Tom Hanks made an appearance in a music video for his son Chet’s music project, which featured an extended parody of the 1994 Oscar-winning film Forrest Gump.
Chet, the acclaimed actor’s 34-year-old son, releases music as a duo with Drew Arthur under the name Something Out West.
Their latest song, “You Better Run”, was accompanied by a music video depicting Chet dressed as Forrest Gump, the role that won his father a second Academy Award.
At several points in the video, Tom Hanks can be seen sitting on a park bench, echoing one of Gump’s most famous scenes. In this version, however, the elder Hanks looks unimpressed, while his son, dressed in his attire from the film, sits animatedly next to him.
Other scenes in the music video also draw on famous moments from the film, including Forrest’s protracted run across the country, re-staged with Chet”
Responses to the video on social media were mixed, with one person describing the project as “strange”.
“Chet never ceases to be a source of top quality cringe. Poor Tom,” another wrote.
Someone else remarked: “Cheesy generic song and lame as hell to incorporate the iconic work of your famous father to try to gain some sort of interest. Is that really ALL the artistic creativity you could muster? Cringe. Two thumbs down.”
Other reactions were far more positive, however.
“People are giving the dude a lot of s*** and I don’t really get why. The song is fine. Not my thing, but far from bad. And cheers to Tom Hanks for standing proud next to his son,” one person wrote.
“Tom Hanks in the vid? Iconic,” said another.
Chet is one of two sons of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson. Tom has two other children, Colin and Elizabeth, through his first marriage.
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Hanks has previously defended Chet from accusations of nepotism, saying: “Look, this is a family business. This is what we’ve been doing forever. It’s what all of our kids grew up in.
“If we were a plumbing supply business or if we ran the florist shop down the street, the whole family would be putting in time at some point, even if it was just inventory at the end of the year,” he claimed.
“The thing that doesn’t change no matter what happens, no matter what your last name is, is whether it works or not. That’s the issue anytime any of us go off and try to tell a fresh story or create something that has a beginning and a middle and an end.”
He continued: “Doesn’t matter what our last names are. We have to do the work in order to make that a true and authentic experience for the audience.”
