My 40 Favorite Films of the 90's - 14 - Forrest Gump (1994)

Forrest Gump (1994; Paramount Pictures)

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Writers: Eric Roth (Screenplay); Winston Groom (Novel)

Starring: Tom Hanks, Gary Sinise, Sally Field

Winston Groom’s tale of a mentally-disabled man who directly experienced almost every world-changing event in the later half of the 20th Century is a truly charming and heartfelt examination of spirit and love.  Widely considered one of the greatest films of all time, ranking #14 on IMDB’s top 250 at the time of this post, number 76 on the American Film Institute’s list of the 100 greatest American films of all time, and cleaning up in the 1995 Academy Awards with an astounding six wins, Forrest Gump is one of the essentials.  There are a few movies that I would recommend everyone see, and this is definitely one of them.

Tom Hanks plays Forrest Gump, a chatty man who patiently waits at a Savannah, GA bus stop just casually talking with his various benchmates.  He tells them tales of the things he’s done, the people he has met and the places he has been not knowing just how much of an impact he had on the lives of so many people.  Cutting back and forth from the story’s present time and flashbacks to various key moments in Forrest’s life, we see him meet presidents, fight in Vietnam, chat up John Lennon at a Black Panther Party meeting, and ultimately start a hugely-successful business, and he did all of this never knowing how great his achievements really were.

Along the way, as we explore Gump’s life, we meet a few people who will shape him.  His mother (Field) helps to ensure he lives as normal a life as possible and we watch as his childhood friend Jenny (Robin Wright) goes from a pretty tomboy to a broken and abused soul.  Gump’s lieutenant during his tour in Vietnam, Dan Taylor, leaves the war a crippled and angry man, embittered towards the so-called American dream.  We see Lieutenant Dan befriend the devoted Gump, despite occasional periods of frustration.  Then there is Bubba, a fellow recruit who is also slow, who becomes the titular protagonist’s best friend during his time in the Army, ultimately planting the seed of starting a hugely-successful shrimping business.  

Tom Hanks deservedly netted an Oscar for his performance of the kindhearted Gump.  Filled with shining moments of greatness, his performance is famously endearing.  The performances from the supporting cast including greats like Sally Field and Gary Sinise are stunning as well, and act as a great contrast to the unwitting Gump, reflecting the grievances and the disenfranchisement of the late 60’s and early 70’s.  Mykelti Williamson plays Bubba Blue with famous wit and a warmth that nearly matches Hank’s own Oscar-winning role, and every moment with the two on screen is either very funny, or extremely emotional.

Forrest Gump literally has everything.  It is a comedy, a drama, a war story, a romance, a period piece and a smart examination of the ideals and the passions that erupted during the Vietnam War era.  Despite literally trying to be everything, the film never misses a beat, always hitting just the right notes and crafting a very big, but cohesive story.  Ever since Citizen Kane there have been countless movies that have tried to weave a complex and intricate story around a single character through the years, but few have done it better than Forrest Gump.

My 40 Favorite Films of the 90's - 16 - Apollo 13 (1995)

Apollo 13 (1995; Universal Pictures)

Director: Ron Howard

Writers: Bill Broyles, Jr. and Al Reinert (adapted screenplay); Jim Lovell and Jeff Kluger (novel)

Starring: Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris

The Apollo missions were the culmination of centuries of science and mathematics evolving over generations, ending with a few chosen men walking on the dusty terrain of Earth’s Moon.  It is a story that has been told time and time again.  However, the flight of Apollo 11 was not the last of the NASA’s lunar excursions.  The Apollo 13 mission was intended to send a few astronauts to the Moon for further study but this objective was cut short due to a sudden and shocking tragedy.

The story of how Jim Lovell (Hanks), Fred Haise (Paxton) and Jack Swigert (Bacon) survive a crippling explosion aboard their ill-fated vessel is a gripping and captivating tale of strength and ingenuity.  A fuel leak leads to an explosion that rocks the ship and severely damages several essential systems, most dangerously were the climate control unit and the oxygen and air filtration system.  With certain death looming just around the corner, these three men fight to stay alive and escape the cold and deadly throws of space.  To make it back, the heroic explorers require the help of a dedicated team of technicians in Houston and one astronaut named Ken Mattingly (Sinise) who, after testing positive for measles, was forced to stay grounded.  The lengths that the headstrong NASA workers go to keep their men alive are the stuff of legend, and make for some fascinating dramatic tension.

