Thoughts on Forrest Gump 1994 & 2014

來源：

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/forrest-gump-1994

http://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/forrest-gump

Roger Ebert

July 6, 1994

I've never met anyone like Forrest Gump in a movie before, and for that matter I've never seen a movie quite like "Forrest Gump." Any attempt to describe him will risk making the movie seem more conventional than it is, but let me try. It's a comedy'kɑm?di/, I guess. Or maybe a drama. Or a dream.

The screenplay /'skrin'ple/ by Eric Roth has the complexity/k?m'pl?ks?ti/ of modern fiction, not the formulas of modern movies. Its hero, played by Tom Hanks, is a thoroughly/AmE ?θ?r?li,/ decent/'disnt/ man with an IQ of 75, who manages between the 1950s and the 1980s to become involved in every major event in American history. And he survives them all with only honesty/'ɑn?sti/ and niceness/'naisnis/ as his shields/'?ild/.

screenplay /'skrin'ple/

* n. 編劇，劇本；電影劇本

* complexity/k?m'pl?ks?ti/

* n. 復(fù)雜，復(fù)雜性；復(fù)雜錯綜的事物

* thoroughly/AmE ?θ?r?li,/

* adverb①(meticulously)徹底地 chèdǐ de ②(completely)極其 jíqí ?dangerous, nice, reliable?③(without reservation)完全 wánquán ?agree, approve, enjoy?

* decent/'disnt/

* adj. 正派的；得體的；相當(dāng)好的

* honesty/'ɑn?sti/

* n. 誠實，正直

niceness/'naisnis/

* n. 美好的事物；講究；精密

* shields/'?ild/

And yet this is not a heartwarming story about a mentally/'m?ntli/ retarded /r??tɑrd?d/ man. That cubbyhole /'k?b?hol/ is much too small and limiting for Forrest Gump. The movie is more of a meditation on our times, as seen through the eyes of a man who lacks cynicism/?s?n??s?z?m/ and takes things for exactly what they are. Watch him carefully and you will understand why some people are criticized for being "too clever by half." Forrest is clever by just exactly enough.

mentally/'m?ntli/

* adv. 精神上，智力上；心理上

retarded /r??tɑrd?d/

* adj. 智力遲鈍的；發(fā)展遲緩的

* cubbyhole /'k?b?hol/N-COUNTA cubbyhole is a very small room or space for storing things. 儲藏室

* cynicism/?s?n??s?z?m/

* n. 玩世不恭，憤世嫉俗；犬儒主義；冷嘲熱諷

*

be too clever by half

to be too confident of your own intelligence in a way that annoys other people:

She was too clever by half - always correcting the teacher or coming back with a smart answer.

Tom Hanks may be the only actor who could have played the role.

I can't think of anyone else as Gump, after seeing how Hanks makes him into a person so dignified /'d?ɡn?fa?d/, so straight-ahead. The performance is a breathtaking /'br?θtek??/ balancing act between comedy and sadness/'s?dnis/, in a story rich in big laughs and quiet truths.

dignified /‘d?ɡn?fa?d/

* adj. 莊嚴(yán)的；有尊嚴(yán)的；高貴的

* v. 使高貴（dignify的過去式）

straight-ahead adjective

The definition of straight ahead is something that is right in your path.

breathtaking /'br?θtek??/

* adj. 驚人的；驚險的；令人激動的

Forrest is born to an Alabama boardinghouse owner (Sally Field) who tries to correct his posture /'pɑst??/ by making him wear braces/'breisiz/, but who never criticizes/'kr?t?'sa?z/ his mind. When Forrest is called "stupid," his mother tells him, "Stupid is as stupid does," and Forrest turns out to be incapable /?n’kep?bl/ of doing anything less than profound /pr?'fa?nd/. Also, when the braces finally fall from his legs, it turns out he can run like the wind.

Sally Field

* n. 莎莉·菲爾德（女子名）

* posture /'pɑst??/

* n. 姿勢；態(tài)度；情形

* vi. 擺姿勢

* vt. 作…的姿勢

* braces/'breisiz/

* n. 背帶；吊帶（brace的復(fù)數(shù)）

* incapable /?n’kep?bl/

* adj. 不能的；無能力的；不能勝任的

* profound /pr?'fa?nd/

* adj. 深厚的；意義深遠(yuǎn)的；淵博的

That's how he gets a college football scholarship /‘skɑl???p/, in a life story that eventually becomes a running gag/g?g/ about his good luck. Gump the football hero becomes Gump the Medal of Honor winner in Vietnam/?vjet'n?m/, and then Gump the Ping-Pong champion/'t??mp??n/, Gump the shrimp/?r?mp/ boat captain, Gump the millionaire/?m?lj?’n?r/ stockholder /'stɑk'hold?/ (he gets shares in a new "fruit company" named Apple Computer), and Gump the man who runs across America and then retraces/r?'tres/ his steps.

