'''''Forrest Gump''''' is a 1985 novel by Winston Groom, a 1994 film adaptation, and the name of the titular character of both. The film was a huge commercial success, earning $677 million worldwide during its theatrical run (the top grossing film in North America released that year), although Paramount, in line with Hollywood accounting, claimed it was a commercial failure and did not pay Groom his share of the profits.http://marshallinside.usc.edu/mweinstein/research/hollywood.pdf As such, Groom has refused to allow the novel's sequel, ''Gump and Co.'', to be filmed, stating that he could not in good conscience sell the rights to film the sequel to a failure. The film garnered a total of 13 Academy Award nominations, of which it won six, including Best Picture, Best Director (Robert Zemeckis), and Best Actor (Tom Hanks).
The film tells the story of a simple man's epic journey through life, meeting historical figures and experiencing first-hand historic events while largely unaware of their significance, due to his low IQ of 75. The film differs substantially from the book on which it was based.
Plot
Forrest's story begins
Sitting at a bus stop, dressed in a clean tanned suit, Forrest Gump tells the story of his life to a woman seated next to him (the person / people at the bus stop change regularly throughout the movie).
Much of Forrest's philosophy comes from his mother. Forrest often recalls her favorite sayings, telling people "Mama always says 'life is like a box of chocolates'" and "stupid is as stupid does." Both sayings became popular catchphrases following the movie's release. Forrest reveals that he is named after a distant ancestor, Nathan Bedford Forrest, who helped found the first Ku Klux Klan, as a reminder that "sometimes we all do things that, well, just don't make no sense." Despite his low I.Q., which would normally have necessitated special education, his mother arranges to have him enrolled in public school by having sex with the school's principal. On his first day of school, he is befriended on the school bus by Jenny, who, the audience later learns, is being abused by her stepfather.
For the first several years of Forrest's life, Forrest had a crooked back, and was given leg braces to straighten it. These braces make walking awkward for Forrest, and render him almost incapable of running. When a group of bullies try to chase Forrest down with their bicycles, Forrest runs, as urged by Jenny. As Forrest runs, his leg braces fall apart, and Forrest runs all the way to town.
Football at Alabama
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Years later, while again running away from bullies, Forrest runs through Greenbo