Adapted from the novel Forrest Gump by Winston Groom
Forrest Gump, a man with a low IQ, has many adventures in the mid-20th century, many of which impact the world in ways that he doesn't understand or care about. His main concern is his love for his childhood sweetheart, Jenny.
Apart from this basic premise and some of the character names, the novel and film versions of Forrest Gump are barely recognizable as the same story. Most of the events of the book are not in the movie, and vice versa. In the book, Forrest saves Chairman Mao from drowning, travels to outer space, becomes a professional wrestler, and acts in a movie with Raquel Welch, among other things that aren't in the movie. In the film, Forrest had to have braces on his legs as a child, instigates the Watergate scandal, and runs across the country multiple times. Granted, there are a few similarities. In both versions, Forrest plays college football, is wounded in the Vietnam war (which leads him to become a famous ping pong player), and later starts a shrimping business to carry out the dream of his fallen war buddy, Bubba. However, the details are so different that even the events the two stories have in common seem different. In the book, Forrest flunks out of college after one term, whereas in the movie he graduates after five years. In the movie, Forrest saves Lieutenant Dan's life against his will; in the book, he doesn't meet Lieutenant Dan until they're both in the hospital. And book Forrest doesn't get around to starting his shrimping business until toward the end, while movie Forrest does so toward the middle. Interestingly, in the movie, the only person we see working with Forrest is Lieutenant Dan, but in the book, Forrest hires almost everyone he's encountered throughout his adventures except Lieutenant Dan.
It's not just the events that were changed; the characters themselves are completely different, especially Forrest Gump. The book is written in first person from his perspective, and he's constantly referring to himself as an idiot, while movie Forrest doesn't think of himself as stupid. Book Forrest is crude and vulgar, and his narration is full of swearing, racial slurs, and toilet humor. Movie Forrest exudes a childlike innocence that makes him seem oblivious but almost charming, which is a word that could never be used to describe book Forrest. Similarly, the character of Jenny is very different. In the book she seems pretty normal, but in the movie she has a messed up childhood which leads to a messed up adulthood. Unsurprisingly, since the characters are so different, the nature of their relationship is also very different. In the book, they spend some time living together, then they break up for a while, then get back together until he refuses to stop wrestling, at which point she leaves for good. In the movie, they're mostly just friends, but they do spend one night together, after which she runs away. In both versions (spoiler alert) Forrest finds out later that Jenny has a son and he's the father, but in the movie Forrest marries her when he finds out, and in the book Jenny has already married someone else. Also movie Jenny has contracted some sort of "mysterious virus" (i.e. AIDS), so she dies, which does not happen in the book.
Overall, the book is over-the-top ridiculous, while the movie is more serious, for the most part. Personally, I greatly prefer the movie, since it's a much sweeter story, but I can see how the book would appeal to other people.
Coming up: Six movies in a row I haven't blogged about before, beginning with Sense and Sensibility, based on the novel by Jane Austen.
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