Forrest Gump is a 1994 American comedy-drama film based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis and stars Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson, and Sally Field. The story depicts several decades in the life of Forrest Gump, a slow-witted but kind-hearted, good-natured and athletically prodigious man from Alabama who witnesses, and in some cases influences, some of the defining events of the latter half of the 20th century in the United States; more specifically, the period between Forrest's birth in 1944 and 1982. The film differs substantially from Winston Groom's novel, including Gump's personality and several events that were depicted.
Principal photography took place in late 1993, mainly in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Extensive visual effects were used to incorporate the protagonist into archived footage and to develop other scenes. A comprehensive soundtrack was featured in the film, using music intended to pinpoint specific time periods portrayed on screen. Its commercial release made it a top-selling soundtrack, selling over twelve million copies worldwide.
Released in the United States on July 6, 1994, Forrest Gump became a commercial success as the top-grossing film in North America released in that year, being the first major success for Paramount Pictures since the studio's sale to Viacom, earning over US$677 million worldwide during its theatrical run. In 1995 it won the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director for Robert Zemeckis, Best Actor for Tom Hanks, Best Adapted Screenplay for Eric Roth, Best Visual Effects, and Best Film Editing. It also garnered multiple other awards and nominations, including Golden Globes, People's Choice Awards, and Young Artist Awards, among others. Since the film's release varying interpretations have been made of the film's protagonist and its political symbolism. In 1996, a themed restaurant, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, opened based on the film and has since expanded to multiple locations worldwide. The scene of Gump running across the country is often referred to when real-life people attempt the feat. In 2011, the Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Plot
In 1982, Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) sits at a bus stop in Savannah, Georgia. As a feather floats down toward him, he picks it up and recalls his childhood in Greenbow, Alabama during the 1950s, being raised by a single mother (Sally Field), and having to wear leg braces. Despite having a diminished intellect, Forrest is admitted to public school after his mother agrees to have sex with the principal. On his first day of school, Forrest meets Jenny Curran, a girl his age who becomes his best friend and is a victim of child molestation by her father. The children bond, finding in each other a confidante and kindred spirit. With Jenny's encouragement, Forrest runs away from a group of bullies, struggling until his leg braces break off and he finds that he is able to run very fast. Years later, while fleeing the same group of bullies, he runs onto a football field during a practice observed by legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, which gets him into the University of Alabama on a football scholarship and eventually leads to him meeting President John F. Kennedy as a member of the NCAA "All-American" team.
After graduation, he enlists in the army, where he excels at drill exercises and befriends fellow recruit Benjamin Buford Blue, nicknamed "Bubba" (Mykelti Williamson), an aspiring shrimp boat captain who suggests they go into the shrimp business together after the war. They are sent to Vietnam under Lieutenant Dan Taylor (Gary Sinise). Bubba is killed during an ambush which leaves many of their fellow soldiers wounded. Lieutenant Dan sustains major injuries and loses both his legs. Forrest is wounded in the buttocks while saving members of his platoon—including Lieutenant Taylor—and is awarded the Medal of Honor, presented to him by President Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House. At an anti-war rally in Washington, Forrest reunites with Jenny, who has joined the Hippie movement after being expelled from college over topless photos of herself and experimenting with drugs. While recovering from his wounds, Forrest discovers an aptitude for ping-pong, eventually playing against the Chinese in ping-pong diplomacy. He runs into Lieutenant Dan, and finds that the former officer is now in a wheelchair and has become an embittered drunk living on disability pension. Forrest moves in with Dan and they spend the holidays together, with Forrest explaining his and Bubba's plan to go into the shrimping business and his intentions to fulfill Bubba's dream. During this period Forrest ends up meeting President Nixon and accidentally reveals the Watergate scandal.
After being discharged from the Army, Gump returns to Alabama and makes US$25,000 from ping pong endorsements, which he uses to buy a shrimping boat, fulfilling his promise to Bubba. Lieutenant Dan joins Gump, and although they initially have little success, after Hurricane Carmen they are the only boat in the area left standing, and they begin to pull in huge amounts of shrimp. They use their income to buy an entire fleet of shrimp boats. Lieutenant Dan invests the money in Apple and they are financially secure for the rest of their lives. Forrest returns home when his mother falls terminally ill and stays with her until her death. Forrest donates much of his money to various causes and continues to live in the house where he grew up, taking a job as a groundskeeper. Despite his success and finally coming home, he is lonely and often thinks of Jenny, who has been living a life of promiscuity and substance abuse. One day, she returns to Alabama and stays with Forrest. He asks her to marry him, but she declines because of her troubled past. However, they have sex that night. After she leaves the next day, a frustrated Forrest decides to go for a run, which turns into a coast-to-coast three-and-a-half year journey, bringing him national attention.
In present-day, Gump reveals that he is waiting at the bus stop because he received a letter from Jenny, who is now living in Savannah and had seen him on TV during his running and invited him to visit. Jenny reveals Forrest to be the father of her child, also named Forrest, and that she is suffering from an unknown virus. Jenny proposes to Forrest, and he accepts. Forrest and Jenny return to Greenbow with Forrest Jr. and are finally married; Lt. Dan attends the wedding with his fiancée Susan and shows Forrest his new prosthetic legs. Jenny eventually dies of her illness and Forrest becomes a devoted father to Forrest Jr. Later, Gump is waiting with his son for the school bus to pick him up for his first day of school. As the bus departs, the feather from the beginning of the film floats off into the air.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forrest_Gump