The Curious Case of Forrest Gump

Since I first saw it in the theater (twice) when I was 15 years old, owned the soundtrack on tape (ha!), and read the book twice (not as good), my favourite movie has always been - and probably always will be -  Forrest Gump. I could write a lengthy essay about all the reasons why I absolutely adore that movie, but I won't. At least not today.


So, when I first met Jim, naturally (and I say "naturally" because if you know Jim, you know that his life revolves around film), one of the first questions he asked me was, "What's your movie?" I didn't have to think twice. Forrest Gump. Of course.


Imagine my surprise when he said that was his favourite movie too! Really? Out of all the movies out there? I assumed he'd say something classic like Citizen Kane. (Which is obviously a pretty amazing movie too... but it just doesn't snuggle as close to this girl's heart as the Gump.)


Because it's our shared favourite film, we only watch it once a year in order to keep it special. This has always been Jim's idea to save it, as I could easily watch it over and over and over again... I'm sure we both could. But, I do admit that by making Forrest Gump an annual love-fest, dare I say, it almost transforms watching a simple movie into a sacred event.  


This year, we celebrated that special event a couple evenings ago, right after we met our deadline. It was such a nice reward. Especially nice this year, because Santa left the bluray in Jim's stocking. And since it's the 15 year anniversary edition, there's an extra two hours of special features. Yay!


Actually, we always choose a day between Christmas and New Year's. Our rationale is because the movie deals with the passing of time, so New Year's only seems appropriate. Plus, we both love the NYE scene when Forrest and Lieutenant Dan meet up with Cunning Carla and Long Limbs Lenore at the seedy New York bar.


I won't recite the entire script for you, just the part that Jim n' I have fun imitating...

 
                                     LT. DAN
                         This is Cunning Carla, and Long-Limbs 
                         Lenore.

               Carla puts a "Happy New Year" crown on Lt. Dan's head. Lenore 
               fixes her makeup.

                                     CARLA
                         So where you been, baby-cakes, huh? 
                         Haven't seen you around lately. You 
                         know, you should have been here for 
                         Christmas 'cause Tommy bought a round 
                         on the house and gave everybody a 
                         turkey sandwich.

                                     LT. DAN
                         Well, well, I had, uh, company.

                                     LENORE
                         Hey, hey! We was, we was just there.
                         That's at Times Square.

               Lenore leans and speaks into Forrest's ear.

                                     LENORE
                         Don't you just love New Year's? You 
                         get to start all over.

                                     CARLA
                         Hey, Lenore.

                                     LENORE
                         Everybody gets a second chance.

                                

It might only be one sentence, but I think the actress who plays Lenore does such a brilliant job delivering that last line. For a single moment, you are able to imagine her character's entire life, broken dreams and regrets. Which I would assume are not unlike Jenny's... And that's why her line is so perfectly followed up by a Forrest voice-over who says...

  FORREST (V.O.)



                         It's funny, but in the middle of all 
                         that fun, I began to think about 
                         Jenny.

And then it cuts away to the tune of the Door's "Love Her Madly", as a black-eyed n' battered Jenny packs her things while a man sleeps on the bed. On the TV, the ball drops above Time Square. The editors time it so perfectly too, because as the Door's sing, "Don't you love her as she's walking out the door...", Jenny walks out the door. If you pay attention, you'll notice that they do that a lot with the music throughout the film. Like when Forrest is in Vietnam, the Beach Boy's sing Sloop John B, "This is the worst trip, I've ever been on..." 


Oh gawd, I LOVE that movie! Okay, and now that I've established our love for Forrest Gump, and the fact that we both have the movie memorized front to back, neither of us could help but notice the startling similarities between Forrest and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - both written by Eric Roth. Dialog, themes, characters.... there was just so much that reminded us of Forrest. (Although I certainly won't say that Benjamin Button is now my second favourite movie. It was enjoyable, but it wasn't FG.) So, it was funny to see that we were not alone. Check out this cute video from funnyordie.com. Totally hits it!

The Curious Case of Forrest Gump - watch more funny videos

We haven't seen Benjamin Button since it was in theaters last year, but Jim just picked up the bluray the other day with a Christmas gift certificate (thank you Mr. & Mrs. Santa Cliffe), so we're going to watch it tonight. After watching Forrest a couple nights ago, it'll be interesting to see the two back to back. With Gump so fresh in our minds, I'm sure we'll discover even more similarities than we ever noticed before.