Forrest Gump (1994) / Glenmorangie Nectar D'or Single Malt Scotch [15:34-20:34]

Like every moment he is on screen, I just want to be his best friend. And the way he sucks his lip in when Gary Sinese is yelling at him. It's just, it's like a perfect little moment of physical humor in the movie. Dude, where, where he goes? My name is Forest Gump. People call me Forest Gump. I'm going to do this all episode. It's, it's so good. Okay, where do you want to start talking about the movie? Because I think we could, we could start with the movie itself and then broaden it out into the discussion around the movie or we could do the reverse of that. I don't know if I really want to talk about the discussion around the movie. Unless it's like a major point of the episode, like, I don't know, this movie has stuck in the cultural consciousness. And there's a reason for that. And I don't know. Is there any argument there? What are your thoughts, Bob? Let's start there, I suppose. What's going to say? I clearly intended it to be a big part of the episode or I wouldn't have presented you with two options, Brad. Ah, yes. We can start here and end here or we can end here and start here. And you're like, no, let's just knock one of those two things completely off the docket for today. Cool. Yeah, I mean, I just want film and whiskey nation to know how dismissive I am of your takes on this podcast. Believe me, they know, Brad. They've had ten seasons to figure that one out. I guess I want to revisit if we're going to start there. I want to revisit this conversation around, like, why is there such a disconnect between certain people and the general public on this movie? And like, it's sometimes hard to explain. Like, if you're just talking to like your average moviegoer, I don't really know anybody that's like the average moviegoer that has ever been like, for a scump, bad movie. It is a purely enjoyable film. Even the average moviegoer could probably say, yeah, this movie goes about two inches deep on any subject. Like, it's certainly not some insanely detailed exploration of America's history and geopolitical climate and everything else. Like, it's just, it's like a greatest hits album of things that happened in the 60s and 70s in America. And you know what? Sometimes you like to put a greatest hits album on. I don't want to dig through all my favorite artists, ten best albums to find the songs I want. Just compile them on a disc for me, and then I can just play the hits. And I think that if you approach the movie with the understanding that this is the greatest hits album of America, I think it becomes a much more easygoing experience. I think that, for me, this is far and away from the setting of the film. Like, let's go through America's greatest hits. For me, that's the backdrop. Like, that has nothing to do with what this movie is trying to say. And, you know, to look at the IMDB score, Bob, this isn't just a movie that most people are like, oh, yeah, force come. This has an 8.8 out of 10. Yeah, 100%. That is a massively high score. Yeah, like... Yeah, and perhaps I understated it. If we're talking about popular films in America in the last 50, 60 years, there are very few movies that I feel like the critical consensus on and the general populations consensus are more divergent. Like, I really think that at best you'll get a critic to say, this is a pretty good movie for what it is. But then you look at IMDB and it's like, is this still top 10? It might still be top 10. It is the 11th. 11th. Yeah. Thanks a lot. I mean, Robin Heimer. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, Rotten Tomatoes, 76% for critics and 95% for audience. So like, yeah, there's definitely a disconnect here. And I think it's because critics don't have a soul. Oh, yeah. If I had to guess, because when I watch this movie, I think this time around, I finally understood why this hits so deep for people. And I think it's because Zemeckis has this talent for painting and really broad strokes across a massive time period in American history. And yet somehow, he like catches many of like, the deep desires and longings of humanity all in this one character of Forest Gump. And like, any human being watching this movie can find a little bit of themselves in his character. Like, if you've ever had a desire