Medal of Honor

* 榮譽勛章

* champion/'t??mp??n/

* n. 冠軍；擁護(hù)者；戰(zhàn)士

* vt. 支持；擁護(hù)

* adj. 優(yōu)勝的；第一流的

* shrimp/?r?mp/

* n. 蝦；小蝦；矮小的人

* vi. 捕蝦

* adj. 有蝦的；蝦制的

* millionaire/?m?lj?’n?r/

* n. 百萬富翁；大富豪

* adj. 100萬以上人口的

* champion/'t??mp??n/

* n. 冠軍；擁護(hù)者；戰(zhàn)士

* vt. 支持；擁護(hù)

* adj. 優(yōu)勝的；第一流的

* retraces/r?'tres/

* vt. 追溯；折回；重描

It could be argued that with his IQ of 75 Forrest does not quite understand everything that happens to him. Not so. He understands everything he needs to know, and the rest, the movie suggests, is just surplus/'s?pl?s/. He even understands everything that's important about love, although Jenny, the girl he falls in love with in grade school and never falls out of love with, tells him, "Forrest, you don't know what love is." She is a stripper/'str?p?/ by that time.

surplus/‘s?pl?s/

* n. 剩余；[貿(mào)易] 順差；盈余；過剩

* adj. 剩余的；過剩的

stripper/'str?p?/

* n. 脫衣舞女；剝離器；脫模機(jī)

The movie is ingenious/?n'd?in??s/ in taking Forrest on his tour of recent American history. The director, Robert Zemeckis, is experienced with the magic that special effects can do (his credits include the "Back To The Future" movies and "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"), and here he uses computerized visual legerdemain/'l?d??d?men/ to place Gump in historic situations with actual people.

ingenious/?n'd?in??s/

* adj. 有獨創(chuàng)性的；機(jī)靈的，精制的；心靈手巧的

legerdemain/'l?d??d?men/

* n. 戲法，騙術(shù)；巧妙的花招

Forrest stands next to the schoolhouse/'sk?l'ha?s/ door with George Wallace, he teaches Elvis how to swivel /'sw?vl/ his hips /h?p/, he visits the White House three times, he's on the Dick Cavett show with John Lennon, and in a sequence that will have you rubbing /‘r?b??/ your eyes with its realism, he addresses a Vietnam-era peace rally /'r?li/ on the Mall in Washington. Special effects are also used in creating the character of Forrest's Vietnam friend Lt. Dan (Gary Sinise), a Ron Kovic type who quite convincingly loses his legs.

schoolhouse/'sk?l'ha?s/

swivel /'sw?vl/

* n. 轉(zhuǎn)環(huán)；轉(zhuǎn)椅座架

* vt. 使旋轉(zhuǎn)

* vi. 旋轉(zhuǎn)

hips /h?p/

* n. 臀部；薔薇果；憂郁

* adj. 熟悉內(nèi)情的；非常時尚的

* rubbing /‘r?b??/

* n. 摩擦；研磨；摹拓

* v. 摩擦；按摩；觸痛（rub的ing形式）

* rally /'r?li/

* vi. 團(tuán)結(jié)；重整；恢復(fù)；（網(wǎng)球等）連續(xù)對打

Using carefully selected TV clips and dubbed/d?b/ voices, Zemeckis is able to create some hilarious /h?'l?r??s/ moments, as when LBJ examines the wound/wund/ in what Forrest describes as "my butt-ox." And the biggest laugh in the movie comes after Nixon inquires /?n'kwa?r/ where Forrest is staying in Washington, and then recommends the Watergate. (That's not the laugh, just the setup.) As Forrest's life becomes a guided tour of straight-arrow America, Jenny (played by Robin Wright) goes on a parallel tour of the counterculture /'ka?nt?k?lt??/. She goes to California, of course, and drops out, tunes in, and turns on. She's into psychedelics /'sa?k?'d?l?k/ and flower power, antiwar rallies and love-ins, drugs and needles/'ni:dl/. Eventually it becomes clear that between them Forrest and Jenny have covered all of the landmarks /'l?ndmɑrk/ of our recent cultural history, and the accommodation/?,kɑm?'de??n/ they arrive at in the end is like a dream of reconciliation /?r?k?ns?l?'e??n/ for our society. What a magical movie.

