As a character, Forrest belongs to the same type of idiot savant that informed Rain Man (1988), which brought a second Oscar to Dustin Hoffman. Brilliantly, ‘Forrest Gump’ is played by Tom Hanks, the only actor who could truly play the role without condescension. Hanks develops a character limited in consciousness but not in feeling, hence facilitating the audience' identification with him. As the glue holding the episodic film together, Hanks never allows Forrest's eccentricities to become a comic caricature, a rare …show more content…
A brilliant pace presented by Zemeicks, the film establishing forest as an accidental emblem of his time: an adorable, humble and timid boy whose slowness is balanced by a true talent for running and a genuinely sweet and charming nature. We follow Forrest from the beginning, his childhood in the 1950s through the 1980s; along the way, he becomes a celebrity in his own right several times over, however no one remembers him from one instance to the next. A classic, and one that stands out from the rest within the new phenomenon of films regarding disabilities that came about in the 90’s. As Forrest Gump was released in 1994 among other films of the genre such as Rain Man, Freaks, Million dollar baby and I am Sam. Released just a year previous to Forrest Gump were two more box office hits that revolve around a disabled character Benny and Joon and What’s eating Gilbert Grape, both Johnny Deep films who like Hanks is an actor of amazing ability called upon time after time to play the venerable.
As media is an important part of everyday life, holding a major influence over society the vitality of disabilities portrayal increases. Media representation of disabled people has not always been a positive one, adding discrimination …show more content…
This timeless film maker, the one we cannot forget, who made Meryl Streep appear to speak with her head on backwards, forever remains increasingly more successful when it comes to staging the technical side, providing dramatic visuals to which we are thankful for. Structured almost as Forrest's own autobiography and centering upon his lifelong and un dying love for an elusive beauty and his childhood sweetheart named Jenny, ‘Forrest Gump’ has all the perfect elements of an emotionally gripping and heartwarming story. Yet it feels less like a storybook romance than like a coffee table book celebrating the magic of today’s special