3 in Row: The Movies That Changed Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks is an American movie legend, one of a few actors in the modern era with universal acclaim and likeability, earning fans around the world for his down to earth performances and honest, good-natured personality. Beginning on television in the early 1980 dressed in drag on the surprise hit Bosom Buddies, he was soon off to the races in a string of film comedies that established him as a kind of looney but lovable actor with a terrific sense of timing and a boy next door appeal (like in Big, pictured above). In the middle of that 80s success he laid down a bit of a hint of what was to come with his dramatic talents though with a short stint on the sitcom Family Ties, playing an alcoholic uncle, though he was right back to the laughs on the big screen until it all changed for good in the early 90s when Hanks flipped our expectations with 3 in a Row career-defining movies that shifted the movie clown to king of the box office. The first, one that shocked many.

Philadelphia

Think of the competition. The part of Andrew Beckett, the lead character in director Jonathan Demme‘s groundbreaking film on AIDS saw the likes of Tim Robbins, Michael Keaton, and none other than Daniel Day-Lewis offered the role before it was given to Hanks, an actor up until then best known for his comedies. It was the right choice, the already adored star stunning audiences with his intimate and deeply personal interpretation of a man trying to die with dignity from a disease that at this point, had many ignorant of what it was or how to react. Playing a gay man was already a brave choice for a mainstream actor in 1993, but to have him stricken with AIDS was courageous and Hanks delivers a heartbreaking turn that surely changed perceptions and attitudes for millions around the world. Hanks earned his first Academy Award for Best Actor and in an instant became one of the industry’s most respected and sought-after talents. He took that and ran with it … literally…

Forrest Gump

A year after Philadelphia, Hanks was back in theaters delivering what would become one of the most beloved characters in all of cinema, that of Forrest Gump, a man with a low IQ, who manages to be part of history wherever he goes. While director Robert Zemeckis was wowing theater-goers with his startling visual effects (people swore actor Gary Sinise had his legs amputated for the part), it was Hanks and his astonishing human portrayal of a truly innocent figure in time that made the lasting impression. To this day, Gump is quoted and is inspiration for many, a movie icon that had profound effect on many who understood his journey. Hanks was careful to keep Gump ‘smart’ for different ways than typical, never once crossing the line into parody (a feat probably no other actor could have pulled off), creating a character that nearly all watching could identify with. It earned him a second Oscar in as many years, making him only the second actor in history to do so. It shot his fame into orbit, which is where he stayed for his next movie …

Apollo 13

Director Ron Howard‘s biographical retelling of the Apollo 13 space mission is itself an inspiring true story and collective homage to the men and women of NASA, who engineered one of the greatest rescue efforts of all time. Hanks is at the center of it, playing real life astronaut Jim Lovell, commander of the flight that suffered an accident while on it’s way to the Moon, forcing the crew to abandon plans to land on the Lunar surface and figure out how to stay alive and make it back home. It’s a monumental visual-effects driving film but made all the more memorable by the cast’s genuinely moving performances (including a great Ed Harris), with Hanks once again pulling audiences along with him on this tumultuous ride. It’s a rousing, pride-inducing film that absolutely cements Hanks as an actor for all generations.

THE AFTERMATH

The year after Apollo 13, Hanks was voicing Woody in Toy Story and then on to Saving Private Ryan, Cast Away and well, you know the rest. Many felt he was snubbed for not even getting a nomination for the 2013 film Captain Phillips (pictured above), let alone a win. Either way, Hanks continues to be one of the most popular actors in the business, his legacy secure from an amazing run of cinematic success, the likes very few others have been able to match. His climb out of the comedies led to an incredible 3 in a Row that changed everything for him and how audiences accepted him as well. What are your favorite Tom Hanks movies?