dubbed/d?b/

* vt. 配音；輕點；打擊；授予稱號

* n. 笨蛋；鼓聲

* hilarious /h?'l?r??s/

* adj. 歡鬧的；非常滑稽的；喜不自禁的

inquires /?n'kwa?r/

* vt. 詢問；查究；問明

* vi. 詢問；查究；詢價

* straight-arrow

* [美國口語]循規(guī)蹈矩的

* counterculture /'ka?nt?k?lt??/

* n. 反主流文化（60和70年代美國青少年中盛行的一種思想）

* drops out

* 退出；退學(xué)；脫離

* psychedelics /'sa?k?'d?l?k/

* adj. 引起幻覺的

* n. 迷幻劑

needles/'ni:dl/

* N-COUNTA needle is a thin hollow metal rod with a sharp point, which is part of a medical instrument called a syringe. It is used to put a drug into someone's body, or to take blood out. 注射針

* landmarks /‘l?ndmɑrk/

* n. [航]陸標(biāo)；地標(biāo)；界標(biāo)；里程碑；紀(jì)念碑；地界標(biāo)；劃時代的事

* adj. 有重大意義或影響的

* accommodation/?,kɑm?'de??n/

* n. 住處，膳宿；調(diào)節(jié)；和解；預(yù)訂鋪位

* reconciliation /?r?k?ns?l?'e??n/

* n. 和解；調(diào)和；和諧；甘愿

James Berardinelli

September 05, 2014

Since its theatrical /θ?'?tr?kl/ release in the summer of 1994, Forrest Gump has become one of those movies seemingly/‘sim??li/ everyone is familiar with. It's a cultural touchstone/‘t?t?'ston/? with lines like "Life is a box of chocolates" appearing everywhere from tee-shirts to greeting cards. The film's popularity was italicized /?'t?l?sa?z/ by the way it rampaged /'r?mped?/ through the 1995 Oscars, winning six awards (including the "big three" of Best Picture, Director, and Actor). Now, for its 20th anniversary, the decision has been made to do something Hollywood almost never does during the home video era: a big screen re-release.

theatrical /θ?'?tr?kl/

* adj. 戲劇性的；劇場的，戲劇的；夸張的；做作的

* seemingly/‘sim??li/

* adv. 看來似乎；表面上看來

* touchstone/‘t?t?'ston/

* n. 試金石；（檢驗）標(biāo)準(zhǔn)

* italicized /?'t?l?sa?z/

* vt. 在字下劃橫線；用斜體字排字；強(qiáng)調(diào)

* vi. 用斜體字

* rampaged /‘r?mped?/

* n. 暴怒；暴跳；亂鬧

* vi. 狂暴；亂鬧；發(fā)怒

How to get people into theaters to watch (or re-watch) Forrest run when it's a lot easier to do it at home? Enter the IMAX gimmick/'ɡ?m?k/. Calling it anything less crass /kr?s/ would be dishonest since there's no inherent reason why Forrest Gump should be bulked/b?lk/ up for IMAX (or pseudo/'s?do/-IMAX, depending on how one views the smaller AMC version of the product). Still, commercial /k?’m???l/ considerations /k?n,s?d?’re??n/ aside, there's something majestic /m?'d??st?k/ about watching this tall tale /tel/ unfold on a larger screen than one can find in the average family room. The IMAX format is a nice way to entice /?n'ta?s/ some viewers to see the movie in a theater while maintaining the original composition.

gimmick/'ɡ?m?k/

* n. 暗機(jī)關(guān)；騙人的玩意；花招

* vt. 使暗機(jī)關(guān)；搞騙人的玩意

crass /kr?s/

* adj. 愚鈍的；粗魯?shù)模环浅５?/p>

* n. (Crass)人名；(英)克拉斯

* bulked up/b?lk/

* 脹大；形成大數(shù)目

* pseudo/'s?do/

* n. 偽君子；假冒的人

* adj. 冒充的，假的

* majestic /m?'d??st?k/

* adj. 莊嚴(yán)的；宏偉的

* tall tale /tel/

* n. 吹牛，說大話；夸張的故事，荒誕的故事

* entice /?n'ta?s/

* vt. 誘使；慫恿

The original review holds up today because, unlike some decades-old motion pictures, this one doesn't seem dated. It wears its age well. Here's what I wrote in 1994 when the movie was first released:

