It has to be said that Forrest Gump is a well made, feel good story and that's that. There have been a great deal of negative reviews(a lot by critics), criticising the films problematic message- that this supposed "village idiot" should become so successful and be a model to us all. They make claims ranging from the reasonable(that the film is overly sentimental) to the ridiculous(that it is a failure because it skirts around major issues like the AIDS epidemic or Watergate Scandal). Yes, I do think the film is overly sentimental, but at the end of the day, the film is just a piece of feel good cinema. It is a story of an extraordinary character, a man with very Low IQ, thrust into extraordinary situations. And whether partly through his agency, or through his circumstance, or through plain luck, he ends up the hero. I don't think the film is idolising him of trying to assert we should all be like him- rather it just tells a nice, heart warming, and even at times interesting story. If one were to see this film as a work where there is no profound political or philosophical message to be attained, then Forrest Gump is just an extraordinarily well executed and enjoyable piece of entertainment.