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Forrest Gump is a film starring Tom Hanks, who plays the title character, Forrest Gump, a man from Alabama with an IQ fairly lower than average. Despite his low intelligence, Forrest manages to achieve some astounding things in his life, usually without realising what he is doing. All the while, he still harbours feelings for his childhood best friend, Jenny, although her life has taken a very different path to his.

Forrest Gump is one of those feel-good movies that appeals to almost everyone, as it's very hard not to like innocent and kind Forrest, and be happy when things go well for him. The majority of the film is flashbacks of his Forrest's life, as narrated by himself talking to strangers on a park bench at a bus stop, which is an interesting concept, largely due to the reactions of the people who he is telling his story to. Most of the film is set in the 1960s, and many of the social issues of this era are dealt with in the storyline, such as the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War, as well as issues of abuse in Jenny's childhood. Forrest's lack of understanding of many of these issues, and his tendency to run into great opportunities entirely by accident, gives the film its light-hearted feel, which makes the film as fantastic as it is.

Another great feature of this film is when Forrest is slotted into documentary footage of important events to make it look like he was actually there at the time, such as his football team meeting the President, which looks very realistic and adds authenticity to the film, as well as some humour. This film does have occasional moments and plot points for which you have to temporarily abandon disbelief, as although it is inspirational to see a man for whom life should be difficult managing to achieve so much, is isn't always something that is easy to believe happening in real life. It's a credit to this film, however, that you do accept almost all of it unquestioningly, due to the great atmosphere of the film.

For me, this is arguably Tom Hanks' greatest performance and his best film, as he plays the part of a slightly slower man very convincingly, and manages to portray Forrest's innocence perfectly. All of the supporting actors are good as well, though since Forrest is by far the star of the show, few of them are individually memorable as actors. This film should hopefully impress even those who aren't great fans of Hanks, as he does play a very different character to his usual.

In conclusion, this film is absolutely fantastic, and will be enjoyed by most people. It's one of my favourite films of all time, and I would recommend it to anyone.

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