Forrest Gump ~ Lost in Adaptation

The book is too politically incorrect to be faithfully adapted. Forrest cusses a lot and says things that would offend most people. It also doesn't help that stuff in the 2nd half of the book is too silly to be taken seriously.

Like Forrest getting in trouble with the law and going on a space mission for NASA to avoid prison time then crashlanding his ship on an island full of Cannibals. Then becomes friends with the Cannibal King who is a Yale graduate who teaches Forrest to play Chess.

Then after living with the Cannibals for 4 years he gets rescued and upon getting back meets Jenny and Liutanant Dan again and becomes a wrestler called the Dunce.

Then when that doesn't work out he goes to Los Angelous where he both enters a Chess Competition and gets to film a scene in a Creature from the Black Lagoon movie with Rachelle Welch.

Then he finally creates his Shrimping Company by getting almost every person he's ever met to help farm shrimp and to help keep track of finances. Rachelle Welch even does ads for his company.

Then he runs for Congress with the Campaign slogan, "I gotta pee!"

Now can you imagine any of that stuff being done in a serious manner? I can't.

I always felt that Paramount took the simple approach of making Gomer Pyle the template for this movie. Basically a dumb but lovable guy exceeds his abilities and does well time after time. So for those of you who always longed for a Gomer Pyle movie (why not as plenty of other silly 1960's TV shows got their's) you actually got it decades ago. They even gave you a winking acknowledgement when Forrest is watching GP while in the army hospital at Saigon. I always wanted FG to turn up at Vasquez Rocks as a tourist while Star Trek (Arena) was being filmed and pressed into service playing the Gorn.