Summary
- Despite its box office success and cultural impact, Forrest Gump's 76% Rotten Tomatoes score may surprise fans.
- Recent critical reviews criticize the film for being Oscar-bait and lacking depth in storytelling.
- Popularity of Forrest Gump has fluctuated over the years, with some issues like unhealthy relationships being highlighted.
Given Tom Hanks’ best movie and led to him becoming the Hollywood A-lister he is known as today.
However, despite winning multiple awards and rising to international fame, Forrest Gump only has a 76% Tomatometer score on the popular movie review site, Forrest Gump is one of the most quotable movies of all time and the movie has had such a long-lasting impression on popular culture, with it often being referenced in numerous different shows and films. With some people looking back on this 30-year-old film less fondly than expected, the low Rotten Tomatoes score may be explained in Forrest Gump’s recent reviews.
Forrest Gump Timeline Explained (In Full)
The timeline in Forrest Gump spanned several decades and included fictional and historical moments alike—and that's precisely what made it work.
Why Forrest Gump's Rotten Tomatoes Score Is 76%
How Rotten Tomatoes Works
Forrest Gump’s 76% Rotten Tomatoes score can be explained by the way Rotten Tomatoes works. The review-aggregation website was first set up in 1998 to distinguish whether movies and TV shows were “rotten” or not. Rotten Tomatoes has two types of scores, an audience score, which is based on everyday people’s reviews, and the Tomatometer score, which is based on reviews of established film critics. Google has recently changed which Rotten Tomatoes score is displayed in search results, possibly due to complaints that critics don’t represent everyday audiences. Rotten Tomatoes explains how scores and rankings are created via its website:
When at least 60% of reviews for a movie or TV show are positive, a red tomato is displayed to indicate its Fresh status.
When less than 60% of reviews for a movie or TV show are positive, a green splat is displayed to indicate its Rotten status.
Although Forrest Gump has a Fresh status on Rotten Tomatoes, it is only 16% away from being Rotten. However, using the Wayback Machine’s archives, Forrest Gump actually had an 81% Tomatometer score in 2004, a decade after its release. Recent critical reviews on Rotten Tomatoes have contributed to the downfall of the Tomatometer score, with some rating Forrest Gump as Rotten due to its Oscar-baiting and simple sentimentality being the only reasons for its success. Therefore, it appears that despite being a classic movie, Forrest Gump has somewhat aged upon rewatch due to cultural changes and attitudes over time.
What Critics Thought About Forrest Gump When It Released
Reviews Were Mixed In 1994
When Forrest Gump was first released, it made $24 million in its domestic opening weekend, barely half of its $55 million budget. However, it eventually earned $678 million worldwide after rising to critical acclaim. In 1994, The Guardian’s Derek Malcolm wrote that Forrest Gump “is certainly the most ambitious project Robert Zemeckis - second only to Spielberg as a consistent money-spinner - has essayed.” This was because Forrest Gump featured special effects which were not that common at the time of its release, incorporating archive footage of events alongside CGI to edit Tom Hanks into clips starring prominent historical figures.
Actor Gary Sinise told LA Times in an interview that the special effects were so convincing that he overheard someone ask who the legless actor was, while he was attending a screening.
Another example of CGI usage was Lieutenant Dan Taylor’s missing legs. Actor Gary Sinise told LA Times in an interview that the special effects were so convincing that he overheard someone ask who the legless actor was, while he was attending a screening. However, Empire writer, Angie Errigo, said that Forrest Gump misses its mark “because director Robert Zemeckis' agility with ingenious special effects occasionally outpaces his narrative judgement.” Some critics praised Tom Hank’s acting and the use of special effects but claimed that the movie was rather shallow in of story, as it was an obvious Oscar bait.
"Oscar bait" refers to movies specifically produced for the sole purpose of winning Academy Awards (Oscars), often released late in the year so they are fresh in voters’ minds.
How Forrest Gump's Popularity Changed Over The Years (& After Winning Oscars)
Tom Hanks Was Skeptical About Its Success
Over the years, Forrest Gump’s popularity has fluctuated. Despite having an 81% Tomatometer score 10 years after its release, in 2024, the movie sits at 76%. Evidently, Forrest Gump has somewhat fallen out of favor, possibly due to the issue of a non-disabled actor playing someone with an intellectual disability, alongside other issues such as Jenny and Forrest’s relationship being unhealthy. However, the movie has held up as one of the biggest pop culture references of all time, sitting at number 11 on IMDb’s Top 250 Movies. Therefore, it is a surprise that Tom Hanks was originally skeptical about Forrest Gump:
I say, 'Hey Bob, I've got a question for you. Is anybody going to care about this movie? This guy sitting on a thing in these goofy shoes and this cuckoo suit with a suitcase full of Curious George books and stuff like that. Are we doing anything here that is going to make any sense to anybody?'
Forrest Gump was also involved in further controversy as it snubbed Quentin Tarantino’s cult classic film, Pulp Fiction, at its Oscars win. Fans believed that Pulp Fiction deserved the Oscar much more than the Tom Hanks classic due to Tarantino’s inventive storytelling, something that Forrest Gump lacks. However, Hanks has defended Forrest Gump’s Oscar win multiple times, stating that it has an “undeniable heartbreaking humanity.” With such a complicated success story and rating, it is no wonder that Forrest Gump 2 never happened.
Sources: Rotten Tomatoes, The Guardian, LA Times, Empire, IMDb.
Forrest Gump
- Release Date
- July 6, 1994
- Runtime
- 142 minutes
- Director
- Robert Zemeckis
Cast
Mykelti Williamson
Gary Sinise
WHERE TO WATCH
In this iconic piece of American film history, the presidencies of Kennedy and Johnson, the events of the Vietnam war, Watergate, and other history unfold through the perspective of an Alabama man with an IQ of 75.
- Writers
- Winston Groom, Eric Roth
- Distributor(s)
- Paramount Pictures
- Budget
- $55 million
- Main Genre
- Drama
Your comment has not been saved