His most recent performance inCaptain Phillips, for instance, was comfortably one of his best.
And looking back on Hanks career, the path of increased boldness and range is easy to chart.
The man is a hero.
Well, to everyone but certain characters in his movies.
Here is our evidence file.
Inevitably, we talk about the endings to each of the films concerned, soSPOILERSlie ahead….
In this case, Elizabeth Perkins Susan Lawrence.
The middle part ofBigsees Perkins character learning as many life lessons as Hanks.
For Zoltar is the evil overlord of the film.
Its quite a haunting ending toBigin its own way.
The least she could expect?
Prison time, and lots of it.
Hes paired with a big slobbering dog, who turns his life upside down!
Its like that James Belushi film, just without the Alsatian and the car wash!
Life lessons are, of course, learned along the way.
The scene is set for a heartwarming mix of comedy, romance and drama.
Meg Ryans Annie Reed already has a boyfriend!
And hes played by Bill Pullman!
How can you not say a positive word about Bill Pullman?
Just look at Ryans face in the picture above.
Its as if she knows whats coming.
So lets cut straight to that.
He ends up with another character, a talk show host played by Jane Adams.
We can scrub this one from the list then.
But woah, woah, woah!
This time, Hanks character has a girlfriend!
Shes played by the brilliant Parker Posey!
And its she that gets the short shrift.
Its no way to treat Parker Posey.
Theyre lining up in this one.
- Every shrimp boat but Forrests.
We checked the DVD extras, but scenes showing their despair were nowhere to be found.
- Jenny, who gives Forrest a son, who turns out to be that kid fromThe Sixth Sense.
But that was down to old age, so well let Forrest off the hook on that one.
In Hanks defence, this one is based on a true story.
Viktor gets to go to America, Gupta gets to go to prison.
The collateral damage box duly ticked, the happy ending can ensue.
He plays a FedEx systems analyst, who finds himself marooned on an island in the middle of nowhere.
Time passes, Hanks gets hairy and thin, and friends are few and far between.
With good reason, as it turns out…
Well stop there.
This whole feature has got just a little too traumatic.
