Tom Hanks On His Filmography: “I Have Been In Some Movies That I Hate”

Over five decades and eighty films, Tom Hanks has steadily become one of Hollywood’s most estimable acting talents. But not even Hanks abides by every movie he’s done; in fact, he says only four of them are “pretty good,” and he hates a few of them, too.

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EW reports (via The New Yorker) that Hanks got frank with David Remnik in a new interview about the publication of his debut novel, “The Making Of Another Motion Picture Masterpiece.” “O.K., let’s admit this: We all have seen movies that we hate,” Hanks told Remnick. “I have been in some movies that I hate. You have seen some of my movies and you hate them.”  

Did Hanks disclose the films of his he secretly despises? No, but one wouldn’t expect the impeccably polite and professional actor to do so. Instead, he talked in the interview about what his novel is about: generally how a movie gets made and reaches the public, through several different “rubicon,” as Hanks call them. “The first Rubicon you cross is saying yes to the film,” Hanks explained. “Your fate is sealed. You are going to be in that movie. The second Rubicon is when you actually see the movie that you made. It either works and is the movie you wanted to make, or it does not work and it’s not the movie you wanted to make. That has nothing to do with Rubicon No. 3, the critical reaction to it.”

And then there’s the fourth and final Rubicon, how the picture does commercially. Hanks brought up his directorial debut, 1997’s “That Thing You Do!,” as an example of what happens when a film does well for the first three Rubicons and then fails on the final one. “I loved making that movie,” Hanks said of “That Thing You Do!.” I loved writing it, I loved being with it. I love all the people in it. When it came out, it was completely dismissed by the first wave of vox populi. It didn’t do great business… now it’s a cult classic. What was the difference between those two things? The answer is time.”

Can’t argue with that. But what films of Hanks does the actor loathe? Again, Hanks didn’t go into detail about that, but on “The Ringers: The Bill Simmons Podcast” two years ago the actor did name his three favorite Tom Hanks movies; “A League Of Their Own,” “Cast Away,” and “Cloud Atlas.” That final one is a head-scratcher, considering how poorly it did both critically and commercially, but Hanks stands by the film: “making it was magical,” he said. 

So let’s make some guesses on Tom Hanks’ least favorite movies in his filmography.  Brian De Palma‘s disastrous adaptation of “The Bonfire Of The Vanities” is a no-brainer. So is The Coen Brothers‘ “The Ladykillers,” their worst film by a mile. And let’s guess 2011’s “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” as another, because no one liked that movie at all. As for Hank’s next onscreen performance, he stars in Wes Anderson‘s “Asteroid City” in theaters later this month.