Category: Revision Candidate

Here’s something out of left-field: A small, indie romantic drama starring baby-faced Tom Hanks — his first ever dramatic role, excluding TV movies.

The sequel to The Da Vinci Code is, confusingly, based off of the first book in the series, with a byproduct not common of genres sequels:

Captain Phillips’ biggest strength — beyond even its technical competence and almost unceasing tension — is the tightrope it walks with the Somali pirates.

Philadelphia is pretty much the best-case scenario for an Oscar-bait film: A movie, beneath its preachiness, that is beautiful, lovingly-made, and deeply-felt.

Rose-tinted nostalgia shouldn’t be that difficult to nail: Find a non-horrible kid actor; pipe in a soundtrack of retro jams; spin some episodic coming-of-age shenanigans with a few “that wouldn’t fly today!” twists; and bring it home with a treacly voiceover about the “good ‘ol days.” Bam! Thumbs up!

A League of Their Own is pretty close to the best possible version of itself: It is well-cast and well-directed. The lines are impeccably delivered. The tone is a just-right blend of cynical, smart, and sweet. It’s a big meal of comfort food even if it never quite ascends into greatness.

Buried early in Tom Hanks’ filmography is a a light drama about comedians with broken personal lives.

Sometimes it’s a relief to watch a movie that’s exactly what it says on the tin.

Back before Hollywood had properly figured out the Tom Hanks everyman persona, Volunteers provided a goofy little lark where Hanks plays a totally different type of protagonist.