Through the 90’s, Ron Howard had proven himself to be one of the most talented and consistent directors in Hollywood.  The former child actor and Happy Days star shocked everyone by becoming a super-talent behind the camera, taking on challenging projects that use tension and drama to keep their audiences frozen to their screens.  His work on Apollo 13 is astounding, and though the film did not sweep the Oscars (being up against the titan that was Braveheart), it deserved the awards it was nominated for.  In my honest opinion, Apollo 13 ranks alongside some of the most idiotic Oscar snubs in history, close to the likes of Citizen Kane losing Best Picture to How Green Was My Valley in 1942.

Apollo 13 is a blend of beautiful cinematography, superb performances from everyone involved, an engaging and true story and a very intelligent screenplay.  There is not a boring or pointless scene in this movie.  Everything counts, from the time the astronauts spend on Earth preparing for their missions, to the scenes that cut back to their families.  There is no filler.  The film paints a vivid picture of how everyone connected to this shocking event felt upon hearing the news.  Tom Hanks, Ed Harris and Gary Sinise (a personal favorite performer of mine) all give some of the best performances of their excellent careers in this enthralling and tense drama.

My 40 Favorite Films of the 90's - 17 - Philadelphia (1993)

Philadelphia (1993; Tristar Pictures)

Director: Jonathan Demme

Writer: Ron Nyswaner

Starring: Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Jason Robards

I sat and thought carefully about how I would approach this film.  If you already know what Philadelphia is about, I’m sure one could understand how difficult this subject is, both on an emotional and (unfortunately) a political level.  That said…  Here we go:

By the late 80’s the AIDS scare was in full effect, with many people unsure how the disease operates, and despite educational material being out there, most people preferred to be afraid of the victim rather than the disease itself.  Much of this fear was founded in bigotry, as AIDS was originally considered an illness that only affected gay men.  Despite this being utterly untrue, the facts did not alter the stigma.  As we began to understand the disease HIV, and its progression into AIDS, things and attitudes began to change, but even by 1993, there was still a great deal of ignorance about the subject.

Philadelphia is the incredibly challenging and heartfelt story of an attorney named Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks), a gay man who contracts the dreaded virus.  After his termination from his firm, which was claimed to be due to negligence, he concludes it was because of his own bosses’ ignorance and bigotry.  Beckett asks another attorney named Joe Miller to help him with his case, but is turned down as Miller is himself a homophobe.  Feeling alone and fearful, the young Beckett steadfastly begins to file his own case.  With support from his partner Miguel (Antonio Banderas) and his family, Beckett struggles with his future.  Ultimately, with guilt and empathy, Miller comes around and offers to represent the man.  This leads to a rough trial both in the courtroom and in the life of a horribly afflicted man.

Philadelphia is an emotional and complex exploration of the time and the fear and unfair prejudice surrounding the AIDS epidemic.  The associations of the characters reflect of a variety of feelings about the subject, discrimination and acceptance and the struggle of a man who becomes the center of a charged political melee.  Hanks won his first of two Academy Awards for his performance in this film, as only the third actor to be nominated for playing a gay character in a Hollywood film.  Philadelphia won other awards including a Golden Globe for best drama as well as a list other international statuettes.  

Philadelphia is a rough sit made even more emotional by its characters.  Tom Hanks gives an incredibly moving performance here.  In particular, during his scenes on the stand, which most likely netted him the Oscar win.  The years leading up to Philadelphia were marked with a few hits and a lot of misses for the now-lauded actor, who was mostly known for comedies.  Philadelphia was not Hanks’ first Oscar nomination as he was nominated for the 1988 classic Big, and he received critical acclaim for his performance in the touching drama Sleepless in Seattle.  However, despite his recognition before the release of Philadelphia, the film marked a turning point in Hanks’ career, where he began focusing on more dramatic performances almost exclusively, with a line of Oscar nominated movies after 1993.

Denzel Washington gives an excellent performance as well, strengthening his already established dramatic resume as an outsider’s point of relatability to the subject.  The ideas of others change as he changes from a bigoted man to one who befriends and begins to care about Beckett and his plight.  Washington was perfect for this role.  He has a strong voice, tremendous screen presence and has always been an excellent dramatic performer.  Here, however, I would argue he gives the best performance of his excellent career.  We see a transformation in Joe Miller through him, and throughout the movie, even when the character’s views are detestable, he has a charm that is instantly gripping, and as he warms to Beckett, we feel their bond growing.  The two actors have an admirable chemistry that works and paints a vivid picture of a man whose heart steadily changes over the course of the story.

