Top 10 Tom Hanks co-stars

Michael Shannon: "But he didn't do anything. He was like a racoon".

Bit of an unfairly brutal asessment from Shannon, but I don't think it was a performance that neccesiated an Oscar either.

He's got Idris Elba's Oscar.  Failing that, it should have gone to Jason Mitchell for Straight Outta Compton. Of the nominees, I'd have given it to Ruffalo or Stallone.

Needless to say, as much as I respect Rylance, I thought his was a mediocre win, buoyed by his reputation as arguably the best theatre actor working today. Shannon was too harsh, but there was a kernel of truth to his criticism. There were way too many stronger supporting performances for the Oscar to default to Rylance that year.

The ranking is based on the combination of the performances of these people and the way their interactions with Hanks worked for me:

1. Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
2. Leonardo DiCaprio, Catch Me If You Can
3. Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks
4. Robin Wright, Forrest Gump
5. Meryl Streep, The Post
6. Meg Ryan, Sleepless in Seattle
7. Denzel Washington, Philadelphia
8. Meg Ryan, You've Got Mail
9. Michael Clarke Duncan, The Green Mile
10. Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips

HM to the whole damn ensemble in A League of Their Own.

A couple of these may seem weird because they don't spend much time with Hanks on the screen (DiCaprio, Ryan in Sleepless in Seattle) but for me a great co-star isn't only someone who's literally in the same scene with you but also someone with whom a great chemistry is created even when they're separate from each other. I feel that both Catch Me If You Can and Sleepless in Seattle work so well because of how the co-stars fill and energize each others' performances even if they're not together on the screen at the same time.

Also, no spot for Meg Ryan?

She's like Hanks most iconic screen partnership by far... and multiple times. Omitting her feels like doing a top 10 list of Fred Astaire co-stars and forgetting Ginger Rogers.

I was tempted to do DiCaprio, but I felt that movie was more of a showcase for Leo (who was great), than Hanks having a great role to go toe to toe with DiCaprio. I almost felt like it was a role Hanks did as a favor for Steven Spielberg, because the part felt limited and generic for a star of Hanks calibre (to me anyway). And Christopher Walken stood out more, aside from DiCaprio. Hanks was good, but he's really there to support DiCaprio in a fairly basic role. I don't think Hanks got a great deal out of doing this movie, compared to DiCaprio.

I can see that, but I thought that Hanks and DiCaprio had great chemistry on-screen anytime they were together, and I'm such a big fan of the film, that I couldn't help but him at first. It's probably way too predictable coming from me, but that's okay.

 1/


2/ Robin Wright
3/ Sinise
4/ Rylance
5/ Ryan
6/ MCD
7/ Newman

1 Meg Ryan
2 Mark Rylance
3 Paul Newman
4 Michael Clarke Duncan
5 Leonardo DiCaprio
6 Barkad Abdi
7 Daryl Hannah
8 Gary Sinise
9 Dan Ackroyd
10 Robin W. Penn