Forrest Gump 🎥 1994 Movie Info

Plot Summary

In 1981, a feather lands at a bus stop in Savannah, Georgia; Forrest Gump collects it, then recounts his life story to strangers on a bus bench. In 1950s Alabama, Forrest is fitted with leg braces to correct a curved spine. His mother runs a boarding house out of their home. Among their tenants is Elvis Presley, who incorporates Forrest’s jerky dance movements into his performances. On his first day of school, Forrest befriends a girl named Jenny Curran. Forrest is often bullied because of his physical disability and low intelligence. While fleeing from several bullies, his leg braces break off, revealing Forrest to be a very fast runner.

This talent allows him to receive a football scholarship at the University of Alabama in 1963, where he is coached by Bear Bryant, and witnesses Governor George Wallace’s Stand in the Schoolhouse Door, during which he returns a dropped book to Vivian Malone Jones. Forrest becomes a top kick returner, is named to the All-American team, and meets President John F. Kennedy at the White House. After graduating college in 1966, Forrest enlists into the U.S. Army where he befriends Benjamin Buford “Bubba” Blue, who convinces Forrest to go into the shrimping business with him after their service.

They arrive in Vietnam in 1967 and serve with the 9th Infantry Division in the Mekong Delta. Their platoon is ambushed during a patrol, and Forrest saves several wounded platoon mates – including his lieutenant, Dan Taylor, but Bubba is killed. Forrest is awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism by President Lyndon B. Johnson. At the anti-war March on the Pentagon rally, Forrest meets Abbie Hoffman and briefly reunites with Jenny, who has been living a hippie life. He also develops a talent for ping-pong, and becomes a sports celebrity as he competes against Chinese teams in ping-pong diplomacy.

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