These performances, along with just about every other aspect of the film, makes Philadelphia a must-watch classic.  It is one of the most celebrated films of the 90’s for good reason, it is a strong, heart-wrenching story told wonderfully through masterful performances.  Jonathan Demme, who won an Academy Award for his Oscar-sweeping 1992 film The Silence of the Lambs, was a perfect choice for this movie.  He uses an interesting device throughout the film showing us a number of scenes with actors appearing to break the fourth wall.  While this begins as a strange little idea that would likely take one out of the movie, instead, here it puts us in the shoes of the characters and as the film goes on, is used to show us the pain and fear of Andrew Beckett as he steadily deteriorates.  There is a love for these characters that we feel through Deme’s direction, which makes the movie that much more powerful.  When screenwriters and directors really care about the characters they are creating on screen, the viewer can certainly tell.  They feel like real people, and in Philadelphia, it is very, very easy to forget, from time to time, that despite the film being loosely based on a true story, is not real itself.  Philadelphia is easily one of the greatest, and most heartbreaking films ever made.

My 40 Favorite Films of the 90's - 26 - Toy Story (1995)

Toy Story (1995; Walt Disney/Pixar Studios)

Director: John Lasseter

Writers: John Lasseter, Joe Ranft, Andrew Stanton, Joss Whedon, Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolov

Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen

In July of 1928, Steamboat Willie became the first “talkie”, with a full spoken audio track playing over an animated short film.  It was a landmark achievement in filmmaking from an idealistic young director named Walt Disney.  A decade later, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs became the first feature-length animated film and set the standard for the art of animation in its time.  Walt did much more for filmmaking than adapting classic fairy tales and building theme parks, though.  He designed and engineered the multiplane camera, allowing for the effect of perspective and depth in 2D animated films and was responsible for implementing many new forms of editing and effects that would revolutionize the way we look at the art of movies.

By the 70’s, however, Disney, as a company, was at an all-time low in terms of morale and success.  When Walt Disney died from cancer in 1966, the studio had a hard time keeping up the pace and begin producing fewer and fewer successes until the late 80’s saw the Disney Renaissance, a period of massive growth for Disney as a company.  In 1994, Disney gave us The Lion King, a massive achievement in filmmaking, and a year later, a small group of animators introduced the world to the first feature-length computer animated film: Toy Story.

Toy Story is an incredibly simple, timeless story told very, very well.  It follows the secret lives of toys when their owner, a boy named Andy, is not around.  They have a hierarchical ruling structure based on how much Andy loves them, with Woody (Voice of Tom Hanks), a pull-string talking cowboy, being the favorite and thus, the leader.  On Andy’s birthday he is given the next big toy, an electronic space hero named Buzz Lightyear.  Immediately Woody feels cast aside as Buzz appears to become Andy’s favorite new toy.  The only problem is, Buzz does not believe he is a toy, and thinks he is a real interstellar action hero.  Over time, Woody becomes so angry and envious of Buzz, that at one point he is accused by the other toys of killing Buzz when the space hero disappears.  This forces Woody to take action to find Buzz and prove his innocence, the two becoming friends in the process.  The film takes several turns in the story, with one surprisingly dark subplot involving a toy-torturing, truly messed-up kid who temporarily gains possession of Buzz and Woody.

Toy Story is a tale of unlikely friendship told through the a technology that was, at the time, still very new to general audiences.  Computer animation had been around for well over a decade but it was always very shallow-looking.  Bright colors and blocky figures dominated the artform, so imagine audiences’ collective surprise when Toy Story featured fully-animated characters in highly-detailed scenes.  It was a shock to most people, and it put Pixar near the top of the animation totem pole, right up there with Walt Disney Studios (a separate entity from Pixar) and Studio Ghibli.  The characters are interesting and relatable without being too cliched, the voice performances are all top-notch and art is still astounding by today’s standards, even after we spent years sitting through one mediocre CGI-fest after another, with the medium no longer being novel, just boring.  Toy Story is a reflection on a time when talented filmmakers were still very excited about a new art-form, and the potential of this new style of animation was still on the horizon.

NOTE: I would also point out that this was an early major screenwriting project for fan-favorite filmmaker Joss Whedon, so there's that, too!