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People are seriously debating whether Tom Hanks has ever starred in a great movie

People are seriously debating whether Tom Hanks has ever starred in a great movie
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Sparked by end of year lists – and god knows what else, potentially boredom – people are starting to wonder whether beloved actor Tom Hanks has ever actually been in a good movie.

Yes, he’s been in many classic films – notably romcoms like Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail – but his breakout role was in Forrest Gump, widely considered to be a contemporary classic. But people on Twitter seem to be having a discussion about whether Hanks has actually had a good filmography – or just a prolific one – after an end of year list from Vulture, where Will Leitch and Tom Grierson ranked all of the films that Hanks has ever been in. Some would suggest that Hanks might be a versatile actor, but he does tend to play a version of the same person – well-intentioned, everyman – in every film.

This tweet seemed to be the match that lit the fire – which has continued to rage for several days.

Of course, no one’s arguing that every single movie that Hanks has played a role in is flawless – there is, after all, He Knows You’re Alone, Hanks’ film debut which was also a horror movie that knocked off Halloween very obviously. But his star turns in films like A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood – about Mr.Rogers, which came out last year – A League of their Own, and of course, Cast Away – would indicate that he’s a great actor who’s been in several great films.

People disagreed – as they are likely to do on Twitter – to varying degrees.

Some pointed out that great films can also be entertaining – they don’t have to be great in the most pretentious sense of the word.

Some asked whether it was just another way of demonstrating that taste was subjective.

Others pointed out that films like Toy Story might not be considered arthouse classics, but are definitely great.

But one tweet seemed to suggest that we should just leave this discussion behind in 2020.

Maybe it’s not a bad idea. After all, if two people can’t agree on whether Toy Story is a good movie or not (it is), then maybe all of these conversations won’t lead us anywhere particularly useful.

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