Topic: Is Tom Hanks a good actor ?

[Touti]

Allright, this forum has gone on long enough without a fight, time to fix that so let's heat things up a little

Is Tom Hanks a good actor.  The man has done 56 movies, some good ones, some ordinary ones and some pretty bad ones but how many great performances have we seen from him besides "Philadelphia" and "Forrest Gump".  Do you consider him a good actor, does he play in the same league as Pacino, DeNiro, Brando, Streep, Kidman ?

[Touti]

Devil Smiley added, I also reinstalled "Shrug" which I had lost somewhoe.

[Najemikon]

I think he is an excellent everyman, in films like Catch Me if You Can, Saving Private Ryan or Cast Away. He's at his best when you assume he's playing himself, because he's really quite subtle. You always get your moneys worth with him.

I used to enjoy his slapstick-ish roles. like Big, or Money Pit (one of my favourite comedies). However, I think his closest role recently like that would be The Ladykillers. I'm sure he was very good, but I've never been interested in seeing it, because of the clips I saw of him. Alec Guinness, he is not. Though not many could step into his shoes, even less should try.

Do you think he needs a decent director to get the best out of him, or can he be left alone? I'm thinking of his poor or just routine films; he was poor or just routine as well. I don't think you can walk away from a bad Tom Hanks film thinking "well at least he was good ..." (Dragnet, the Volcano one, etc).

[Kathy]

Devil Smiley added, I also reinstalled "Shrug" which I had lost somewhoe.

  Ask and ye shall receive! Point for Touti!

[Touti]

Sometimes I wonder if the ongoing collaboration between Hank and Spielberg serves them well.  Maybe they should go separate ways for a while and renew themselves a little, work with other people and new point of views.  I would never say that Tom Hank is a bad or ordinary actor but he seems to always be interested in "easy" and "comedic" role. 

His performance in Philadelphis was astonishing and he was brilliant in Forrest Gump.  I think he was also particularly good in Apollo 13 so he can definitely take on dramatic role.  However he seems to prefer funny and "easy to play" stuff like "You've got mail" or "The terminal".

I fear he will not be remembered as a great actor because there will be more of those simple movies in his career than great performances.

[SailorRipley]

Two cents.

I think the guy is pretty good, but I've had mixed reactions toward his acting, from brilliant to frankly, annoying. Philadelphia I thought was ok, but nothing spectacular. I found myself rolling my eyes to his performance in Forrest Gump until that sequence when Robin Wright introduces him to his son; I thought the choice there was perfect, very subtle and as a result, very moving. Cast Away I admired a lot, just because carrying a film single-handedly is no easy feat.

However, Apollo 13 I thought was one-note, same with You've Got Mail. And I can't stand him in A League of Their Own or The Ladykillers. Even the voice-over work in Toy Story I found annoying.

I believe this chap needs to take some risks, the 'everyman' thing is becoming a fake, IMO.

[Touti]

The scene in Philadelphia where he listens to an opera while describing it to his lawyer is absolutely wonderful.  As for the rest of the movie, I'm afraid he and Denzel Washington were both "victim" of an overall average script.

It's true that Cast Away was a big risk and he was extremely good in it but again, he followed with a series of average movies.  Perhaps that's his biggest weakness, very good actor but bad at choosing his movies.  He certainly isn't the first one anyway.

[DJ Doena]

I like most of his movies but I have the feeling most of the time he is simply playing himself (I've got the same feeling with Nicholas Cage).

But Cast Away was a blind buy and I watched it only once.

[lovemunkey187]

He's very much like Sean Connery, Michael Caine and to an extent The Duke.

It's not very often I see the character he's supposed to be, it's just Tom Hanks.


So I'd probably err towards; not a good actor, just that who he is overshadows his performance if I'm being honest.

[addicted2dvd]

Like most of you here,,, I more see Tom Hanks when watching his movies then the character he is portraying. I would say I enjoy between half and just under half of what I see him in. So I would not say he is a bad actor... but definitely not in the same league as those you mentioned.

[richierich]

I see him now (last several years) as a lazy actor with box office pull, the scripts and roles are 'fitted' to suit him, as opposed to the roles being filled by an actor.

To stoke the fire a bit  , I would also classify actors listed below who are now guilty of playing the same role/person in different films;

Nicolas Cage
Samuel L Jackson
Al Pacino
Kevin Costner
Bruce Willis
Eddie Murphy
Chris Rock
Steve Martin

 

[RossRoy]

I see him now (last several years) as a lazy actor with box office pull, the scripts and roles are 'fitted' to suit him, as opposed to the roles being filled by an actor.

To stoke the fire a bit  , I would also classify actors listed below who are now guilty of playing the same role/person in different films;

Well, you can basically say the same thing about almost all big name actors/actresses. Once the writers and screenwriters start writing with those actor in mind, it's like they just keep giving them the same kind of roles.

And I blame the actors themselves for this. Refuse the roles, once you've played them 3+ times in 3 different movies series. Be adventurous a little, take chances. Too many actors, IMO, hide behind their box office pull, playing the same character over and over and over.

[Touti]

I really like Nicole Kidman because of this.  She keeps on taking roles that are completely different and that are not necessarily based on her beauty.

[VibroCount]

Ah, stars vs. character actors.

Old film studies arguments... Is a star (Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, James Dean, etc.) as good at acting when they always play the same role in every film as a good character actor, whom you recognize, but not as a type.

Hanks is as good an actor as Stewart or Cary Grant, and I'd compare his career to both of theirs. A few flubs, many hits, and some home runs.

[m.cellophane]

Hanks is as good an actor as Stewart or Cary Grant, and I'd compare his career to both of theirs. A few flubs, many hits, and some home runs.

I agree. They're similar in the way that they could play Everyman in lighter fare but could also hold their own in heavier work (Notorious, Vertigo).

I recently saw an example of an Everyman who couldn't stand up to the heavy hitters. It was Kevin Costner in Dragonfly.   Any scene in which he was together with Kathy Bates was painful and embarrassing to watch. She's obviously operating at an acting level so high that he looks like he's in a school play.