There's an odd little subset of American film that celebrates the accidental hero, the person who accomplishes wonderful things without intending to -- without even trying, in fact. Forrest Gump is one such character.

Like Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz or Chauncey Gardiner in Being There, Forrest is an innocent, inherently good, and effortlessly wise. There's no place like home. Spring is the time for planting.  Stupid is as stupid does. 

Dorothy's tornado-borne farmhouse frees the Munchkins from witchy tyranny. Chauncey earns the admiration of the country's political and business elite. And Forrest's influence is even more far-reaching: He inspires Elvis Presley's iconic dance style, starts national crazes for jogging, ping pong and smiley faces, encounters luminaries from Bear Bryant to Abbie Hoffman to Dick Cavett. 

Through it all, and unlike most other cinematic main characters, Forrest remains essentially unchanged. During his travels, both over land and across decades, he stays in one emotional place, a very optimistic one, even as he bears witness to the Vietnam War, Hurricane Carmen and the AIDS epidemic. Perhaps the film's point is that there isn't anything wrong with him to begin with. He doesn't need to grow as a human being, because -- substandard intelligence notwithstanding -- he's already noble, loving, hardworking and pure.

The film charmed audiences, along with plenty of critics; Roger Ebert called Forrest and Jenny's eventual partnership a "dream of reconciliation for our society." Others were less enthralled.  Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly found the movie "glib, shallow, and monotonous."

Make your own assessment, and relive some of the events of the last half century tonight when Forrest Gump airs at 8PM | 7C. For a full schedule of the movie this month, click here.