Reviews

Robert Zemeckis has done a credible job with this morality play. Tom Hanks portrays a dim-witted, but practical, man who has good luck on his side.

It is a story of a seemingly simple man, who has a great deal of practical sense and his seemingly complicated life.

The film is a character study not only of Hank's character, but, a character study of the people in his orbit. The big influences in Forrest Gump's life are is his mother and his best a friend, a girl who suffered at the hands of an abusive father who lived on the edge and eventually would have fallen off it had it not been for Forrest's gentle spirit and his Vietnam War buddy, Bubba, also a slow-witted, but kindly man who befriends Forrest and the two forge a solid friendship in a short period of time. whereby its influences affect Forrest's life long after Bubba's untimely death in Vietnam.

Forrest deals with love, romantic, maternal and platonic, hate, war…the effects such as Forrest meeting President Kennedy are pretty neat. In dealing with life, Forrest deals with the complications of life in the most practical matter and it serves him and those around him well.

The film's message is rather simple, no matter what life brings to your doorstep, there are only solutions, no problems.

I personally liked the film, but, I do think the film is very over-rated because those who are of politically correct mindset make a large point of pointing out the morality play's message of hope. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being a miracle, I give the film a solid 5.

This thinly-veiled roman-a-clef depicts the story and courtship of Aristotle Onassis and Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis.

People who have no interest in the lives of such public figures will no doubt find this story tiresome and completely without merit. This film wasn't made for them. This film was made for people who couldn't and still can't, get enough about this most famous couple; the widow of Camelot and the Golden Greek.

Anthony Quinn reportedly met with Mr. Onassis prior to Onassis' death. Onassis figured that a film may be made about him and wanted Quinn to play the part of the shipping magnate. Quinn plays his part well and gives the audience a very fine performance of the character as we might imagine him to be.

Jackie Bisset as Jackie Kennedy-Onassis gives a very fine performance as what we would imagine Jackie O to be like. As many of us would not know the lifestyle of the people portrayed in this film, all the actors in the film give convincing performances and humanize their respective characters. Raf Vallone playing Spiro Tomassis, the alter ego of Onassis' real life business and personal rival, Stavros Niarchos is actually funny and has some very humorous lines which he delivers without fail.

The film as a whole accomplishes what it sets out to do very well and doesn't disappoint.

An absolutely heart-warming tale about a young lad, Timmy Kelly, masterfully played by child star Jackie Coogan, who runs away from an orphanage after the shelter suffers major damage from a fire, The Rag Man,(Metro-Goldwyn, 1925), directed by Edward Cline,is truly a classic.

Young Timmy befriends a junk dealer, Max Ginsberg, poignantly played by Max Davidson. The two embark on a comical journey becoming close friends whereby each depends on the other. Young Timmy proves his loyalty and devotion to the man who took a chance on him whose sole companion to this point was an old Derby winning horse named Dynamite. Dynamite's oats bowl is a key element to this story too. You must watch to see what I mean.

The musical score was masterfully written by the late Linda Martinez.

This is a must-see film and I would be hard-pressed to believe anyone not enjoying this delightful film which has a running time of approximately 75 minutes. The film had a sequel later in 1925, titled, Old Clothes. The sequel is of particular interest because it features Joan Crawford in one of her earliest roles.

I sincerely hope these two wonderful films become available on DVD or VHS soon.