European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 11, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Gump would make it on the political stump by Frank Rich new York times f a presidential election were held today the Likely Winner would be Forrest Gump. I say this Only half facetiously. Forrest Gump a Man with an in of 75 and a child s open smile is a fictional character played by torn Hanks in a Hollywood movie. But Forrest Gump the movie and the character � is rapidly becoming the cultural equivalent of a bandwagon candidate As word of Mouth rather than its mixed reviews spreads its popularity. Though even successful movies drop As much As 20 percent at the Box office by their second weekend Forrest Gump did t. More than two months into its run the film which is playing at military Heaters stands no. 1 at the . Box office. It collected $12.2 million Over the labor Day weekend for a nine week total of $239 million. None of this would be astounding if Forrest Gump were typical summer escapist fare. But it is a Long movie whose Story touches on grave matters from the carnage of War to aids. Its Appeal cannot be appreciated by counting its ticket sales but must be witnessed at your local movie House where you Are Likely to find a packed audience of almost reverential adult viewers Many of whom Are in tears by the final credits. Forrest Gump is one of those movies like the graduate or Rocky that taps into a deeper Public mood than anyone imagined its creators no doubt included. In the audience s rapt response which i confess to sharing you justly in hear the yearnings of a Large part of the electorate As Bill Clinton slides toward mid term. For viewers in their 30s or 40s, Forrest Gump pushes almost every historical cultural and sociological Button. Through the High tech Miracle of cinematic trompe 1 Oil its hero an innocent Drifting like Woody Allen s Zelig or Kurt Vonnegut s Billy Pil grim through Post world War ii America meets three presidents and John Lennon. He inadvertently plays a front line role in the court ordered desegregation of the University of Al Obama both the Vietnam War and the anti War movement and the capture of the watergate burglars. The woman Gump loves unrequited Day meanwhile marches on a parallel path through almost every Domestic ailment of her time parental abuse spouse abuse alcoholism and drug addiction. And always to the beat of a soundtrack that makes its own journey from hound d6g through Tommy James and the Shondelle mrs. Robinson the age of aquarius aretha mama Cass turn turn turn and the doors Forrest Gump would not exert so Strong a grip however if it were merely a nostalgic tour of head lines fads and Golden oldies. It s the audience s identification with the title character a Man so Blank we can project our own dreams onto him that turns a Clever manipulative entertainment into something More. Who is Gump exactly he s a White southerner raised by a Salty but Loving single Mother after the disappearance of his father. He instinctively believes in racial and social Justice. As a Young Man he shakes hands with John Kennedy. He feels everybody s pain. One does t want to be too literal about these parallels which May Well be unintentional. And no one would accuse Bill Clinton of being a slow witted i Pher or a sexual Naif like Gump. Paramount Tom Hanks stars in the smash hit Forrest Gump. Yet what is likable about this fictional hero and magnified further by the irresistible Hanks harks Back to what Many saw or thought they saw in the Boyish Clinton As he like Forrest Gump caught fire with an american Public hungry for inspiration two years ago. Gump after All is a Man who has lived through much of what his Peers have lived through. His America is shaped by assassins bullets from Oswald s to squeaky s to Hinckley s All of which the movie duly notes and his personal history reflects the often equally violent fallout of his Era s proliferating dysfunctional Homes. By the end he is neither bitter nor cynical hut a Healing figure eager to put his and the country s past behind him to embrace idealism and Hope. In t that what Many Clinton voters Felt on elec Tion night 1992? it says much about the reality that has set in since As the White House blurs policies stretching from health care to Haiti that a Hollywood fantasy like Forrest Gump is More successful than the president at arousing those powerful longings in 1994. Ray Liotta Ray Liotta an escape to big roles by Luaine Lee Scripps Howard news service Loo Long at his sinewy face inc Bluc Eye Sand the determined set of his jaw it s Hardtop believe that a few years ago actor Ray Liotta was sacked out on Melanie Griffith s Couch thinking what a failure he was Liotta who plays the charismatic Leader in a Jun Gle prison Camp in no escape currently on the Mili tary movie circuits the same Guy who played the menacing cop in unlawful entry shoeless Joe in Field of dreams and the neophyte mobster in Good fellas. ". But Back in 1986 Liotta was having what he Calls a Little  he d spent 3vs years on the soap another world in new York Squir reling away his Money to tide him Over when he decided to scale California s Heights. He had been a College chum of actor Steven Bauer who was married to Griffith at the time. The first Day Liotta arrived in los Angeles he met Heidi von Beltz a Friend of Melanie s. A year and a half earlier von Beltz had been Par Al Zed from the neck Down in an Accident. It s such a heroic Story we re talking about this gorgeous Beautiful girl who s doing a stunt very Active skiing doing stunts she was wanting to act and then just. He stops and shakes his head. It s been 13, 14 years she s been in that situation when his relationship with von Beltz ended it took Liotta some time to reconcile himself. The relationship just was t healthy he says studying the pattern of the floor in a new York hotel room. I started giving up my career. I was very focused on the situation and i knew i had to get Back. I was a perfectionist and just wanted to do everything that was right. It was exhausting to feed somebody the whole time and she gave  of Reward Back to me but it was just very  Liotta 38, eventually made guest appearances on television shows studied acting and co starred in a couple of series that never made it to television. He also moved to a new Home a Little struggling actor s Box in Beachwood Canyon with the ugliest Brown shag carpeting you d Ever want to  his unemployment dragged on As his soap funds dwindled Down to a precious few. Then he heard about a part in Jonathan Demme s something wild starring Melanie Griffith. Though his agent did manage to negotiate an interview for Liotta it was with some hireling who had no authority to cast the role. Finally i said to Melanie can you get me in to see Jonathan i had not been working for five years and i was so angry with not seeing the right casting people with my agent hot being Able to get me in. The part called for me to be angry. Anc toy the time i sat Down with Jonathan i was  it worked. People still remember Liotta As the Vio Lent sex conformist in something wild though he s determined that with each movie they will Sec another Side of  matter whether he s gunning Down the enemy in no escape or mastering the mores of the mafia in Good Illus it s still fun for Liotta. Acting is a child s game that s How i like to approach it. Just think of All the fun you had As a kid playing cowboys and indians. It s just an exhilarating silly Way to make a  september 11, 1094 sunday Page 23