I remember seeing Forrest Gump in the theater. I cried, a lot, and so did my mom. When I finished the film last night, I teared up a few times. It used to be that the scene at Jenny's grave at the end would be what hit me the most, but this time it was Forrest talking to his mom when she tells him that she's dying of cancer. Sally Field plays Mrs. Gump as so brave as she explains to her only son that it's her time to die. Maybe it struck me differently on this rewatch than all the previous ones because I think it's the first time I've watched this after becoming a parent almost six years ago. I've already had to explain some tough topics to my own children, but death is something I fortunately have not had to explain yet. I can imagine, though, what this was like for Forrest's mom, and Field's performance is so calm and almost soothing even though the topic is devastating for Forrest.
I wonder if I should have skipped this rewatching of Forrest Gump because other than tearing up at different moments I'm not sure that I took much different away on this rewatch than I did on any of the previous ones. The film was so familiar to me (I watched it a lot in middle school and high school and I even have the soundtrack) that it felt like a comfortable blanket. I knew when the happy and sad moments were coming, and as the story unravels, I knew what to expect in the end. Just like the previous viewings, Tom Hanks is outstanding as he embraces the role and makes us all believe that he is actually Forrest Gump. The one small surprise I had was that the shrimp scene, when Bubba lists all the types of shrimp, isn't as long as I remember, but that didn't take away from my viewing. Nor was I surprised since that scene has been parodied and referenced so many times it's become bigger than it was.
Coming up next is Braveheart, a movie we own but I've never seen. I'm not excited about watching yet another three hour epic for this blog, but with a long weekend, I think it will be a bit easier.
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