Tom hanks in cast away movie#

Hanks, meanwhile, never brings attention to the despair of his character. These scenes never quite work because we’re always set-up to view Smith’s behavior as unnatural, with every action and line he delivers appearing as a cry of desperation. Throughout his neighborhood, Smith has set up mannequins whom he interacts with as though they were his actual neighbors, asking about their days and even flirting with one of them at a video store. Like Hanks in Cast Away, Smith turns to inanimate objects for both companionship and normalcy in an extreme situation.

Tom hanks in cast away movie#

Upon rewatching, I thought back to another “star in isolation” movie that employs a similar technique, I Am Legend, in which Will Smith is the last survivor in New York City after deadly pandemic (timely, huh?). However, the movie still miraculously makes it work. On paper, there’s arguably an absurdity in the idea of him using a volleyball with a smiley-faced bloodstain as a form of companionship. Take the scenes in Cast Away of Hanks interacting with Wilson. That’s what makes his reactions feel genuine. Hanks is rarely playing to the back of the rafters but subtly honing in on the emotional truth of the scene. He’s always been an actor whose most significant strength is his everyman quality, brought about by gentleness and lack of showmanship in his acting. Lack of Showmanshipīut it’s the ease by which Hanks weaves in and out of these various emotions that’s most impressive. Simply put, he’s playing the character and not the pain. There’s confusion, longing, and even moments of brief celebration.

His emotions extend far beyond the physical and mental toll of being stuck on that island.

While Cast Away indeed contains moments of suffering, including a collision between Hanks’ tooth and a pair of ice skates that might be my greatest dental nightmare, Hanks always manages to imbue the movie with humanity. Every moment feels like hands waving, screaming, “Hey, over here, look how much I’m suffering for my art!” It’s partially why something like The Revenant doesn’t quite work, despite its technical brilliance.

Most actors would make this a movie about suffering as if to telegraph the hardships that went into making the picture, and by extension, making you respect the effort more. However, as I thought more about other films in the same vein as Cast Away, I began to notice a distinct difference from the way other stars play these roles as opposed to Hanks. It’s the magnetism of the performer and his or her relationship with the audience that has to hold the film together. Magnetismįilms about isolation are often the truest test of one’s caliber as a movie star because there are no distractions. For one, this year marks the picture’s 20th anniversary, making it a timely revisit, but it is also quite possibly the most stripped away movie Hanks has ever been in. Just as Rogers was emotionally vulnerable in his program, so is Hanks in his performances, and there’s arguably no better performance to see this gift at work than Cast Away. As it turns out, “good,” as my family would describe him, is not a mere judge of acting ability but rather a gentleness and approachability that Hanks has on screen. He may not look or sound anything like Rogers, but they share a similar aura of goodness. Rogers in the picture Won’t You Be My Neighbor last Thanksgiving, a film that’s narrative choices aren’t up to its stylistic ambitions but does provide a clever piece of casting in Hanks. That was the response among my family after seeing Hanks portray Mr. So, yes, we know Tom Hanks is a treasure, all you had to do was see the outpouring of concerned responses to his coronavirus contraction back in March, but do we truly have a grasp on why he’s so beloved? “He’s good he’s always good.” DeMille award at this year’s Golden Globes, and has embraced the mantle of “America’s Dad.” Let me ask you something: Do we undervalue Tom Hanks? I can, of course, hear your replies now, talking about how he has two Oscars, won a Cecil B.