Forrest Gump

ContextBasic Information

Plot Summary

Words and Expression

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Basic Information1. Main CharacterForrest Gump-Tom Hanks Jenny Curran-

Robin Wright

Basic Information2. AwardsTom Hanks 1. Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

in the 67th Academy Awards2. Best Actor in Saturn Awards in 19953. Funniest Actor in a Motion Picture (Leading

Role) in American Comedy Awards in 19954. Best Actor in a Leading Role in BAFTA Film

Awards in 19955. Best Actor in Chicago Film Critics Association

Awards in 1995

Basic Information6. Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama in

Golden Globe Awards in 19957. Best Male Performance in MTV Movie

Awards in 19958. Best Actor in National Board of Review of

Motion Pictures in 19949.Favorite Actor in a Dramatic Motion Pic-

ture in People’s Choice Awards in 199510. Outstanding Performance by a Male Ac-

tor in a Leading Role in Screen Actors Guild Awards in 1995

Basic InformationHow special in history?

Released in the United States on July 6, 1994, Forrest Gump was well received by critics and became a commercial success as the top grossing film in North America released that year, being the first major success for Paramount Pictures since the studio's sale to Viacom earlier in the year. The film earned over $677 million world-wide during its theatrical run. 

Plot SummaryIn 1981, Forrset Gump (Tom Hanks) waits at a bus stop and be-

gins telling his life story to strangers on his bench sitting be-side him. The story begins with the leg braces he had to wear as a child, which resulted in him being bullied by other chil-dren. He lives with his mother (Sally Field), who tells him that "stupid is as stupid does". Forrest teaches one of their guests, a young Elvis Presley, a hip-swinging dance. On a bus for his first day of school, Forrest meets Jenny (Robin Wright), with whom he immediately falls in love, and they become best friends. For-rest discovers that he can run very fast which, despite his be-low-average intelligence,  earns him a scholarship to the Uni-versity of Alabama  from Bear Bryant. While in college, he wit-nesses George Wallace's Stand in the Schoolhouse Door, is named an All-American football player, and meets President John F. Kennedy.

Plot SummaryAfter graduating, Forrest enlists in the United States Army,

where he becomes friends with Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue (Mykelti Williamson), and they agree to go into the shrimping business together. They are sent to Vietnam, and on June 7, 1965, their platoon is ambushed, Forrest saves many of the men in his platoon, including platoon leader 2nd Lt. Dan Taylor (Gary Sinise), but Bubba dies after re-ceiving a gunshot wound to his chest. Forrest himself is in-jured and receives the Medal of Honor from President Lyndon B. Johnson. While recovering from his in-juries Forrest meets Dan Taylor again. Now an amputee, he is furious at Forrest for leaving him a "cripple" and cheat-ing him out of his destiny to die in battle like his ancestors. In Washington, Forrest is swept up in an anti-war rally at the National Mall and is reunited with Jenny, who is now part of the hippie counterculture movement. They spend the night walking around the capital, but she leaves with her abusive boyfriend the following day.

Plot SummaryForrest discovers an aptitude for ping pong and begins

playing for the U.S. Army team, eventually competing against Chinese teams on a goodwill tour. He goes to the White House again and meets President Richard Nixon who provides him a room at the Watergate hotel, where Forrest inadvertently helps expose the Watergate scandal. After the Fall of Saigon Forrest is discharged from the military. For his numerous accomplishments, Forrest is invited onto The Dick Cavett Show alongside John Lennon. He again encounters Dan Taylor, now an embittered drunk living on welfare. Dan is scorn-ful of Forrest's plans to enter the shrimping business and mockingly promises to be Forrest's first mate if he ever succeeds.

Plot SummaryUsing money from a ping pong endorsement, Forrest buys

a shrimping boat, fulfilling his wartime promise to Bubba. Forrest decides to name his boat Jenny, what he describes as the most beautiful name in the world. Dan keeps his own promise and joins Forrest as first mate. They initially have little luck; but, after Hurricane Carmen destroys every other shrimping boat in the region, the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company becomes a huge success due to the elimi-nation of competition. Having had an epiphany during the hurricane, Dan finally thanks Forrest for saving his life. Forrest then returns home to care for his ailing mother, who dies soon afterwards. Forrest leaves the company in the hands of Dan, who invests their wealth in shares of Apple, making them both millionaires.

