Forest Gump (1995)
The voices critical of this film, which there are, have always misinterpreted its message: it is a heartfelt satire on everything Society considers to be intelligent and everything it believes to be important. The author of the novel on which the film is based always thought that the best actor to play Forrest was John Goodman. Robert Zemeckis thought earlier of Bill Paxton -with whom Hanks curiously coincides in Apollo 13 and years later in The Circle- and of Bill Murray than of Hanks. With Paxton, we would have taken Forrest too seriously. With Murray, just the opposite. Hanks was the perfect measure of naivety and irony. John Goodman would have been fine to educate, as would Bill Paxton. Murray would certainly have been great to entertain. Hanks' theory of three o'clock is fulfilled.
Philadelphia (1993)
The movie will be as predictable as you want it to be, but there's an immediate connection to Tom Hanks' character. The role of Andrew Beckett was first offered to Daniel-Day Lewis. If you think about it, it was a good choice to give weight to a drama of this type, but what is not so clear is that this same actor would have gotten the public to agree to identify with the character, which is what Hanks achieves. With any other actor, it would have been a good movie, but we would have been less involved.
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Harrison Ford or Mel Gibson wouldn't have given him the moral dimension that Tom Hanks gives Captain Miller. Hanks's eyes become our eyes, watching his men die. Ford and Gibson would have given us a hero, of course, but they would not have put a human being at the center of barbarism.
Castaway (2000)
Tom Hanks offered us an image of the castaway different from the idea of Robinson Crusoe: what we would be like if we were castaways (and, of course, we survived more than five minutes). His ability to peel away layers of the onion of identity is a lesson in acting.
Toy Story 1, 2, 3, and 4 (1995, 1999, 2010, and 2019)
Yes, we have put them all together (and we left out the short ones, but if they went, they would go here too). We couldn't decide on one of them, so together they go. Woody, we have already told you on occasion, is Pixar's Captain America and it is thanks to Tom Hanks.
Catch Me If You Can (2002)
When Carl Hanratty is onstage you forget about everything else. You're wanting me to catch Frank Abagnale Jr. so he can save you. You don't want Frank to run away, you want his destiny to meet with Hanratty so that his life can be changed forever. Are you sure we would feel the same if he were another actor?
