In an interview with People magazine published this week, Tom Hanks said he’s made “a ton of movies and four of them are pretty good, I think.” Say again? Four ?
Hanks has been Hollywood’s adorable grandfather for decades, which makes the fact that he’s only 66 really surprising. Starring in his first film in 1980, the actor made more than 65 films in 42 years (in addition, he starred in dozens of TV shows, acted on stage, created his own TV miniseries Emmy Award winner and wrote a collection of bestselling short stories).
So how is it possible that in his brilliant career he has only made four films that he thinks are good? And what four could they be?
Splash, Apollo 13, You’ve Got Mail, Catch Me If You Can, Cloud Atlas, Saving Mr. Banks and The Post were all very good. Then there are very recent releases like Elvis and Pinocchio (Hanks wasn’t universally acclaimed for his role in Elvis, but was heralded as a great Geppetto), and there are fabulous kid favorites (and our favorites too) The Polar Express and the Toy Story and Cars franchises. Then there are those that won Hanks his Oscars: Philadelphia in 1994 and Forrest Gump in 1995. The list is truly endless.
Wondering if it would even be possible to narrow Hanks’ films down to four best, the task was given to the Evening Standard Culture Desk, which nearly came to blows over whether or not Forrest Gump was a classic or a parody.
The younger generations rejected 1984’s Splash and 1988’s Big (they didn’t watch them because they weren’t born and never caught up). Others couldn’t believe that Gump was on the list while Big was not. Meanwhile, others had passionate feelings for all the movies despite having seen almost none. The Da Vinci Code split the team; others had watched Charlie Wilson’s war intensely while taking notes on Afghanistan as if it were a documentary, while others were very fond of Meg Ryan in general.
Eventually, with all parties feeling somewhat discouraged, a list was compiled. We could still narrow Hanks’ movies down to just our eight favorites, though, and here are the picks. Let us know how we did in the comments…
1. Big, 1988
Big was (and is) every teenager’s dream. 12-year-old Josh Baskin just wishes he could grow up. And, little, his wish comes true. An instant hit, this comedy made a ton of money at the Box Office ($151 million worldwide), received two Academy Award nominations, and cemented Hanks’ place as one of Hollywood’s leading gentlemen. Hollywood.
2. Insomnia in Seattle, 1993
Hearthrob Tom Hanks: plus three words you see side by side. Today it’s more like, Grandaddy Hanks, Sleepy Happy Oldie Hanks, N’aww There He Is Hanks. But in 1993, Hanks was one of the stars, alongside younger contemporaries Pitt and Clooney.
In Sleepless In Seattle, he plays widower Sam Baldwin, who is starting a new life in Seattle with his eight-year-old son. It’s all about missed opportunities and serendipity as Meg Ryan’s character Annie Reed and Sam continue to cross paths, and there’s also a famous encounter atop the Empire State Building. A romance that somehow managed to last the ages.
3. Forrest Gump, 1994
Of course, Forrest Gump, directed by Robert Zemeckis, isn’t for everyone, but it had to be included in this list because it’s undeniably Hanks’ most famous film and it won the actor an Oscar. . Hanks plays Forrest Gump, a man from Alabama with an IQ of 75 who lives an extraordinary life. Would the film be shot today? Probably not. But looked at in its 1994 framing, it can still work (if you don’t mind the sugary phrases and messages). Also starring Robin Wright, Gary Sinise and Sally Field, the film was nominated for 13 Oscars and won six, including Best Picture.
4. Saving Private Ryan, 1998
A completely different kind of film role for Hanks, this war film by Steven Spielberg tells the story of a troop of American soldiers from the Second World War whose mission is to land in Normandy in 1944, to find Private Ryan to tell him that his three brothers are all dead and to send him home. Also starring Matt Damon, Vin Diesel, Adam Goldberg, and Ted Danson, the film had Hanks playing hero captain John H. Miller. The film won five Oscars and was widely hailed as one of the best war films ever made.
A few years later, Hanks then premiered the 2021 Band of Brothers miniseries with Spielberg, which was also about a troupe of soldiers in World War II (and was even better).
5. The Green Line, 1999
Based on Stephen King’s 1996 novel of the same name, The Green Mile was written and directed by Frank Darabont (who had directed The Shawshank Redemption five years earlier). Hanks is a death row prison guard who begins to see supernatural happenings. Is he going crazy? Does it have to do with the mysterious convict John Coffey (played by Michael Clarke Duncan)? Despite four Oscar nominations, the film has divided pundits, with the most consistent and understandable criticism being that the film was so, so, so long. The Green Mile takes just over three hours. Our team, however, loved every second of it.
6. Cast Away, 2000
We’ve all played those games where we wonder if we’d survive on a desert island: who didn’t guess which of their friends and family would make it, and who would immediately lose their minds without their modern conveniences. That’s part of what makes Robert Zemeckis’ 2000 film Cast Away such a great watch. Hanks is a man stranded on an island in the South Pacific after his FedEx plane gets caught in a storm. What will he do? How will he survive? Could we do the same? Helen Hunt and Nick Searcy (The Shape of Water) also star.
7. Charlie Wilson’s War, 2007
This brilliant film deserves to be on the list if only because it served to educate half of the culture bureau on the CIA’s Operation Cyclone program – the one where the US armed the Afghan mujahideen. in Afghanistan from 1979 (the other half had read Steve Coll’s film Les Bin Laden). Written by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing), the film starred Hanks as Representative Charlie Wilson, Julia Roberts as American socialite Joanne Herring, and Philip Seymour Hoffman as the head of the CIA’s Afghan task force, Gust Avrakotos. The film is entirely based on the true story of the secret operation, making the whole drama even more fascinating (and terrifying).
8. Captain Phillips, 2013
This thriller from Bourne Supremacy director Paul Greengrass is about as tense as a movie. Based on the 2009 real Maersk Alabama hijacking movie stars Hanks as Captain Phillips and Barkhad Abdi (Blade Runner 2049) as pirate leader Abduwali Muse, and details what happens when four pirates board a container ships and take Richard Phillips hostage. Super scary stuff, Hanks is superb as a captain and Abdi earned an Oscar nomination for his terrific acting.
Tom Hanks’ latest film, a live-action remake of Pinocchio, was released on September 8 and is available now on Disney+. His debut novel, The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece, is due out in the UK and US on May 9, 2023.