20 Most Inspiring Movies Of All-Time
8. Forrest Gump
It is easy to mock this American epic as a saccharine sweet, by-the-numbers fictional romance and, to some extent, this is true. Robert Zemeckis, however, takes all of the parts and makes a whole which is both emotional and inspirational and, in Tom Hanks, has found the perfect actor to play the below average intelligence Gump without ever making him a victim.
We first meet Forrest at a bus stop in 1981 as he begins to tell the strangers who sit next to him the story of his life. This is an extraordinary life though which takes in running, American Football, JFK, the Vietnam War and exposing the Watergate scandal. These are all merely events though which cover the actual story of his love for Jenny, a girl he meets who grows into a woman who lives on the edge and falls from one tragedy to another.
Forrest also selflessly helps First Lieutenant Dan Taylor, his superior who lost both his legs in the Vietnam war. It is with his love for Jenny, however, that drives Forrest forward even to a tragic end but with the hope of a better future in Forrest Junior. The reason this film is inspirational is quite simply found in the character of Forrest, a selfless individual who simply wants to help others. There is no malice in the man and he never forgets a friend, as noticed by naming his company Bubba Gump, after his departed war friend and naming his boat Jenny.
Even when Forrest retreats inside himself, running coast to coast for three years, he gains fans who are inspired by his deeds. Forrest Gump. A great fictional inspiration.