Tom Hanks has transformed himself from the party dude of Bachelor Party to the romantic lead of Sleepless in Seattle to the war hero of Saving Private Ryan to the six different characters he plays, amusingly, in Cloud Atlas.
With over 80 acting credits to his name, it’s hard to choose the best Tom Hanks titles. Today we take a look at the best Tom Hanks movies…
26. Punchline (1988)
Punchline confused audiences and critics when it came out because it was a movie about stand-up comedy that was not all that funny. That was by design, though, and the film has aged better than you might think. Hanks plays a struggling stand-up comedian who comes across a housewife (Sally Field) trying out on open-mic nights who turns out to be pretty good. Hanks resents her success but also cares for her — and, as the movie hints, he has some emotional instability issues of his own. Hanks isn’t much of a stand-up comic — you never buy that he’s any good — but he gets at the desperation at the heart of showbiz. It’s a better performance, and movie, than people appreciated at the time.