Plot Summary Jenny returns to visit Forrest and stays with him. Forrest

asks her to marry him, but she declines and slips away early one morning after the pair make love. Distraught, Forrest decides to go for a run, which turns into a three-year coast-to-coast marathon. Forrest becomes a celebrity and attracts followers. During the run, he inspires many failing entrepreneurs who afterwards became large suc-cesses. One day he stops suddenly and returns home. He receives a letter from Jenny asking to meet, which brings him to the bus stop where he began telling his story. Once he and Jenny are reunited, Forrest discovers they have a young son, also named Forrest (Haley Joel Osment). Forrest sits with his son and together they watch Bert and Ernie on TV. Jenny reveals that she is suffering from an unknown virus. She proposes to him and he accepts.

Plot SummaryThey return to Alabama with Forrest Jr. and marry.

Among the people at the wedding is Dan Taylor, who is now considerably happier and kinder, as he was then able to walk again thanks to prosthetic legs and the fact that he was recently engaged. Jenny and For-rest's joy is short lived however, when Jenny dies on March 22, 1982 from an unspecified condition (heav-ily implied to be HIV). At the end of the film, Forrest waits with Forrest Jr. for the bus to pick him up for his first day of school. As the bus drives away, Forrest sits on the same tree stump where his mother sat on his first day of school and watches his feather bookmark float off in the wind.

Words and Expression1. Be on one’s own a. be alone, when you are on your own, you are aloneEx: He lives on his own…b. be by oneself, If you do something on your own, you do

it without any help from other people.Ex: I work best on my own2. dandya. N. A dandy is a man who thinks a great deal about his ap-

pearance and always dresses in smart clothes.Ex: He was handsome and a dandyb. Adj. = great. If you say that something is dandy, you mean it

is good or just rightEx: There’s a zoo round here? That’s dandy for my kids.

Words and Expression3. danglea. If something dangles from somewhere or if you

dangle it somewhere, it hangs or swings loosely.Ex: I showed her how to dangle. b. I you say that someone is dangling something

attractive before you, you mean they are offering it to you in order to try to influence you in some way.

Ex: I’m dangling this kind of idea attractive before me.

Words and Expression4. sneak out a. = slip. If you sneak somewhere, you go

there very quietly on foot, trying to avoid be-ing seen or heard.

Ex: Don’t sneak away and hide.b. If you sneak a look at Sb. or Sth., you se-

cretly have a quick look at them.Ex: You sneak a look at your watch to see

how long you’ve got to wait.

Words and Expression5. integratea. If someone integrates into a social group, or is integrated into it,

they behave in such a way that they become part of the group or are accepted into it.

Ex: He didn’t integrate successfully into the Italian way of lifeb. When races integrate or when schools and organizations are in-

tegrated, people who are black or belong to ethnic minorities can join white people in their schools and organizations.

Ex: Encouraging teacher transfer would not, by itself, integrate the teaching corps.

c. If you integrate one thing with another, or one thing integrates with another, the two things become closely linked or form part of a whole idea or system. You can also say that two things integrate.

Ex: Integrating the pound with other European currencies could cause difficulties.

Words and Expression6. dictatorshipa. It is government by a dictatorEx: the countries which are ruled by dictatorships.b. It is a country which is ruled by a dictator or by a very

strict and harsh government.Ex: Every country in the region was a military dictator-

ship. 7. DesegregateTo desegregate something such as a place, institution, or

service means to officially stop keeping the people who use it in separate groups, especially groups that are de-fined by race.

Ex: The school system itself is not totally desegregated.

Words and Expression8. take overa. If you take over a company, you get control of it, for example by

buying its sharesEx: A British newspaper says British Airways plan to take over

Trans World Airways.b. If someone takes over a country or building, they get control of

it by force, for example with the help of the army. Ex: The parliament in Madrid was taken over by civil guards.c. If you take over a job or role or you take over, you become re-

sponsible for the job after someone else has stopped doing it.Ex: She took over as chief executive of the Book Trust.d. If one thing takes over from something else, it becomes more

important, successful, or powerful than the other thing, and even-tually replaces it.

Ex: Cars gradually took over from horses.

Words and Expression9. salutea. If you salute someone, you greet them or

show your respect with a formal sign. Sol-diers usually salute officers by raising their tight hand so that their fingers touch their forehead.

Ex: I stood to attention and saluted.b. To salute a person or their achievements

means to publicly show or state your admira-tion for them.

Ex: The statement salutes the changes of the past year.

Words and Expression10. let sb. downa. If you let someone down, you disappoint

them, by not doing something that you have said you will do or that they expected you to do.

Ex: When such advisers fail in their duty, they let down the whole system.

b. If something lets you down, it is the reason you are not as successful as you could have been.

Ex: Sadly, the film is let down by an excessively simple plot.