Tom Hanks: Three lesser-known films
Think you know Hollywood's leading, Leading Man? There's more to the actor and director than Box Office smashes.
By Alan Herrmann
MOVIE CRITIC
Tom Hanks is one of those actors who is known by various descriptors: the all-American hero, the everyman, the Jimmy Stewart of our time, or Spencer Tracy of our time.
For 40 years or so, Hanks has turned out an impressive array of films, most of them great. He has won awards including Oscars, Emmys, and Golden Globes. He has been honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award, AFI Life Achievement Award, the Kennedy Center Honors, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He has also produced films and TV shows, and even published a couple of books. But like all great stars, he will be most remembered for his popular films: Big, Splash, Sleepless in Seatle, Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, and Saving Private Ryan. These are all good films to be sure, but only the last one is a personal favorite of mine.
Being a year younger than Hanks, I’ve followed his career since his early movies, but I wouldn’t describe myself as a true fan until I saw A League of their Own in 1992. It was the first time I thought Hanks was doing more than a comedy piece. His Jimmy Dugan is a complicated character who was once a great baseball player turned alcoholic but eventually becomes a better person after being coached by women who he is supposed to be coaching.
There are plenty of Tom Hanks movies that I love, but there are three that are particularly special to me and personal favorites, though not necessarily his best box office hits or even critical favorites. These movies showed me what a true history buff he is which, as a former history teacher, pleases me to no end.
That Thing You Do! (1996). Hanks doesn’t have the lead role in this film, but his part is significant. He also wrote the screenplay and directed the film. The story is about the birth, life, and death of a fictional rock band known as The Wonders from Erie, Pennsylvania in 1964. They rocket to the top and then crash and burn just as quickly. Hanks plays the smooth and confident manager, Mr. White, who transforms the band into a hot act after taking them on tour, cutting a single, and finally appearing on a popular variety show. Hanks has a few funny moments, but it is his serious side that adds authenticity to how a professional music manager would behave at the time.
In 1964 I was 6 years old and remember watching the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show with my older siblings. I also recall the 45s, single records my brother and my sisters listened to over and over again. What’s striking is how well the 1996 film’s title song, “That Thing You Do,” captured the pop rock music of the day. Even beyond the music, the attention to detail is meticulous. From the madras shirts, light-colored chinos, sharkskin suits, bouffant hairdos, and Foster Grant sunglasses to the cheap guitars from Danelectro and Silvertone, Hanks demonstrates that this was a labor of love.
If you’re a sixties nostalgia fan and listened to early songs by the Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Lesley Gore, Dionne Warwick, the Shangri-las and Gene Pitney – to name just a fraction of the great music of that time – you’ll appreciate the original tunes by fictitious musicians featured in the film who deliver the same type of vibe as the real artists. By the way, the original name of the band was The Oneders, a play on words that kept being mispronounced as the “Oh-nee-derz,” causing the band to become simply The Wonders.
Road to Perdition (2002). This moody, atmospheric 1930’s gangster film directed by Sam Mendes is one of Hanks’ most serious roles. The shocker is he plays Mike Sullivan, an enforcer for an Irish mob boss John Rooney, played by Paul Newman. Aside from that, he lives a relatively quiet life with his wife and two sons. Strongly Catholic and devoted to his family, he is a walking contradiction because his boys have no idea what he does, and his wife overlooks the sins of his trade for the security it provides. When Mike has to go on the lamb with his oldest son, Michael, after a series of tragic events, he tries to keep his son safe while also seeking justice and vengeance. We witness Hanks’ extraordinary acting chops when his character tries to balance being a good father and having to divulge the cruel world he hoped to hide from his sons.
There is great chemistry between Hanks and Tyler Hoechlin, who plays Michael. Hanks has great chemistry with Newman, too, as Mike tries to navigate his father-like love for this man while feeling utterly betrayed by him. Daniel Craig, prior to his James Bond fame, plays John Rooney’s son who also spars with Hanks in some of the film’s best scenes. This is not a happy film and even though the end is tough to watch, we feel somehow uplifted by the perilous journey the father and son take. For me, Hanks gives one of his best all-time performances.
Greyhound (2020). As a young boy, I often spent rainy weekends watching films about World War II with my dad. My older brother has similar memories, and we still talk about those cherished times. Dad particularly liked the war stories that took place at sea. Films like The Enemy Below, Sink the Bismarck!, In Which We Serve, The Caine Mutiny and The Cruel Sea were some of our favorites. But the one film he was always eager to watch was Action in the North Atlantic, a tale about the underappreciated seamen of the Merchant Marine. The film with Humphrey Bogart was made during the war and helped to boost the importance of Merchant Marine Liberty Ships convoying across the ocean while dodging the dreaded U-boats. My dad joined the Merchant Marine at 17 – he lied about his age – and served on a Liberty Ship. Later he was on a tanker in the Pacific. He was lucky and neither of those ships were sunk.
When I first watched Greyhound a couple of years ago, I felt emotional as I watched Tom Hanks play Ernest Krause, the captain of an American destroyer who must lead a convoy to England in U-boat infested waters. It’s a heroic story, based on fact, that gives one a sense of the sacrifice these sailors made. Krause is a deeply religious and quiet man who feels the weight of command as he tries to keep the convoy together and protect its most vulnerable ships. When some of the ships are lost to the submarine wolfpack, the look on Krause’s face says it all: doubt, frustration, sadness, and especially personal responsibility for so many lives. A couple of minutes later, as if awakening from a deep slumber, Krause calmly but confidently gives orders to his crew who have the utmost respect for their captain.
My dad has been gone for many years now, but after I watched Greyhound, I thought about how much he would’ve loved this film. So, thank you Tom Hanks. Your impressive mountain of work and the memories you brought back are much appreciated.
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