31 years later, Tom Hanks’s simplest line in Forrest Gump remains cinema’s greatest truth

Forrest Gump is one of those films that I can rewatch at just about any time and still get a big emotional punch to the gut. I’m not convinced it’s the best collaboration between director Robert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks (that particular honor belongs to Cast Away), but there’s a reason Forrest Gump is considered a classic. A big part of that, of course, is Hanks’ performance in the title role. He brings a level of affable empathy to the character that honestly could have been far more problematic in the hands of someone else. And for Zemeckis, it represents a time when he was still making great films instead of live-action remakes that simply do not work.