What makes a movie great? Of course, a good script and good direction are vital points, but a movie is nothing without it’s actors. The commitment of the actors can make a great movie horrible or make a subpar movie a must see. It’s much easier for the big name actor to phone in his/her performance and just collect their substantial paycheck, but it takes a special kind of talent to be genuinely great in every movie they appear in. One such actor is the great Tom Hanks.

Tom Hanks has performed in a plethora of movies from the growling war movie Saving Private Ryan to the animated family flick Toy Story and even straight comedy like Big. What makes Tom Hanks stand out is his professionalism and just overall class as an actor. Now don’t get me wrong he has been in some pretty bad movies, but he has never sunk to the level of phoning it in because he wasn’t fully up to the task.

A good example of this is Denzel Washington, a multi time Oscar winner and well respected actor. Denzel has given completely breathtaking performances in movies like Training Day and John Q, but if the actor isn’t completely behind the script he will not give it his all. The best example of this is in his role in his first and only pure comedy to date, Heart Condition. It is obvious that Denzel is not giving it his all and is merely in it for his paycheck. Hanks gives his all in every performance he’s in. A great example of this is in The Suburbs, Hanks gives a stand out performance in an admittedly dull movie surrounded by a mediocre cast. What sets Hanks apart from all the other actors out there his ability to seemingly single handedly make any movie worth a watch.

Despite recently turning sixty Hanks has shown no sign of slowing down. Tom Hanks will definitely go down as one of the best actors of all time.