decades-old 老式

motion pictures 電影

dated

* adj. 陳舊的；過時的；有日期的

* v. 注有日期（date的過去式和過去分詞）

Ever find the grind /ɡra?nd/ of life getting you down? Is the day-to-day struggle threatening to drag you under? If so, there is a movie out there that can replenish /r?'pl?n??/ your energy and refresh your outlook'a?tl?k/. Passionate/'p???n?t/ and magical, Forrest Gump is a tonic/'tɑn?k/ for the weary/'w?ri/ of spirit. For those who feel that being set adrift/?'dr?ft/ in a season of action movies is like wandering into a desert, the oasiso'es?s/ lies ahead.

grind /ɡra?nd/

* vt. 磨碎；磨快

* vi. 磨碎；折磨

* n. 磨；苦工作

* replenish /r?'pl?n??/

* vt. 補充，再裝滿；把…裝滿；給…添加燃料

* outlook'a?tl?k/

* n. 展望；觀點；景色

* vt. 比……好看；用目光壓倒

* vi. 朝外看

* Passionate/‘p???n?t/

* adj. 熱情的；熱烈的，激昂的；易怒的

* tonic/‘tɑn?k/

* n. 補藥；主調(diào)音或基音

* adj. 滋補的；聲調(diào)的；使精神振作的

weary/‘w?ri/

* adj. 疲倦的；厭煩的；令人厭煩的

* vi. 疲倦；厭煩

* vt. 使疲倦；使厭煩

* adrift/?'dr?ft/

* adj. 漂泊的；漂浮著的

* adv. 隨波逐流地；漂浮著

* oasiso'es?s/

* n. 綠洲；舒適的地方；令人寬慰的事物

* wandering /'wɑnd?r??/ into 游蕩到

* wandering /'wɑnd?r??/

* vi. 徘徊；漫步；迷路；離題

* vt. 游蕩，漫游

* n. (Wander)人名；(英)萬德(女子教名)

Back when Tom Hanks' movie career was relatively new, the actor made a film called Big, which told the story of a young boy forced to grow up fast as a result of an ill-advised wish made at a carnival/'kɑrn?vl/. In some ways, Forrest Gump represents a return to the themes of that earlier movie. In this case, the main character remains a child in heart and spirit, even as his body grows to maturity. Hanks is called upon yet again to play the innocent '?n?snt/.

ill-advised

* adj. 沒腦筋的；欠考慮的

* carnival/'kɑrn?vl/.. 狂歡節(jié)，嘉年華會；飲宴狂歡

innocent'?n?snt/

* adj. 無辜的；無罪的；無知的

* n. 天真的人；笨蛋

* n. (Innocent)人名；(英、西)因諾森特；(法)伊諾桑

Forrest Gump (Hanks), named after a civil/'s?vl/ war hero, grows up in Greenbow, Alabama, where his mother (Sally Field) runs a boarding house. Although Forrest is a little "slow" (his IQ is 75, 5 below the state's definition of "normal"), his mental impairment doesn't seem to bother him, his mother, or his best (and only) friend, Jenny Curran (played as an adult by Robin Wright). In fact, the naiveté that comes through a limited understanding of the world around him gives Forrest a uniquely/ju:'ni:kli/ positive perspective on life. Across the span of the next thirty years, Forrest becomes a star football player, a war hero, a successful businessman, and a pop icon. Through it all, however, there is one defining/di'faini?/ element in his life: his love for Jenny. She is never far from his thoughts, no matter what he's doing or where he is.

civil/'s?vl/

* adj. 公民的；民間的；文職的；有禮貌的；根據(jù)民法的

* n. (Civil)人名；(土)吉維爾；(法)西維爾

* uniquely/ju:'ni:kli/

* adv. 獨特地；珍奇地

* pop icon流行偶像

A trio/'trio/ of assets lifts Forrest Gump above the average "life story" (melo)drama: its optimism /'ɑpt?m?z?m/, freshness, and emotional honesty. Though the movie does not seek to reduce every member of the audience to tears, it has moments whose power comes from their simplicity. Equally as important is laughter, and Forrest Gump has moments of humor strewn/stru:n/ throughout.

