Eric Roth. In a career that has spanned more than 25 years, this sporadic penner of high profile vehicles has seen a handful of screenplays, two telefilms and two short-lived TV series produced. Eric Roth is known both for his original screenplays and adaptations and it was working in the latter mode that he penned the Oscar-winning script for "Forrest Gump", the surprise blockbuster and cultural phenomenon of the 1994.
Roth's career began promisingly enough as winner of the prestigious Samuel Goldwyn Screenwriting Award while he was attending UCLA. After writing documentaries, his first produced fictional script was the TV-movie "The Strangers in 7A" (CBS, 1972). The telefilm starred Andy Griffith and Ida Lupino as a building super and his wife who are held hostage by a sadistic would-be bank robber and his accomplices.
Prospects looked promising when Robert Mulligan directed and co-produced Roth's first feature screenplay "The Nickel Ride" (1975) which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival but the gritty take on a minor L.A. crime figure garnered an uneven reception. Roth was then brought on-board to develop the "Airport" sequel, "The Concorde--Airport '79" (1979), a jerry-built vehicle which took a nose-dive. Eight years later his original screenplay for the thriller "Suspect" (1987), cast Cher as a investigative lawyer trying to defend a mute Liam Neeson with the help of juror Dennis Quaid. Next Roth collaborated with Billy Crystal on "Memories of Me" (1988), a father and son reunion tale that put Henry Winkler in the director's chair. The film's mawkish goings-on were strictly for fans of co-stars Crystal and Alan King.
Roth provided the story and co-wrote (with Michael Cristofer) the romantic drama "Mr. Jones" (1993) which cast Lena Olin as an unconventional analyst who falls in love with a bipolar patient essayed by Richard Gere. But all bets were off when Roth was handed the plum assignment of his career, the adaptation of Winston Groom's forgotten novel "Forrest Gump". The saga of a mentally-challenged Southerner with the seemingly uncanny ability to effortlessly pass through the social and political high points of the late 20th Century proved a surprise box office hit. The film tapped into the Zeitgeist and its catchphrases were incorporated into the lexicon. Such lines like "Life's a box a chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get" and "Stupid is as stupid does" were seemingly ubiquitous. "Forrest Gump" netted 13 Academy Award nominations and won six statuettes including Best Picture, Best Actor (Hanks), Best Director (Robert Zemeckis) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Roth).
Firmly planted on the A-list in Hollywood , Roth appeared poised to scale greater heights. But it was more than three years before his next produced script, another parable in the vein of "Gump", hit the screens (although he reportedly worked as a script doctor on films like "Apollo 13" 1995). The immense failure of "The Postman" (1997), Kevin Costner's overblown would-be epic, nearly derailed Roth's career completely. A futuristic allegory that pitted the hero (Costner), a man who posed as a mail delivery man, against a militaristic leader of an isolated community, "The Postman" was met with mostly derogatory reviews.
Roth was redeemed in part by his skillful adaptation of Nicholas Evans' romantic novel "The Horse Whisperer" (1998). Although overlong and lacking in chemistry between the two leads, the film could not be faulted for its script. He completed his return to the heights collaborating with director Michael Mann on "The Insider" (1999), the fact-based case of whistle-blower Jeffrey Wigand whose interview with the television newsmagazine "60 Minutes" resulted in unforeseen repercussions. Roth and Mann tailored the story almost as a thriller, introducing pieces to a puzzle that eventually coalesce into a compelling drama that indicts both the tobacco industry and TV news. While not particularly successful at the box-office, "The Insider" became a critics' darling and undoubtedly its earning several citations in the various end of the year awards ceremonies aided in propelling it to its seven Academy Award nominations, including one for Roth and Mann's screenplay.
Mann again turned to Roth for assistance on his next directorial project, "Ali" (2001), a biopic of boxer Muhammad Ali. The movie spanned the turbulent decade from when Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) first rose to prominence defeating Sonny Liston in 1964 through his conversion to Islam, his difficulties with the draft board, and culminating with his "comeback" fight in Zaire against George Foreman. Roth worked with Mann sprucing up the work of three other writers. Although the final film earned respectable notices and enjoyed a healthy opening box office, word of mouth eventually defeated the flick.
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