Forrest Gump

Synopsis

Forrest Gump is a 1994 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Eric Roth. It is an adaptation of the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom and stars Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson, and Sally Field.

The film follows the life of an Alabama man named Forrest Gump (Hanks) and his experiences in the 20th-century United States. Principal photography took place between August and December 1993, mainly in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Extensive visual effects were used to incorporate Hanks into archived footage and to develop other scenes. The soundtrack features songs reflecting the different periods seen in the film

In 1981, a man named Forrest Gump recounts his life story to passing strangers at a bus stop.

As a boy, Forrest has an IQ of 75, and is fitted with leg braces to correct a curved spine. He lives in Greenbow, Alabama, with his mother, who runs a boarding house and encourages him to live beyond his disabilities. On his first day of school, Forrest meets a girl named Jenny Curran, and the two become best friends. Jenny is a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of her widowed, alcoholic father; she is eventually removed from his custody.

Bullied because of his leg braces and dimwittedness, Jenny tells Forrest to run to flee from a group of children, and when his braces break off, he is revealed to be a fast runner. With this talent, he receives a spot in the University of Alabama’s Alabama Crimson Tide football team, is put on the All-American team, and meets president John F. Kennedy at the White House. In his first year at college, he witnesses Governor George Wallace’s Stand in the Schoolhouse Door, ending up on television. He also visits Jenny at her college, where the two have an awkward sexual encounter.

After graduating college, Forrest enlists in the U.S. Army. During basic training, he befriends a fellow soldier named Benjamin Buford “Bubba” Blue, who convinces Forrest to go into the shrimping business with him after their service. While on leave, Forrest goes to Memphis, Tennessee to see Jenny, who now works as a singer in a strip club. However, he embarrasses her by attacking some patrons who are harassing her, causing the two to part ways. Soon afterward, Forrest and Bubba are sent to fight in Vietnam, serving in the Mekong Delta region, under Lieutenant Dan Taylor. Some months later, their platoon is ambushed. Forrest is shot but rescues several soldiers, including Lieutenant Dan; Bubba is killed in action. Dan, now a double leg amputee, is embittered about having his life saved; he had hoped to die in combat like his ancestors, and detests being handicapped. Forrest is awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism by President Lyndon B. Johnson. While recovering from his wound, Forrest develops a talent for ping pong.

At an antiwar March on the Pentagon rally, Forrest reunites with Jenny, who has become a drug-addicted hippie and antiwar activist. The two soon part again when she leaves with her abusive boyfriend. Forrest plays ping pong in the special services, competing against Chinese players in ping-pong diplomacy, becoming a celebrity, and earning himself an interview on The Dick Cavett Show alongside John Lennon. Forrest spends New Year’s Eve in New York City with Lieutenant Dan, who is still bitter about his disability. Forrest’s ping-pong success eventually leads to a meeting with President Richard Nixon, who gives him a room in the Watergate complex.

Forrest is honorably discharged from the Army, and returns to Greenbow, where he uses his ping-pong licensing earnings to buy a shrimping boat in Bayou La Batre. Lieutenant Dan joins Forrest as his first mate, and they initially have little success. However, after their shrimping boat becomes the only one to survive Hurricane Carmen, they pull in vast amounts of shrimp and create the profitable Bubba Gump Shrimp company. Soon afterward, a contented Lieutenant Dan finally thanks Forrest for saving his life. Dan invests their money in the burgeoning Apple Computer, Inc., and the two become millionaires. Forrest splits his earnings with Bubba’s family, fulfilling his promise to Bubba, before returning home to care for his mother, who is terminally ill with cancer. After she dies, Forrest spends most of his time volunteering as a gardener.

Jenny reunites with Forrest. He eventually proposes to her, but she turns him down. That night, she confesses to Forrest that she does indeed love him. They make love, but Jenny leaves the next day. Heartbroken, Forrest goes for a run, spontaneously beginning a non-stop cross-country marathon. Forrest’s run inspires many followers, but after three years, Forrest abruptly stops running and decides to return home.

In the present, Forrest receives a letter from Jenny asking him to visit her and arrives at a local bus stop. A woman informs him that the address is nearby, so he rushes off and reunites with Jenny, who introduces him to her young son, Forrest Gump Jr. Initially shocked at the revelation, Forrest quickly bonds with his son. Jenny tells Forrest that she is sick with “some kind of virus”, and the doctors cannot do anything for her. They decide to marry, and the three move back to Greenbow. Among their wedding guests is Lt. Dan, now walking on titanium-alloy prosthetics, with his fiancée, Susan. Jenny later succumbs to her illness. Forrest is deeply saddened by her death, but remains a loving, devoted father to Forrest Jr., seeing him off on his first day of school.

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Screenplay by Eric Roth
Story by Winston Groom
Based on Forrest Gump
by Winston Groom
Produced by
  • Wendy Finerman
  • Steve Tisch
  • Steve Starkey
Starring
  • Tom Hanks
  • Robin Wright
  • Gary Sinise
  • Mykelti Williamson
  • Sally Field
Cinematography Don Burgess
Edited by Arthur Schmidt
Music by Alan Silvestri
Production
company
The Tisch Company[1]
Distributed by Paramount Pictures[1]
Release dates
  • June 23, 1994 (Los Angeles)
  • July 6, 1994 (United States)
Running time
142 minutes
Country United States[1]
Language English
Budget $55 million[2]
Box office $678.2 million[2]

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