I saw ‘Forrest Gump’ for the first time when I was a high school student. I have been a fan of Tom Hanks for a long time and I consider this film to be his best. It has everything that an audience loves about a film: humor, heart, and a broad timeline of the most important cultural moments of American history. And, in many ways, Hanks personifies this ordinary simpleton that we can relate to and see ourselves in.
Forrest is a shy, kind-hearted young man from Greenbow, Alabama who serves in the Vietnam War, becomes a world-famous ping-pong player, and develops a shrimp business with his friend, Bubba. Along the way, he finds himself on the sidelines of a handful of influential moments in history. To name just a few key moments, Forrest meets JFK, surrounds the group of students of the Little Rock Nine, sits for an interview with John Lennon on ‘The Dick Cavett Show,’ and blows the whistle on the Watergate Scandal under the Nixon Administration.
But, it is his heart for his longtime love, Jenny Curran, that makes us fall apart. He always said that they ‘was like peas and carrots.’ At the end of the film, Jenny passes away from a cancer battle and our hearts sink for Forrest. It’s an extremely touching moment and a reason why we love Tom Hanks.
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