Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Why in the world does everyone like this movie so stinking much? Even people who I consider to otherwise have good taste in movies love this flick while I just don’t get it. Maybe it just didn’t click with me somehow; it was a struggle for me to even get to the end. When it was over the only thing I could think of was, “I’ll never get those 2 hours of my life back.” The only half-decent thing to come out of the movie was a Weird Al parody song/video.

I usually don’t review movies without also reviewing DVD extras and such, but I’m making an exception for carl_lazarevic's "I’m Sorry but You’re Just Plain Wrong" write-off. I can’t make myself sit through it again so I may not remember everything I disliked about it. To help with that I started reading other reviews to refresh my memory. I read one after another deemed “very helpful” and giving the movie 5 stars, yet only one made me question my severely negative view – one written by the parent of an autistic child who was encouraged by the movie. OK, so I can see how an autistic person could relate to and be encouraged by the movie, and I apologize to them in advance for my distaste of it. But after all, this is an opinions site, and I would be doing a greater disservice if I were to fluff up something for the sake of not being different rather than being honest.

Much of my dislike comes from simple boredom. I could not get interested in anything that was going on, didn’t feel empathetic towards the characters, and thought they tried too hard to generate too many catch phrases.

What was going on: I guess we’re on a journey through Gump’s life. It’s a series of unlikely events like accidentally unveiling a Presidential scandal, stumbling across a Black Panther meeting, getting discovered for extraordinary football and ping-pong playing talents, meeting Presidents, becoming a millionaire because of a dead friend’s idea, having a baby with a Playboy bunny, etc. It all felt too jumpy to me with the focus shifting constantly. I’m surprised he didn’t accidentally figure out space travel, hang out at Hugh Hefner’s mansion, and provide the basis for Stan Lee’s super heroes. I guess a lot of people thought the story flowed and was entertaining, but I thought it was a way to work in as many recognizable events as possible to make the movie more marketable.

The characters: Forrest was OK. I won’t argue against Tom Hanks doing a good acting job there, but I can’t think of another actor/character that I thought was particularly good. Gary Sinese – he does an acceptable job, I guess, but I didn’t think he brought anything memorable to the role. Sally Fields – I’ve never seen a movie I like Sally Fields in. Robin whatshername – I couldn’t get past the poor character whether it was the writing or her performance.

I mean seriously, is she going to get up on stage butt naked, sing folk songs, and expect a bunch of hormone drenched guys to give a rolling donut about the message in her music? Maybe someone could be so misguided that she could think being nude would get a crowd of horny, straight males’ attention enough to listen to what she has to say, but to make it the action of a believable character takes more character development, scene set-up and/or follow-up than this movie had. I saw it as nothing more than an excuse to show Robin’s bare butt on screen for a second or two. Adding not only to the disjointed flow of the story, but also to my irritation at the pushing of the rating which I will look at more closely in a bit.

Catch phrases: Stupid is as stupid does. I guess it’s just me, but I don’t get it. I challenge any Gump-aholics out there to explain it to me because I submit that it doesn’t actually mean anything. It sounds like pointless cinema dribble to me. Add to that the other phrases that permeate the movie, and the result is my getting annoyed with them.

Content:
Ah, yes, more annoyances. It seems to me like this movie was an attempt to get as close to an R rating as possible while still being PG13. You know, if you want to make an R rated movie with nudity and language and whatever then make one. If you want to make a movie appropriate for 13 year olds then there’s no need to push the envelope on questionable content. I’ve already talked about how pointless the nudity was, and I felt that the scene with the worst of the language was already weak as well. I remember it as being the Black Panther rally, I hope I’m not mistaken on that. He just bumbles into this rally? I just didn’t buy into it.

Final Thoughts:
I’ve probably stepped on your toes, unfortunate but necessary. Hey, people insult my beloved Star Wars (which, I might point out, is an even more successful movie) so we all have to deal with it. I almost gave Gump 1 star but I will bump it up to 2 for its positive impact on at least one autistic child. Personally, though, I thought I Am Sam was much better. Go rent that instead.



Recommended: No

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age