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What movie did you love that had a stupid plot but the execution was excellent? (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml
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[โ€“] 17 points 1 year ago (7 children)

Forrest Gump.

So there's this middle aged man waiting on a bus and telling his life story to whichever strangers happens to walk by, and he like fought in Vietnam and got a medal from nixon and showed his ass on national television and became a pingis champion and started a successful fishing company and became a millionaire and gave Nike their slogan and ran across the continent and... Oh, and he's mentally disabled and about to meet his son for the first time because the sons mom is dying of aids.

Absolutely bonkers premise, and such a fantastic movie still today.

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  • [โ€“] 10 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    Its even more mind blowing if you read the book. There are a lot more stupid things he does like becoming a wrestler, and an astronaut who goes on a mission in space with a baboon that he can speak with telepathically. They crash land on an uncharted island full of cannibals and they will only let him escape with their lives he he beats them at a game of chess. For whatever reason he has unlimited tries and after several years finally wins a game of chess, so they send him and his baboon on a raft and they eventually get found.

    Obviously these things very fortunately didn't make it into the movie, but it's super weird to me that someone read all of that and was inspired to make it into a movie anyway. Somehow it was actually a very good movie too.

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  • [โ€“] 4 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    I've heard of the insanity that is the book, but somehow missed the years-long chess games. I'm even more afraid to read it now haha.

    I believe this is one clear case where visual media has the upper hand over the story, as when we can see it happen it becomes somehow less unlikely than merely reading about it, because the "proof" is visible right there (though this might be because I don't have a mind visual when reading, it's fully an emotional and mental experience).

    Also the lack of communicating with space apes...

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  • [โ€“] 3 points 1 year ago

    Hmm, let's work shop this. Slice out the island bit and let's make that into its own move.

    • Get rid of the cannibals, let's make the island deserted, there's no one left for the unlimited chess games, so let's have him just go a bit nuts for a few years.
    • Exchange the baboon with a volleyball.
    • Let's get Tom Hanks back.

    Oh wait...

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  • [โ€“] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    The film maker already stated that Jenny did not have Aids.

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  • [โ€“] 1 point 1 year ago

    Huh. I always assumed that based on the time period and how involved the characters were in all the cultural chaos of their times, plus her involvement with drugs and the free love-movement... it probably wasn't actually spelled out in the film though, so that's on me.

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