Happy 60th Birthday Tom Hanks!
Saturday, July 9, 2016 at 1:38AM Is there such thing as the male America's sweetheart? If there is then Tom Hanks would surely have to be him. The general public love him, your mum loves him, cinephiles love him, his co-stars love him, and cinematic history definitely loves him. To say Happy Birthday let's say T-Hanks for 5 of the best characters he's gifted us after the jump...
Josh in Big
No one sells glee like Tom Hanks. Think of iconic Hanks moment, and there's a good chance it involves him throwing his head back with a grin or a cackle. Hanks started off, and maybe still is, viewed primarily as a effortless comedian. He sells the kid in an adults body so well in a performance that only ages better with the added nostalgia of the film itself. He's not just a kid in a adults body, he's a kid who wants to be an adult in an adults body. Re-watching Big now, it surprising how on the nose much of the dialogue is for such a classic, but it was Hanks ability to sell it so well that makes it iconic. Giant floor pianos and he are forever inseparable in our collective minds.
Andrew Beckett in Philedelphia
Hanks gets serious. Oscar #1 was well earned by Hanks, as a man fired from his law firm as a result of his diagnosis with AIDs and his homosexuality. If there's another actor as beloved over generations as Hanks, it's Denzel Washington, and much of the films success lies in their easy but layered chemistry as they navigate uncerainly about one another. The La Mamma Morta scene is about as breathtaking and tender as moments in cinema get. Hanks delicate balance of physical weakness with inner strength brings a needed pathos to a film that is fairly judged for stripping out much of the "gayness" of its subject matter.
Forrest Gump in Forrest Gump
Becoming the second actor ever to win back to back Oscars (after Spencer Tracy), Hanks delivered another deeply iconic character. It was impossible for the Academy to ignore this massive hit of a film, which rest so firmly on Hanks shoulders, and if they were going to award the film, then they had to award him. There are elements of Hanks' Big performance here, with his naivety but there's an understanding here of the fairytale like quality of the tale his character inhabits. Gump, and his voice, have to be one of the most iconic characters of all time. Pick an quote, any quote. He sold it.
Woody in the Toy Story trilogy 
Speaking of voice, one of the first indications of Pixar's genius would have to be the choice of casting Tom Hanks as Sheriff Woody. There is not a natural leap of thought between Hanks and Cowboy, but his voice has all the confidence and humour the role required. Woody's fumbled frustrations and exasperations are works of a comedic genius, and as with many of his best roles, works so well bouncing off another actor, this time the the gruff voice of Tim Allen's Buzz Lightyear. Woody is actually a bit of jerk in the first film, and it took Tom Hanks to make the audience love him anyway.
Captain Phillips in Captain Phillips
It's crazy to think that Tom Hanks hasn't been nominated from an Oscar since Cast Away, which hit screens all the way back in 2000, especially when you consider his performance in 2013's Captain Philips. His naturalism matched with Greengrass's fly on the wall camera style is perfectly matched, but with an earthiness to his performance not often seen in his work. The audience is right with him, riding his emotional wave precisely. The terror, the hope, and the million other thoughts flashing across his brain at any moment are vivid. The final scene of the film is spine tingling in both it's content, and in just how amazing his performance is.
Despite the fact that his career has never really dipped, his Captain Phillips performance could have been the start of another line of hits for Hanks. Saving Mr Banks saw him get close to an Oscar nom again, and Bridge of Spies was an Oscar hit with him at the helm. Coming up he's got potential awards magnet Sully, based on the Hudson River plane landing, directed by Clint Eastwood, as well as returning as Robert Langdon for Inferno.
Got a personal favourite Hanks performance? Leave your "where is Splash?!?" comments below.
Reader Comments (24)
For me, Cast Away is still his best. Love the movie too.
WILSOOOOOOOOON!!!
(I also love Cast Away!)
Yes for castaway. Only a true star could make us weep the loss of a volleyball.
I think I was looking through a list of best movie lines recently and it's staggering how many were his. "Houston, we have a problem..,", "YOU ARE A TOY-EE!!", anything from forest gump. It's staggering.
A special shout-out to catch me if you can, saving private Ryan, and the green mile.
He's WONDERFUL in Cast Away, yes. My top 10
1 Cast Away
2 Big
3 Captain Philips
4 Splash
5 Catch me if you Can
6 Bridge of Spies
7 Sleepless in Seattle
8 Road to Perdition
9 Saving Mr. Banks
10 Saving Private Ryan
My favorite Tom Hanks performance is probably 'The Ladykillers'.
An unusual, possibly even solitary pick, but I find this to be his funniest performance (although 'Saving Mr. Banks', which would be my second choice, comes close - not many people can claim they stole a movie from Emma Thompson), and I remember it as the movie that finally convinced me Hanks can be a fine comedian if he wants to (his 80s comedies usually cast him as the nice guy in odd circumstances, but not really as the source of the comedy).
