Forrest Gump

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Passionate and magical, Forrest Gump is a tonic for the weary of spirit.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

What a magical movie.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Clean up the language, and this little roach of a movie could play the bottom half of a double bill with Rowan and Martin's “The Maltese Bippy.” [26 March 1999, Life, p.9E]

Washington Post Rita Kempley

Zemeckis, an undisputed master of film technology, shows off an equal aptitude for vivid storytelling.

Film.com John Hartl

This is an ambitious movie that attempts too much rather than too little.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

A movie heart-breaker of oddball wit and startling grace.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

The results are skillful, highly affecting, and ultimately more than a little pernicious.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Manages the difficult feat of being an intimate, even delicate tale played with an appealingly light touch against an epic backdrop.

Austin Chronicle Robert Faires

A remarkable balance of sentimentality and harshness, darkness and light.

USA Today Mike Clark

Doesn't sound like a very prepossessing title, but prepare to be taken aback by "what's in a name." [6 July 1994, Life, p.1D]

Mr. Showbiz Joseph McBride

The film's technical brilliance and sentimental kick seduced many viewers unsuspecting of its polemical intent.

Time Richard Corliss

It's a long drink of water at the fountain of pop-social memory.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

This is a captivating experience.

San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann

At its best, Forrest Gump is a gentle, elegiac fantasy about love and trust.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

It's most successful when it is being off-center, a state of grace it doesn't quite have the nerve to maintain. [6 July 1994, Calendar, p. F-1]

The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

Has the elements of an emotionally gripping story. Yet is feels less like a romance than like a coffee-table book celebrating the magic of special effect. [6 July 1994, p. C9]

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

Yet, for all that's wrong here, one thing is wonderfully, blissfully right, and his name is Tom Hanks.

TV Guide Staff (not credited)

Clearly a great event, Forrest Gump is not, however, a great film. It has the form of an epic without real depth or resonance; the trappings of satire without a coherent attitude; and the semblance of historical revisionism without a critical sensibility.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

It is also glib, shallow, and monotonous, a movie that spends so much time sanctifying its hero that, despite his "innocence," he ends up seeming about as vulnerable as Superman.