The only movie Tom Hanks watches “a couple of times a year”
For 40 years, Tom Hanks has dazzled audiences with his versatile acting talent. Working under the direction of all-time greats such as Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Robert Zemeckis, The Wachowskis, Ron Howard and the Coen brothers, Hanks has proven himself capable of leading major productions to both financial and critical glory.
Hanks’ career reached an early peak in the early 1990s when he won two Academy Awards for ‘Best Actor’ at back-to-back ceremonies. The first was for his poignant role in 1993’s Philadelphia opposite Denzel Washington, while the second came for his iconic titular role in Forrest Gump. Hanks joined the late Spencer Tracy as the only other actor to have won two consecutive ‘Best Actor’ trophies and remains so to this day.
Having worked on such an expansive catalogue of classic movies helmed by some of Hollywood’s most revered filmmakers, Hanks will have few regrets whenever he decides to retire. However, the actor undoubtedly feels mixed emotions when watching Stanley Kubrick’s 1999 swansong, Eyes Wide Shut.
Before the then-married couple Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were cast in the erotic drama, several other big names were floated for the leading roles. Based on the 1926 novella Dream Story by Arthur Schnitzler, the Eyes Wide Shut project had simmered in Kubrick’s notepad for the best part of three decades.
According to David Mikics’ biography, Stanley Kubrick: American Filmmaker, the late director had originally planned to cast a comedic actor in the lead male role. “In the seventies, Kubrick fantasized about casting an actor in Dream Story who would have a comedian’s resilience, imagining Steve Martin or Woody Allen in the leading role,” Mikics wrote. “In a notebook from the eighties, he listed a series of possible leading men, including Dustin Hoffman, Bill Murray, Tom Hanks and Sam Shepherd.”
Alas, the wind changed, and Kubrick went for a less comedic leading man in Tom Cruise, relying on a real marriage to fuel the erotic story’s authenticity. Although Hanks may not have known his name appeared in Kubrick’s notepad in the 1980s, when the knowledge finally arrived, his mind would have been congested with elation and “what ifs”.
Born in 1956, Hank grew up in the 1960s, a time when Kubrick ruled the roost with four universally acclaimed movies: Spartacus, Lolita, Dr Strangelove, and the prophetic sci-fi masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Why did Hanks love Kubrick so much?
On several occasions, Hanks has voiced his keen admiration for Kubrick, who sadly passed away in March 1999, prior to the release of his final movie. Although the innovative director’s artistic approach endeared Hanks to most of his filmography, 1968’s 2001: A Space Odyssey stands proud as one of the actor’s all-time favourite movies.
In an interview with Letterboxd earlier in 2023, Hanks revealed the full extent of his obsession with the movie. “I still watch it a couple of times a year,” he said. “I could walk you through 2001: A Space Odyssey and not stop talking once during the entire film.”
More than 50 years after its premiere, 2001: A Space Odyssey remains a work of visual philosophy and a cinematic mystery. The 1968 epic, which was directed by Kubrick and co-developed with science fiction author Arthur C Clarke, is widely regarded as one of the finest works of film. This assertion is both unassailable and frightening, so it is unsurprising that Hanks revisits it so often.
It’s because of this stature that Hanks himself admitted he would have been wary to meet Kubrick. “I’d like to talk to him,” Hanks said, but added, “I would have been too afraid to meet him. You don’t want to meet your idols.”
“He would build the set; he would wait till it was right,” Hanks said. “He’d rewrite things, and the crews were small, it wasn’t expensive… And out of that, he created probably, you know… five or six of the greatest motion pictures of all time.”
Upon release, 2001 divided critics and baffled audiences. Yet, over time, it has become a benchmark not only for science fiction but for what cinema can achieve. It refuses to age because its concerns—technology, evolution, humanity’s place in the cosmos—are eternal. Even its silences feel radical, daring the viewer to sit in awe of the vastness on screen.
2001 is ultimately not a story in the conventional sense. It’s an experience that calls for perseverance, consideration, and a readiness to face uncertainty. It is intimidating, humbling, and incredibly transforming to watch, much like looking into the abyss. It serves as a reminder that, at its best, the film can transport viewers not just through time and space but also into the most profound issues facing humanity—and for Tom Hanks, that’s a repeated journey.
