Gump is a new type of a role-replica; he’s “a nice boy,” and everybody knows that this type of person is rather rare. As one reviewer stated: “Today the last American hero is a Tom Hanks’ character with a small IQ.”
Forrest Gump is the runaway hit movie of that season. Most people assert it makes them recollect their “inner child.” Some critics assault it for the regard that low IQ is an inevitable requirement for keeping the child-like approach Gump has. Gump is not aimed to grow up or mature throughout the movie. He never turns to be a man and stays an eternal boy. It is entailed, finally, that his “foolishness” is what permits him to do this. This may be regarded as the truth, and may be regarded as a lie, but actually it is just a movie, and everyone is free to make any conclusions. Most people in his situation would never be so lucky as Forrest.
In figurative terms, Forrest is the legendary, clean-cut symbol of the ’50s rising unharmed from the disorderliness that came after. Tom Hanks fastens the movie with his all-American attraction, yet in distinction with “Being There” or “Rain Man” with Hanks starring, Forrest Gump never affords himself to find twinkly profundities within his simpleton individuality. Forrest is less a personality than a sample to follow, and Zemeckis, frantic to touch the spectator’s soul, finishes by including every moment possible to call tears ‑ death, marriage, the joy of fatherhood, AIDS, another death ‑ into the concluding 20 minutes. It’s a barefaced display, though not much more deceitful than the rest of the film, which reduces the uproar of the last few decades to a virtual-reality theme park: a baby-boomer account of Disney’s America.
The fact is that everyone creates one’s happiness with his or her own hands. Forrest clearly explains this consideration, as he experiences the glory of being a champion, immense business success. He survived in Vietnam – a place that created thousands of widows and orphans, and everything he achieves is got with an incredible simplicity (anyway, the movie shows that). But Forrest is not interested in glory and wealth. He just wishes to live, realize the essence of life and love.