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A review by JAMES SOUTHALL

Forrest Gump is no ordinary motion picture.  There's no particular plot, characters drift in and out, magical things happen; it's essentially a story of aspiration, seeing how life's choices can have strange results.  Tom Hanks is excellent in the lead role, ably supported by the likes of Gary Sinise, Robin Wright Penn and Sally Field.  The effects are marvelous (and sometimes amusing, particularly when Hanks meets JFK).  Robert Zemeckis directs with his usual flair and, of course, employed his usual composer, Alan Silvestri, whose score is probably his strongest.  (His achievement is all the more remarkable given how he had to weave his score around so very many songs in the movie - that it turned out to be so memorable is admirable.)

Silvestri has said that when he and Zemeckis first sat down to spot the movie, they were going to try to find which places the main theme should go through the movie - but when they got to those places, Silvestri just kept coming up with more and more themes.  And he did.  There are as many memorable and recognisable themes in this score as in every other one the composer's written.  Virtually each new scene of note seems to feature a new theme.  Back in the old days, people used to leave the cinema whistling the movie's theme; these days, of course, that almost never happens - but with Forrest Gump, they could have walked away whistling one of any ten or so great tunes.

The best one is the one for the very first track, "I'm Forrest... Forrest Gump", the famous piano melody which accompanies the feather, which could land here or there or anywhere, but ends up on Forrest's shoe, symbolising the character's own journey through life.  Another great theme is "Run Forrest, Run" - which is reprised in other cues later on - it owes a large debt to Jerry Goldsmith's Rudy, written the year before, but is stirring and exciting stuff.  "They're Sending Me to Vietnam" introduces a really touching, very beautiful piano theme.  "Washington Reunion" is another moving piece, yet another new theme, more rousing material.  Most of the best themes are reprised in full in the final two tracks, "I'll Be Right Here" and "Suite from Forrest Gump".

As I said in my tagline above, Alan Silvestri is like a box of chocolates... you never know what you're going to get.  The quality of his scores, even for Zemeckis, vary considerably; even the best ones tend to rely a little too much on restating a theme over and over (though Silvestri is admittedly one of the best in the business at coming up with great themes).  But this is something more entirely, the one Silvestri score that really transcends the movie and elevates it, and makes for a 100% satisfying CD.  

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Tracks

1. I'm Forrest... Forrest Gump (2:41)
2. You're No Different (1:00)
3. You Can't Sit Here (2:26)
4. Run Forrest, Run (2:14)
5. Pray With Me (:57)
6. The Crimson Gump (1:08)
7. They're Sending Me to Vietnam (2:23)
8. I Ran and Ran (1:43)
9. I Had a Destiny (1:19)
10. Washington Return (:45)
11. Jesus on the Main Line Donny Gerrard (2:00)
12. That's My Boat (1:16)
13. I Never Thanked You (:48)
14. Jenny Returns (2:43)
15. The Crusade (2:01)
16. Forrest Meets Forrest (1:41)
17. The Wedding Guest (1:48)
18. Where Heaven Ends (1:33)
19. Jenny's Grave (1:26)
20. I'll Be Right Here (:49)
21. Suite from Forrest Gump (6:34)