Forest Gump

Synopsis: From childhood to having a child of his own, Forrest Gump documents the fictional life of a character of the same name.

Forrest Gump, as a movie, had me out of control with laughter and tears. It broke my heart and pieced it together, only to break it all over again. Even though the director didn’t mimic some elements of the book it’s based off of, the movie was touching. It balanced comedy with drama perfectly. Plus, it made cliché life lessons interesting.

Preach it, Momma Gump

The scene that hit my tear ducts the hardest was when Jenny was lying in bed, sick from AIDS. She was asking Forrest about his life and said she wished she had been there, which Forrest said she already was. “Jenny’s going to die,” I whispered to my boyfriend, “if she dies fuck it. I can’t do this anymore.” Boom, next scene is Forrest talking to her gravestone. It was such an emotional performance from Tom Hanks that I was dry heaving into the pillow next to me. Dry heaving – as if I had one too many croissants at dinner. Below is a clip from that scene. Hopefully, I won’t have to sob over this alone.

To move on from the depressing, let’s talk about funny. Forrest getting shot in the ass. Forrest discovering the Watergate Scandal. “Run, Forrest, run.” This movie is the richest mine for comic gold. I could describe my favorite scene to you, but it’s a lot funnier to watch it yourself. Take a look:

Overall, Forrest Gump was magical. When it was over, I literally had to sit on the couch for seven minutes just to transport back to reality. Oftentimes, books make me feel this way – so it was encouraging to have the same “lost in the moment” experience on screen. This film has me thinking, maybe movies are like books after all.