The Year of Hanks

Last night I had the privilege of attending an interview with Tom Hanks at USC by NPR's David Greene discussing Hanx's recently-released collection of short stories, Uncommon Type .  I find it difficult to put into words what this evening meant to me. I honestly can't recall the moment my (figuratively and platonically speaking, please don't come after me, Rita Wilson) love affair with Tom Hanks started. I don't remember what movie it was that pushed me over the line from, "Hey, this guy makes pretty decent stuff," to, "This guy. This guy. He's my utter and absolute favorite." I don't know when it was that I realized the level of deep respect and admiration that I had for him as a performer and all-around human being. Nearly (although not all, as we have seen) every movie he's been in has been well-received. The man has never, ever found himself on the business end of a scandal or the front page of a tabloid. Until now, howev...

"Damn it, why can't you look terrible? I've been out walking the streets trying to convince myself I wasn't in love with you and I come back here and you're barefoot and you're adorable." Tom Hanks is pretty well known for being the penultimate nice guy in Hollywood, which is a tough thing to be in an industry as cutthroat as filmmaking is. He's good to his fans, always happy to pose for a picture or have one of his famous lines quoted back to him. He even jokingly (or not, fingers crossed) pledged to run for Vice President of the United States with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as the presidential candidate. A cursory Google search yields countless stories of the charming, funny, endearing things he's done. Even if, for whatever reason, you don't care for his movies, it's hard not to admire the man himself for his character. I've always wondered what kind of person could possibly not like Tom Hanks. Tonight, I found out. ...

"You got a girl there? Anybody you know?" This is yet another chapter in the book of Hanks films that seemed like a great idea, but that I'd never heard of. Of course, there's always a reason for that. The premise was very promising. A young, somewhat immature advertising executive (Hanx) finds himself juggling his burgeoning career while attempting to navigate the recent separation of his parents, and in particular looking in on his father Max  (Jackie Gleason) , your typical grumpy old man. Garry Marshall directed; Eva Marie Saint, Hector Elizondo, and Sela Ward costarred. Sounding great so far. Oh, and the music, the delicious 80s transitional instrumental themes are positively glorious in this movie.  Hanx plays David Basner, a brilliant ad exec and a bit of a playboy who has just received a promotion  in his firm  and an office with a view. His colleagues celebrate by presenting him with a bottle of Windex (y'know, for that big ol' window) ...

"Mr. Shrapp? Hi, Walter Fielding... Hey, watch what you say about my mother, now." Now we're getting to the good stuff. It's really not great to be Walter Fielding. His father takes off with the money from the business and his new young bride, leaving his son to pick up the pieces. He lives with his commitmentphobe girlfriend Anna (Shelley Long) in an apartment belonging to her conductor ex-husband Max (Alexander Godunov), who, surprise surprise, has just returned from overseas ahead of schedule, forcing Walter and Anna to vacate and find new lodgings PDQ. They find a gorgeous old mansion on the market for a price that seems too good to be true, and... well, we all know how that turns out. The ensuing 91 minutes see Walter faced with crooked contractors, an angry building inspector, his unease over Max's overtures toward Anna, all played out against the backdrop of a crumbling ruin of a manor that seems hellbent on killing him. This is the Hanks I...