Best Actor of All Time?

I have been watching a lot of Tom Hanks movies as of late. It started when I saw a copy of "Turner and Hooch" for five bucks at Circuit City. I remember hearing Tom Hanks call it one of his favorite movies (he also said that out of all the films he has made, only five of them he would consider good), so I thought I would pick it up. Man I love that movie. Tom Hanks made some good movies pre-"Philadelphia," and I doubt we will see him do anything like those comedies again. It was "Turner and Hooch" that started my Hanks-a-thon and also got me thinking that he may be the best actor this world will ever see.

So next I watched "Forrest Gump." This has been called the performance of his career, and I would agree with a statement like that. There is so much to love about this movie. The best part, and this shows why Hanks is truly a great actor, is that for the duration of the film you forget that it is Tom Hanks. He brings life to a character that nobody wanted to play. In fact, just to show you that most people believed this film would fail, I have found a list of people who turned down roles in this movie. Both Bill Murray and Chevy Chase were offered the role, but turned it down. As for the role of 'Bubba,' both David Alan Grier and Dave Chappelle turned it down fearing the movie would be a huge flop. In several interviews since that time, Chappelle has called this a huge mistake on his part and a lifelong regret. The movie is just an incredible story of a man who everybody thought would amount to nothing (much like the movie itself). It is also one of those films that never gets old.

Winston Groom wrote the original novel, as well as its sequel, "Gump and Co." As of March 7, 2007 Groom and Paramount settled a dispute that allowed Paramount to purchase the film rights to "Gump and Co." This means that if all goes well, we may be seeing Hanks return to his signature role in the future.
So after that I started to think back to "Cast Away." I had only seen the movie once and it was when it first hit DVD back when I was working for Hollywood Video. I remember it being a good movie, but I had to go back to take another look. This is a film that relied heavily on the lead actor since much of the film has no dialogue. The filmmakers knew that they needed someone the audience could identify with and instantly like, and nobody fits the bill better than Hanks. So we get Tom Hanks stranded on an island after his plane crashes into the ocean. He spends over four years in solitude and the only thing that keeps him sane is a bloodstained volleyball named Wilson. Hanks lost fifty pounds for this role in the course of a year. He filmed the first half of the movies, then took a one year break to lose the weight, then came back to film the remainder. Now there is some dedication for your asses.
Another movie, which is one of my all time favorites, is "Philadelphia." "Philadelphia" proves that if Tom Hanks stars in a movie about a man with some kind of issue (in this case it's AIDS) he will get an Oscar. This was the role that really turned Hanks into a star as before this he was doing his string of comedies. This was the role that made people really take notice, and rightfully so. This also earned Hanks his first Oscar.

All this being said, Hanks has several films worth mentioning. "That Thing You Do," which Hanks wrote and directed is another great movie. "You've Got Mail," "Sleepless in Seattle," and even "The Da Vinci Code" are all worth mentioning. Speaking of that last one, Hanks has signed on for the sequel, "Angels and Demons," and it is also earning him the biggest payday of any actor at fifty million dollars.