Which Best Picture winner features Tom Hanks as a man who says, “Life is like a box of chocolates”? The answer is Forrest Gump.
Forrest Gump is a 1994 comedy-drama directed by Robert Zemeckis, with Tom Hanks playing the title character. The story follows Forrest, an Alabama man whose life intersects with major events and personalities in 20th-century American history, including the Vietnam War, the civil rights era, Watergate, and the rise of Apple Computer.
The film adapts Winston Groom’s 1986 novel, but screenwriter Eric Roth substantially reshaped the material. The movie emphasizes Forrest’s love story with Jenny Curran and presents a gentler, less cynical character than the book. Its visual-effects work also placed Hanks alongside archival footage of historical figures.
Forrest Gump won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for Hanks, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Visual Effects, and Best Film Editing. The famous chocolate-box line is spoken while Forrest recounts his life to strangers at a Savannah bus stop.