He understands everything he needs to know, and the rest, the movie suggests, is just surplus. It could be argued that with his IQ of 75 Forrest does not quite understand everything that happens to him.
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. That's how he gets a college football scholarship, in a life story that eventually becomes a running gag about his good luck. Also, when the braces finally fall from his legs, it turns out he can run like the wind. 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. The performance is a breathtaking balancing act between comedy and sadness, in a story rich in big laughs and quiet truths.įorrest 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.
I can't think of anyone else as Gump, after seeing how Hanks makes him into a person so dignified, so straight-ahead. Tom Hanks may be the only actor who could have played the role. 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.
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. That cubbyhole is much too small and limiting for Forrest Gump. And yet this is not a heartwarming story about a mentally retarded man.
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