The career of Tom Hanks hasn’t been entirely defined by great movies, as Ron Howard’s Robert Langdon trilogy will attest, but you can always rely on the actor to give a performance that’s never anything less than solid.
Of course, that comes with the territory when you’re one of the all-time greats, and the star’s mere presence is more than enough to convince audiences that his latest project is worth checking out.
That being said, one of his most polarizing outings ever came in Cloud Atlas, the labyrinthine literary adaptation spearheaded by the Wachowskis and Tom Twyker. The sci-fi epic under-performed at the box office and split the opinion of both critics and the general public right down the middle, but Hanks holds a special place in his heart for the ambitious misfire.
When asked to rank his Top 3 Tom Hanks movies on the Bill Simmons Podcast, the 65 year-old plumped for A League of Their Own, Cast Away and Cloud Atlas, before explaining his fondness for the latter.
“We shot on a hope and a dream and nothing but a circle of love. But the work itself, we were part of this big, massive ensemble. Fantastic people who were just trying to do the hardest, best work on a deep throw…that whole movie was such a deep throw that making it was magical.”
Hanks played Dr. Henry Goose, an unnamed hotel manager, Isaac Sachs, Dermot Hoggins, Cavendish Lookalike Actor, and Zachry in Cloud Atlas, and while none of them could be considered among his best turns, it’s gained appreciation as an unsung cult favorite over the years, but may experience a resurgence now that America’s Dad is touting its merits.