trio/'trio/

* n. 三重唱；三件一套；三個一組

* n. (Trio)人名；(意)特里奧

* optimism /'ɑpt?m?z?m/

* n. 樂觀；樂觀主義

* strewn/stru:n/

* v. 撒；散播（strew的過去分詞）

* adj. 撒滿的；散播的

During the 60s and 70s, no topic more inflamed/?n'flemd/ the turbulent/'t?bj?l?nt/ national consciousness/'kɑn??sn?s/ than that of Vietnam and those who were sent overseas to fight. Forrest, as might be expected, has a singular viewpoint on his time spent there: "We took long walks and were always looking for this guy named Charlie." This observation emphasizes the essence of the title character's nature.

inflamed/?n’flemd/

* vt. 激怒；使燃燒；使發(fā)炎

* vi. 燃燒；發(fā)炎；激動

turbulent/‘t?bj?l?nt/

* adj. 騷亂的，混亂的；狂暴的；吵鬧的；激流的，湍流的

consciousness/'kɑn??sn?s/

* n. 意識；知覺；覺悟；感覺

Through the miracle/'m?r?kl/ of`` visual effects, Forrest meets his fair share of famous people - George Wallace, Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon, and John Lennon. While mixing the real footage of these notables with new images featuring Hanks is not a seamless process, the result is nevertheless effective. (This is a precursor of what would become commonplace in future films as the effects work employed here became refined.)

Forrest Gump has several messages, few of which require much digging into the subtext to unearth. The most frequently recurring theme is an admonition not to give up on life. Why surrender when you don't know what lies ahead? By contrasting Forrest's life with the lives of those around him, and by showing how the passage of time brings solace to even the most embittered hearts, the movie underlines this point.

Tom Hanks won 1994's Academy Award for Philadelphia, but his performance here is more nuanced. [With Forrest Gump, he would become only the second man to win back-to-back Lead Actor Oscars, joining Spencer Tracy.] The Alabama accent may seem a little awkward at first, but it doesn't take long for the acting to dwarf the twang. Hanks fashions a human character free of guile and deceit, and barely able to comprehend a concept like evil. Robin Wright gives the best performance of her career, surpassing what she accomplished in The Playboys. Looking and seeming like a younger Jessica Lange, she is believable as the object of Forrest's undying affection. The scene-stealer, however, is Gary Sinise. A renowned stage director and actor, Sinise is probably best known to film-goers (to the extent that he is known at all) for his portrayal of George in 1992's Of Mice and Men (which he also directed). In this movie, his portrayal of Lieutenant Dan Taylor is riveting. The passion and pain he brings to the middle portions of Forrest Gump hold together some of the film's weaker moments.

The soundtrack boasts a variety of sounds of the era - perhaps too wide a variety. Often, music can be useful in establishing a mood, but Forrest Gump rockets into the realm of overkill. There are sequences when the choice of song is inspired (the use of "Running on Empty" for Forrest's "long run" comes to mind), but the soundtrack could have used a little pruning. There are times when it seems as much designed to sell CDs as to cement the setting.

Ultimately /'?lt?m?tli/, however, any such gripes /'graips/ about Forrest Gump are minor. This is a marvelous /'mɑrv?l?s/ motion picture -- a mint julep on a hot summer's afternoon.

Ultimately /'?lt?m?tli/,

* adv. 最后；根本；基本上

* gripes /'graips/

* n. 抱怨（gripe的復(fù)數(shù)形式）；胃絞痛；腸絞痛

* v. 控制；抓住（gripe的第三人稱單數(shù)）

* marvelous /'mɑrv?l?s/

* adj. 了不起的；非凡的；令人驚異的；不平常的

* mint/m?nt/

* n. 薄荷；[金融] 造幣廠，巨款

* vt. 鑄造，鑄幣

* adj. 完美的

* n. (Mint)人名；(毛里塔)明特

* julep/'d?ul?p/

* n. （美）冰鎮(zhèn)薄荷酒；糖漿藥水

Quick Read

Show Read

6-7:55pm 1.55h

11-11:20pm 20m

[Good Sentences]

The original review holds up today because, unlike some decades-old motion pictures, this one doesn't seem dated.

Passionate/'p???n?t/ and magical, Forrest Gump is a tonic/'tɑn?k/ for the weary/'w?ri/ of spirit.

For those who feel that being set adrift/?'dr?ft/ in a season of action movies is like wandering into a desert, the oasiso'es?s/ lies ahead.