The Man With One Red Shoe.

Nuff said.

OK, points for remembering Mazes and Monsters, but WTF?? No Splash? No Big? No Bachelor Party? No manic depressive comedian in that otherwise crappy movie with Sally Field? The whole Hanks-when-he-was-funny oeuvre is missing! No soup for you.

Best role--producer of "Band of Brothers!" And "Bosom Buddies" had some charm, back in the day!

Thanks for including Hanks' role as Jimmy Dugan! Only someone as awesome as Tom Hanks can pull off calling an umpire "a penis with a little hat on". Gold!

I have to agree with Surly Girl! Splash? Big? Where were they on this list?
I also have to note, I grew up watching Bosom Buddies and I still have a very difficult time taking Tom seriously.
The only thing I think I can agree upon is your take on Forrest Gump. I thought I was the only one out there that is still peeved that there are 2 more hours of my life I will never get back.

Yep, yep, agreed with those who say Sleepless in Seattle. He's funny and sweet, and the way he mocks Rita Wilson's character by joking about her 'chick flick' and then saying he cried while watching 'The Dirty Dozen' (with bomb-dropping sound effects and mock tears) makes me laugh every single freaking time.

Splash... wow, I haven't watched that in years, but I remember loving him in that. I wonder if that performance holds up. I'd have to rewatch it.

And yay to Anonymous for reminding me of his Uncle Ned performance on Family Ties. Awesome.

P.S. Though I agree that I'd never like a guy who destroyed my business (a la Tom's character in You've Got Mail), I still liked that movie. What can I say, I must have been in a sappy mood when I first saw it. Besides, in real life I would probably never love his Jimmy Dugan character either, because he's essentially a drunken crabby jerk, but Tom sells the role. (Oh, how I love that movie League of Their Own. So good.)

Plus, if anyone could get you to forgive him for being an ass, it would probably be Tom Hanks. He's wonderful. :D

On the wretched list, make room for Nothing in Common, a movie which paired Hanks with Jackie Gleason -- and made both of them desperately unfunny as a father and son dealing with each other before Dad croaks.

Hope Tom gets out of his current similar trough of bad character choices before something that awful comes around again.

As for good, his record exec in That Thing You Do! was so much better than the movie -- the right combination of smiling insincerity and nut-cracking viciousness. The Wonders never had a chance, with that guy in charge of their contract.

What about Apollo 13?? I thought he did a fantastic job for that one.

Another vote for Apollo 13. Awesome movie and I loved him in that.

My favorite part of Joe vs the Volcano is when the workers are forlornly marching into the "home of the rectal probe" and they manage to crush the lone flower that has managed to push up through the sidewalk. The whole first part of the movie is priceless if you have ever worked for a soul-sucking employer.

And I absolutely agree with "A League of Their Own" and "Toy Story".

But I would add "Philadelphia" to my favorites list.

How can you not list "Man with One Red Shoe" as one of his best and "Castaway" as one of the worst? And "Davinci Code" sucked too.

I think "Road to Perdition" needs to be on this list. One of my top three Tom Hanks movies.

Julia Roberts gave a pretty good summary of Hank's career. Here is the report of the occasion:

Roberts' rude tribute to pal Hanks
Julia Roberts paid a bizarre X-rated tribute to acting pal Tom Hanks at a New York gala in his honor on Monday night (27Apr09).

Hanks was the guest of honor at the Film Society of Lincoln Center Gala Tribute, attended by a star-studded audience of friends and former colleagues.

After entertainment, including a performance by Bruce Springsteen and his wife Patti Scialfa, Roberts, who appeared alongside Hanks in 2007 movie Charlie Wilson's War, stepped onstage to toast her pal with a hilarious, foul-mouthed rant.

After starting with the line, "OK, it's late and I'm paying my babysitter overtime and I have to pee," the Pretty Woman star noted, "Everybody f**king likes you", and then complimented Hanks' wife Rita Wilson's breasts, figure and perfect butt before giving a critique of some of the star's less acclaimed movies.

She joked, "Tom Hanks, what the f**k? Bosom buddies, people... (I'm a) big fan, big fan. I saw Turner and Hooch, The Money Pit... You in the airport with the accent (The Terminal) - it was a pass for me."
She then added, "I'm wearing the same fucking dress, tonight, as your publicist!"

But Roberts ended on a sincere note, telling Hanks and the audience, "I love you. You do something that two other people on the planet do... Tom can walk into any room and make you feel like you're in your living room, make you feel comfortable... make you feel like there's a reason you're on the planet. That's a true gift. That's not acting... it's heart and compassion."

Criminal omissions -
Best: Money Pit, That Thing You Do
Worst: Castaway

What about his role in Bachelor Party? Good or Bad?
Wasn't that his first movie?

casst away...he was brillant in that film

"Very exciting... as a luggage problem! "

I love, love, love Joe vs. the Volcano. My family has watched this film at least 50 times - one Christmas alone we watched it almost non-stop for three days. I am so glad that over the years it has finally gotten the respect that it deserves.

John Patrick Shanley deserves huge kudos for this wonderful, Shakespearean-type comedy. A reporter once asked me, in a story about homestyle Catholicism, what was my favorite Catholic film, and I said "Joe vs. the Volcano, without a doubt." I once showed it on retreat.

Great musical score, also.

I also want to say Terminal for worst. It was like watching Mr. Beans holiday all over again.

Again, you obviously can't include all of his movies on this list, but as far as memorable performances go, I'm surprised no one's listed Catch me if you can *or* the Terminal.

I never even made it through the first half hour of Forrest Gump. Anyone who could have sat through that whole thing deserves to have his Oscar more than he does.

Gosh, I never realised until looking at this list just how many films old Kip-I-mean-Buffy had done over the years.

I always thought I hated Tom Hanks. Not the person, but the roles he chose -- I agree with the comments about Forrest Gump, I don't know how people got through that movie; and Castaway was also laughably ridiculous. Not into romcoms so I never saw his Meg Ryan movies. And Philadelphia wasn't memorable for me, either way.

But I did notice a lot of movies from commenters that I liked -- The Money Pit, Bachelor Party, The Burbs, yeah, even the Man with One Red Shoe. Of course, I haven't seen these in decades, but I guess I was a fan of his comedies.

Bonfire of the Vanities anyone? A blazingly bit of miscasting.