Tom Hanks’ film performances ranked

There are people who consider Forrest Gump among the best studio films ever produced, and there are folks who consider it perhaps the most overrated Oscar winner in history, up there with Crash and Around The World In 80 Days. Whether you love or hate the Robert Zemeckis-directed, decades-spanning dramedy, Hanks delivers a remarkable performance, investing himself fully in Forrest’s, well, everything: his physicality, naivete, honesty, chameleon-esque nature, yearning, adaptability, love for family and friends, and, yes, that accent. It’s a low-key tour de force that anchors the proceedings for the film’s expansive 142-minute running time. You buy fully into Forrest connecting with regular people all along his quirky journey, but also with Abbie Hoffman, John Lennon, and Richard Nixon. The most remarkable element of Hanks’ work isn’t that he sparked with Robin Wright, Sally Field, Mykelti Williamson, and especially Gary Sinise, but that he integrated his performance so seamlessly with Zemeckis’ Zelig-on-steroids CGI magic to make the aforementioned scenes with Hoffman, Lennon, Nixon, etc., so convincing. [Ian Spelling]