A proper Movie Star,Legend,Comedian,Thespian and all round gr8 guy.
My Top 5
1 - Captain Philips
2 - Big
3 - Cast Away
4 - A league of their own
5 - Sleepless In Seattle
A League of Their Own! "There's no crying in baseball!" Another great.
He is eminently likable. I've heard him referred to as the modern Jimmy Stewart and I think that fits. He had that little slump between Angels & Demons and Captain Phillips but that's hardly unusual in any lengthy career.
Favorites:
Apollo 13
Big
Saving Mr. Banks
Splash
Sleepless in Seattle
Captain Phillips
Catch Me if You Can
He's a national treasure, Tom Hanks. I think we take him for granted, his seemingly effortless movie star quality and icon of Americana. I know this is weird to say considering the man has two Oscars but he was SO GOOD in Captain Phillips, Mr Banks, and Bridge of Spies but people overlook it because he's like the only man alive who could play those roles and make them seem like real characters.
Spell check isn't enough. I suggest you have someone read your posts to catch the various misspellings and grammatical errors.
No one has listed Turner and Hooch. So I'll add it to the list.
He's absolutely a treasure on film and a total gentleman off screen. He is a really likable, decent, down to earth person, who doesn't seem to take himself too seriously.
My favourite performances:
Apollo13, Captain Philips, Big. Cast Away. A league of their own. Sleepless In Seattle. Toy Story, and Philadelphia.
I agree with Jeremy, his great talent is his ability to take any character and make them seem real.
And that's way harder than it looks.
Tom Hanks is this era's Jimmy Stewart...
Happy Birthday Tom Hanks! THanks indeed for your existence.
His snub for Captain Phillips is very surprising and awful, and I'm feeling a consolation nom for Sully. Those two roles are basically the same, right?
My favorite is of course Forrest Gump, which is BY FAR his best known work here in Indonesia.
I loved Tom Hanks when I was growing up (he was one of my first favorite actors - I remember watching him on Bosom Buddies and seeing his early comedies), but I went through a phase in my twenties when I just grew tired of him; I never even saw Cast Away. That's the consequence of being the male (or female) "America's sweetheart" - people can turn on you without much reason. Now I love him once again, and I think he may be doing the best work of his career. He was great in Captain Phillips and Bridge of Spies.
No one has mentioned his directorial debut, That Thing You Do!, yet - that's such a fun, entertaining movie.
APOLLO 13
ROAD TO PERDITION
PHILADELPHIA
SAVING MR BANKS
TOY STORY
No wail of despair at what missed your top 5, but a giant UGH for Forrest Gump. I don't get why people loved and still love that movie.
I am also perennially unimpressed with Forrest Gump, all the way back to its release. Shallow, manipulative, with a nostalgia-wallow soundtrack pushing the audience's buttons and - like many Zemeckis films - more about its new effects technology than much of anything else. I literally don't believe A SINGLE THING in it!
But Hanks is indeed a treasure, with so many great performances and productions (count me in loving That Thing You Do!, and how about Band of Brothers?!?), and he always comes across as a seriously nice guy. The Jimmy Stewart comparison seems very apt: the classic everyman actor, always perfectly in character, but still somehow himself.
Call me crazy, but Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep will be rememberd as two of the great American actors and movie stars of the post 1975 era. Terrific actors and have made great, memorable movies. Both great at creating believable, unique and sympathetic characters.
Tom Hanks is a national treasure and still one of our finest actors working today. I grew up watching him from Splash to Captain Phillips. He has that everyman quality we know and love. He is kind of like Jack Lemmon and Jimmy Stewart but also with his own sense of comedic energy. Saving Private Ryan is his best work while I also have a soft spot for his performance in The Terminal which I like a lot.
I teared up watching that scene from Captain Philips again. What a great, Oscar-worthy performance.
That scene from Captain Phillips still packs a punch. I think that's my favorite of his. I wish he would do some straight up comedies again.
Truth is, Tom Hanks is the true heir of Jack Lemmon. Completely comfortable in any role, excellent comedian when required, amazing dramatic actor. I still think he should have lost to Travolta in1994 (Vincent Vega > Forrest Gump, any day) but his Philadelphia win was completely deserved and earned with that aria. I'd probably given him his 2nd for Cast Away, unless Christian Bale had been nominated, but 2000 was a really close race to my taste between Hanks and Bardem (Before Night Falls)... Crowe was commanding and really good, but hardly the Oscar winner, in my book.
Where's Splash?
But more importantly... Where's Joe vs. the Vulcano???
Seriously, who doesn't like him? I don't know anyone who doesn't like him not even in at least one movie.
I'd rank him
1. Philadelphia
2. Joe vs the Vulcano
3. Cast Away
4. Splash
5. Sleepless in Seattle/You've got Mail
(still need to see Big... yeah, seriously.)
Happy belated Birthday to a great actor and great producer of Greek wedding comedies/musicals! ;)
He's simply the best on and off screen. Great post!