The movie begins with Forrest Gump sitting on a bench. He tells a woman sitting next to him about his life, starting when he was a child back in 1951.

His parents put braces on his legs since he has trouble walking. Then the school bus arrives. No one wants to sit with Forrest. But a girl named Jenny is willing to share her seat with him. They become close friends.

Unfortunately, due to his disability, Forrest is constantly bullied. A few kids try to hurt him. But Jenny tells him to run, using her signature phrase, “Run, Forrest! Run!” Despite his leg braces, Forrest ends up breaking them off as he runs, thus being able to escape the bullies. The same thing happens when Forrest is in high school.

When he reaches adulthood, Forrest’s dad signs him up for the military. So, he goes to the tropics where he will receive training. While on the way, he befriends another soldier, Bubba. Their friendship develops–until Bubba is shot.

Lieutenant Dan Taylor, another soldier, gives Forrest a hard time about saving him when he intended to die after being shot. Dan had lost his legs because of that. And although Dan didn’t know this, Forrest had a habit of saving people when they didn’t want it, which annoyed them.

Regardless of that, when Forrest returns home, he is awarded the Metal of Honor for saving his fellow soldiers overseas. He also discovers that he loves playing ping-pong, and therefore, spends a lot of time doing it. He even gets to play ping-pong at international tournaments, such as with a Chinese competitor. This helps him get back together with Jenny, who has become a drug addict after developing a relationship with her abusive boyfriend.

Forrest eventually returns to his Alabama hometown, Greenbow. He uses the money he made off of ping-pong playing to purchase a boat for getting shrimp from the ocean. He also runs into Dan, swims toward him, and takes him on the boat. 

Unfortunately, the boat gets damaged thanks to Hurricane Carmen. However, Forrest and Dan still got to save their shrimp.

But when Forrest returns to his house, he finds his mom lying in her bed, dying from cancer. He decides to start gardening as a hobby right after.

Later, he and Jenny reunite. Forrest expresses his love for her and wants to marry her. But she declines.

Not long after, Forrest discovers that he loves running. He even runs across several states for two years. He also gets a beard and long hair because of that since he didn’t have a chance to shave or cut his hair.

He also inspires many fans to run long miles. Despite that, though, he decides to discontinue running. 

Eventually, he visits Jenny in her new apartment, and meets her son, whom she named after him. But Jenny is sick with an “unknown virus.”

What I really admire about this movie is that it focuses on a protagonist with a disability. Although it is not revealed what disability he has, some sources, such as CBR, suggest that he could have autism. This may be due to his awkwardness, lack of understanding social rules and emotional cues, and passion for activities, such as running and ping-pong. And this was back in 1994, when autism and other disorders weren’t comprehended as well as they are now. I don’t know if the filmmakers intended this, but Forrest Gump may have been relatable to people on the spectrum.

I particularly love how his mother kept believing in him and helping him boost his confidence. This was probably unusual for the 1950s and likely even the 90s. I also like his friendship between him and Jenny. He was so lucky to have made a friend in his youth which people with autism and other neurological disabilities often struggle with, although some do succeed and make a good number of friends.

One flaw, though, is that the characters weren’t always believable. For instance, when Forrest’s mom is dying, she happily greets him with a normal amount of energy right after he opens her bedroom door. Maybe this was done to keep the film from being too melancholic and maintaining the lighthearted tone. Still.

Yet that is very minor. And the number of times characters didn’t act credibly was minimal.

That being said, the plot was a little bit hard to follow. I know this movie focuses on Forrest telling different people about his past. But I wish he had a goal that he could try to obtain–which is typically required for the plot of any form of storytelling.

On the bright side, that is also a minor issue. The movie, otherwise, kept me interested. It did not lag one bit due to its quick pacing. And it’s more than 2 hours long.

Another thing to note is that even though this movie is rated PG-13, it’s kind of on the mature side of that rating. There is some swearing, sexual content, and a bit of nudity (not exactly full, though). I did watch this in 8th grade at school, although the mature moments, other than the language, were obviously fast forwarded.

However, after rewatching this as an adult, I felt that this movie isn’t exactly suitable for young teens. But I guess if they are mature for their ages, the film shouldn’t be an issue, yet I’d still recommend supervising them and making them skip the inappropriate scenes.

As for everyone 15 and up, I think Forrest Gump is a good movie to watch. I, myself, enjoyed it a lot.

I give Forrest Gump 4 out of 5 stars.