Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks is probably one of the biggest movies stars of the past twenty years. Tom Hanks has acted in nearly every genre, specializing in comedy in his early career with films like big, and drama in the 1990s with films like Philadelphia and forrest gump. Now tom hanks movies are almost guaranteed to be a hit, with even critical failures like the da vinci code bringing in big box office dollars. The success of tom hanks movies not only relies on his movie choices but on the charismatic personality of tom hanks himself. Since his early comedy movies, tom hanks has had a likeable charm that has attracted audiences. In many ways Tom Hanks is the everyman, though his characters are put in extraordinary situations, from tom hanks big where he plays a thirteen year old in the body of a thirty year old man, to forrest gump where tom hanks is a slow but likeable young man who finds himself at the centre of significant moments in American history.

 

It seems a likely bet that tom hanks movies will be pleasing audiences for years to come. Tom Hanks began his career as a comedic actor, first with the TV series Bosom Buddies and soon with comedy tom hanks movies. The first of these comedies and the break-through role for Tom Hanks came with Ron Howard’s Splash, in which tom hanks plays the romantic lead opposite Daryl Hannah, who plays a mermaid. While Splash was a success, the tom hanks movies that followed were not always as well received. Notable tom hanks movies from his early career include Bachelor Party, The Money Pit, and The ‘Burbs. While critics may not always have taken to these tom hanks movies, the films are actually very funny. Personally I think Tom Hanks is much better as a young comic actor. Bachelor Party really shows off the skill tom hanks has for zany 1980s comedies, as tom hanks plays the victim of his own wild and crazy bachelor party. These tom hanks movies are always played on television for present audiences. What made the name of Tom Hanks for late 1980s audiences was probably tom hanks big. In big, tom hanks plays the man version of a thirteen year old boy who wished to be big and woke up in a thirty year old man’s body. The character played by tom hanks is perfect for the comedic talents and boyish charm of Tom Hanks.

 

Perhaps the most famous tom hanks big scene is that of the giant piano in the toy store where Tom Hanks and his boss jump on the piano and play “Heart and Soul”. This tom hanks big scene was actually choreographed by Paula Abdul. The film big is now a classic. The lasting affect of big probably has to do with everyone’s desire to be a kid again. In big, tom hanks brings childhood back into adulthood with his inappropriate antics. The Elizabeth Perkins character Susan falls for tom hanks big but the relationship is doomed from the start, as Tom Hanks must return to being thirteen again. Still, if there is a message from tom hanks big, it is that growing old is just a state of mind and in big, Tom Hanks proves that adults just need to stay young at heart. The 1990s marked a major turning point for Tom Hanks and tom hanks movies. Tom Hanks became a critically acclaimed dramatic actor, especially with his back-to-back Oscar wins for Philadelphia and forrest gump. In Philadelphia, tom hanks plays a gay man dying of AIDS. Tom Hanks won an Academy Award for his sensitive portrayal of the man and brought some AIDS awareness to popular audiences. This role was soon followed by perhaps the most popular tom hanks film, forrest gump. The role of forrest gump required tom hanks to move away from his younger acting style, which mostly drew on physical comedy. Rather, as forrest gump, tom hanks had to slow down his speech patterns and convey sweetness, charm, and emotion through a man whose mental growth had always been stunted. For audiences, forrest gump proved to be a huge hit. People cheered for forrest gump as he overcame obstacles, became successful, and even fell in love. The premise of forrest gump relied on a man who was accidentally central to American history between the 1950s-1990s.

 

Tom Hanks portrayed forrest gump so convincingly that he won another Academy Award, making him only the second actor in history to do so two years in a row. The tom hanks movies that were to follow all continued in the forrest gump vein. That is, tom hanks chose movies that were always big Hollywood blockbusters with some gritty drama about the human condition at the centre. Some tom hanks movies that fit this description include Saving Private Ryan, Castaway, The Green Mile, and Road to Perdition, all of which resulted in various award nominations. The epitome of middlebrow tom hanks movie has to be the da vinci code. Based on the best-selling novel, the da vinci code was directed by Ron Howard and starred tom hanks and Audrey Tatou. The da vinci code was so perfectly cast in terms of actors and directors for what it was. People were guaranteed to like the da vinci code because it came out at the perfect time and had the perfect middlebrow audience waiting for it. Which is why the da vinci code made money and in five years no one will remember it.

 

Tom Hanks is a good actor and is probably best when he plays a leader, like in Saving Private Ryan and A League of Their Own, or a charmer, like in big and Sleepless in Seattle. The problem with tom hanks movies is that they have become incredibly predictable and have lost the spontaneity and the charm that tom hanks brought to his earlier roles. Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg or Ron Howard collaborations are inevitable and they will make money but they have lost that something special that the tom hanks movies had in the 1980s and early 1990s.