn’t it! Such a long time! I reviewed it briefly back then, but I wanted to go back and update the sliders as well as provide additional, more detailed commentary. It’s such a great movie, and my all-time favorite, that I felt like I owed it to myself to write a good review on it.

• Wick Dec 30, 2011 12:41PM

  Regarding Randy’s Review
  Tremendously well done appreciation of a worthy classic, Randy. I’d kinda forgotten how Forrest told his story in narrated flashbacks to strangers, then Zemeckis wove that into real time near the end. Deft.

  I’d also forgotten how long the movie is. I love outstanding movies that are really long. More of a great thing is always a great thing.

• Wick Dec 30, 2011 1:30AM

  Regarding Randy’s Review
  ‘bout time you put up your review Randy, a full four years since originally commenting. The wait was worth it however. Give me a day to digest it and I’ll be back.

• Randy Dec 17, 2007 3:13PM

  Haha that’s awesome!!!

• Wick Dec 16, 2007 11:33PM

  Thanks Randy, I think you might have gotten the ball rolling on Forrest Gump. Anyway, after I saw your review and then the others, I realized that I needed to add my voice (and trust points) as well. WikPik works best when several reviewers review a movie, making both the average and trust weighted scores more and more reliable.

  And now Forrest Gump is 2nd highest ranking movie in TopPiks. “Run Forrest, run!”

• Randy Dec 16, 2007 8:26PM

  I reviewed this a while back…

  Now it seems EVERYONE is reviewing it here… That’s great!

  It really was a good movie, wasn’t it? Extremely clever.

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