This Is Tom Hanks' Worst Movie, According To 20% Of People
There are actors, and there are legends. Tom Hanks indisputably exists within the latter category. The two-time Academy Award winner has charmed and captivated audiences for the better part of four decades. From the cross-dressing television comedy "Bosom Buddies" to his most recent film "News of the World," Hanks has starred in several of cinema's greatest films. He tackled romantic comedies like "Sleepless in Seattle," war epics like "Saving Private Ryan," and heartbreaking dramas like "Philadelphia" with a grace and believability few actors could ever dream of attaining. With such a vast and diverse resume, it's impressive how few true "flops" appear among his acting credits. Even his worst-reviewed movie, 2017's "The Circle," which has a dismal 15% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, still managed to more than double its $18 million budget (via Box Office Mojo).
Of course, with so many varied roles in myriad genres, there's bound to be a few movies that, while still good, don't compare to Hanks' biggest hits. Looper recently conducted a poll asking Americans which Tom Hanks film is "the worst," and the results are interesting.
The Terminal and The Circle were the least bad of the worst
Of the 537 respondents, 10.99% said the 2004 dramedy "The Terminal" is Hanks' worst film. The film centers around Hanks' character Viktor Navorski, an Eastern European national who finds himself stuck in NYC's JFK airport, unable to enter the US and unable to return home. Directed by fellow legend Steven Spielberg, "The Terminal" was well-received by critics, earning a 61% favorable score on Rotten Tomatoes. The film also did well at the box office, earning nearly $220 million against a budget of $60 million (via Box Office Mojo).
The aforementioned "The Circle," based on the Dave Eggers book of the same name, earned 14.9% of the vote. The high-concept techno-thriller saw Hanks play Eamon Bailey, the CEO of a tech and social media company, opposite Emma Watson's Mae Holland, an employee at the company. "The Circle" explores the boundaries of privacy in our modern online world and the cost of crossing those boundaries.
Larry Crowne and Angels & Demons also weren't the worst
Earning 16.57% of participants' votes is "Larry Crowne." Hanks, who also wrote and directed the 2011 romantic comedy, stars opposite Julia Roberts. Hanks plays the titular character, an unemployed divorcee who enrolls in the local community college in hopes of turning his life around. There he meets Roberts' Mercedes Tainot, a speech professor in an unhappy marriage. Critics were none too kind to the film, which currently holds a 37% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Perhaps due to the teaming of Hanks and Roberts, the box office take doubled the film's budget (via Box Office Mojo).
"Angels & Demons," the 2009 follow-up to 2006's box office smash "The Da Vinci Code" comes in as the third worst Hanks film with 18.81% of the votes. Finding "Angels & Demons" on the list is not too surprising given the performance of most sequels, which rarely match the success of a franchise's first film. Though critics panned the film – it holds a 37% favorable score on Rotten Tomatoes - audiences still flocked to see Hanks again play Robert Langdon, the symbologist who unravels arcane mysteries and modern conspiracies.
Cloud Atlas and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close were considered the worst two
The Hanks film respondents declared as his second-worst movie with 19.18% of the votes is 2012's "Cloud Atlas." Based on the genre-defying book by David Mitchell, "Cloud Atlas" faced the unenviable task of bringing to the screen a complex literary masterpiece that involves numerous timelines and reincarnated souls that cross gender, race, and ethnicity. Despite the best efforts of directors Lana and Lily Wachowski and Tom Tykwer, and an all-star cast of Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, and Susan Sarandon, "Cloud Atlas" did not become the blockbuster movie many expected. Though critics gave the film a 66% favorable score on Rotten Tomatoes, it was a box office disappointment, earning only $130 million against a budget of over $100 million (via Box Office Mojo and IMDb).
Now, we come to the Hanks movie that earned 19.55% of the vote, making it the worst Hanks film according to the survey's participants. Released in 2011, "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" is based on Jonathan Safran Foer's award-winning book of the same name. Hanks is joined by Sandra Bollock, and the two play parents to introverted Oskar, who embarks on a riddle-and-clue hunt after his father's death in the September 11th attacks. The film received mostly negative reviews from critics (via Rotten Tomatoes). Despite earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, audiences tended to stay away from the film, which had a budget of $40 million and earned only $55 million at the box office (via The Hollywood Reporter and Box Office Mojo).