Which 4 of His Movies Do You Think Tom Hanks Considers “Pretty Good”?

Tom Hanks is one of the most beloved actors in the world.  For such a big star he really looks pretty humble.

In an interview, Tom Hanks casually mentioned that he’d “made a ton of movies (and four of them are pretty good, I think)”.

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Obviously, Tom has way, way more than just four “pretty good” movies. But, I thought it would be fun to play this out. Let’s forget that he was probably just being modest for a moment and PRETEND that Tom Hanks really thinks he only made four pretty good movies.

What do you think they would be? Not “which Tom Hanks movies do YOU think are the best”. Which movies do you think TOM himself considers his four best?

I’ve thought this over and I’ve come up with the top THREE movies that I think Tom would put in his top four but I’m really stuck on the fourth one. So, here are my three picks that I think Mr. Hanks would agree on:

1.)    Forest Gump

I recently watched Forest Gump for the first time in about a decade. It really, really holds up well. It has aged very gracefully and I think it should be in the top four

2.)    Saving Private Ryan

To this day the opening scene on Omaha Beach is still the most gut-wrenching depiction of the confusion and horror of war.  It clearly earns a spot.

3.)    Philadelphia

Full disclosure here: I’ve never actually SEEN Philadelphia.  I know it’s about AIDS, Denzel Washington is in it and it won Hanks the first of his two consecutive Best Actor Oscars. So, it’s probably in the top four.

Now, this is where I get stuck. Not because I can’t think of another great Tom Hanks movie. Because there are SO MANY to choose from, do you go with Apollo 13? It was a big hit with critics and at the box office.  Cast Away? He got ANOTHER Oscar nomination for that one and, for most of it, he was playing opposite a bloody volleyball! How about Captain Phillips? Sully? TOY STORY!?!?

Megan says That Thing You Do should be considered and I don’t necessarily disagree.  How about A League of Their Own? In an incredible ensemble cast, he was STILL one of the best parts.

Oh, and that self-deprecating quote about “four pretty good movies”?  That was from an interview about his first novel called, “The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece” which will be out in May of 2023.

From the description of the book, it sounds like it will probably be turned into…another major motion picture masterpiece. Gee, I wonder who they could get to star in it.