High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Forrest Gump is a 1994 American epic comedy-drama romance film based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis, starring Tom Hanks, Robin Wright and Gary Sinise. The story depicts several decades in the life of Forrest Gump, a Greenbow, Alabama simpleton who travels across the world, meeting historical figures, influencing popular culture, and experiencing firsthand some of the historic events of the latter half of the 20th century.