Welcome to 5 Favorites. Each week, I will put together a list of my 5 favorites (films, performances, whatever strikes my fancy) along with commentary on a given topic each week, usually in relation to a specific film releasing that week.

A man who has been in films since the 1980s should have come up before edition 161, but he has not. And were this a normal weekend, he might not have made it either, but this is the New Year’s Eve weekend and it is one of only two holiday weekends each year where wide release are seldom if ever released. The other being Labor Day. So, we’re left with two films making their cinematic debut this week, both in Oscar-qualifying runs. One is an abuse drama called Alice, Darling starring Anna Kendrick. The other is a remake of a Swedish film based on a novel by Fredrik Backman. Tom Hanks plays a grumpy old man whose neat and ordered life is thrown into chaos when new neighbors arrive to challenge is desire to be alone. While it’s unlikely the film can make inroads with the Oscars outside of Original Song, it’s nice to see Hanks doing a film that gives his curmudgeonly acting chops a workout. This week, we look at my five favorite films from Tom Hanks and a few had to sit aside while I chose the below.

A League of Their Own (1992)

High on the popularity from his more exuberant ’80s output, Hanks went a bit more down to earth when playing an irrascible drunk forced to coach a team of women’s baseball players while the men were off at war. Based on actual events, the film stars Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Madonna, Rosie O’Donnell, Anne Ramsay, and a terrific ensemble of women as the contend with sexism and heartbreak while trying to entertaining the masses during a difficult time in US history.

The performances are terrific and Hanks leans into the somewhat unlikeable Jimmy Dugan whose irritation with his team eventually grows into affection. Meanwhile, the film is a showcase for Davis who was coming off her Oscar-nominated role in Thelma & Louise was one of the top working actors in Hollywood and she more than made the case with this film. Penny Marshall’s directorial skills were never in doubt after this film, bringing the film the needed sense of female empowerment, patriotism, and good old fashioned storytelling.

No original review available.

Philadelphia (1993)

Although it’s frustrating when straight actors play gay characters, at the time of Jonathan Demme’s Philadelphia, being out in Hollywood was a one-way ticket to obscurity. It was also a period when the AIDS crisis was finally getting global attention and support, but that didn’t make playing gay or an AIDS patient any less of a challenge. Yet, Hanks bravely took on the role of Andrew Beckett, a senior associated at a prestigious law firm in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When they discover that he has AIDS, the terminate him. While trying to act as his own lawyer, Joe Miller (Denzel Washington) agrees to defend him in court.

Needless to say two major stars like Hanks and Washington fronting a drama like this helped bring attention to the cause. Thanks to Hanks’ compassionate performance, he helped put a face and a struggle before the average American viewer helping to further demonstrate the need to protect a severely demeaned demographic. The film was a box office success and brought Hanks the first of his two Oscars for the role. It was also nominated for Original Screenplay, Makeup, and for two of its original songs. The one by Bruce Springsteen took home the gold. While the film could be considered overly manipulative at times, that helped endear it to audiences who might have otherwise easily dismissed it.

No original review available.

Apollo 13 (1995)

Before Ron Howard’s career took a creative nosedive, he turned out this terrific little docudrama about the failed 1970 lunar mission Apollo 13. Hanks stars as astronaut Jim Lovell while Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, and Hanks’ Forrest Gump co-star Gary Sinise as the endangered crew of the mission while Ed Harris leads NASA’s Ground Control crew. The film was based on the non-fiction book Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13 by Lovell and journalist Jeffrey Kluger. It was adapted by William Broyles Jr.

A tightly spun, riveting story, Apollo 13 was a box office hit and was applauded by critics. The Academy nominated it for nine Oscars, including Best Picture and citations for Harris and Kathleen Quinlan as Lovell’s wife. The shock of the season came when eventual DGA Award winner Howard was snubbed by the Academy’s directing branch, a major issue considering the film’s huge nomination count. Two of the film’s best attributes, its editing and sound design, were recognized with Oscars, but ignoring Howard led to the egregious victory he claimed for A Beautiful Mind six years later. Hanks, as always, was a terrific presence in the film.

No original review available.

That Thing You Do! (1996)

Many actors step behind the camera at least once in their careers, but few of them create the kind of great cinematic achievement they are looking for. Hanks came pretty close as a director when he helmed and starred in this exploration of 1960s boy bands and the struggles of fame. That Thing You Do! focuses on the Wonders whose rise to popularity is the result of a single song. The one-hit wonder tours and builds on that success, but undercurrents threaten to tear the band apart. Hanks plays the band’s manager, but spends most of his time behind the camera showing the audience the events as they unfold.

The actors that make up the band, Tom Everett Scott, Johnathon Schaech, Steve Zahn, and Ethan Embry, are all solid performers as are Liv Tyler and Charlize Theron as love interests. The film feels as if it were made in the 1960s, hearkening back to a bygone era of filmmaking. There’s little doubt that Hanks had that intention when making this. The infectiousness of the title track also aids in propelling the story forward. While it might not be the grand achievement Charles Laughton’s directorial debut, it’s still one of the better actor-turned-director efforts and it’s a shame he hasn’t done more of it since.

My Original Review

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Although Steven Spielberg had tried for years to be thought of as more than just a blockbuster filmmaker, it took until 1993’s Schindler’s List for him to finally get the recognition he deserved. Five years later, he took another bite at the apple and turned in strong work in his depiction of other horrors of World War II. This one takes place during and after Battle of Normandy as an Army captain, Hanks, and his squad, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Adam Goldberg, and Jeremy Davies, as they search for a downed paratrooper, Matt Damon, the last surviving member of his family of servicemen.

The film’s most glorious and harrowing sequence is the landing of Omaha Beach. It shows the horrors of war in graphic detail, giving them film a patriotic, yet anti-war feeling. That scene is one of the finest war sequences ever filmed and resulted in a deserved Oscar for longtime Spielberg editor Michael Kahn. It was one of 11 Oscars the film was nominated for and one of the five the film won, including Spielberg’s second for directing. It was also thought to be a lock for the Best Picture Oscar as well, but the nefarious Harvey Weinstein had primed the pump for years to claim victory for Shakespeare in Love, a slight and inferior work. Hanks is dependably strong in the film, as are the rest of the cast. A triumph for Spielberg.

No original review available.