Tom Hanks names the most pointless movie of his career: “It isn’t about anything”
Although he’s one of the greatest actors of our generation, Tom Hanks has had his share of box office bombs.
We might celebrate him for his incredible nuance on screen, in any genre and style of storytelling, or his knack for stepping into the shoes of any character, regardless of whether he’s had the same experiences or challenges in his own life, and we might regard him as one of the greatest emotional vessels of all time, or as someone who can pull it out of the bag more times than not, but he most certainly has had his share of the lesser-known failures that we love to gloss over.
And this doesn’t include those that sparked their own distinctive discussions, whether for stylistic or controversial reasons, like Forrest Gump, which some people consider more politically tone-deaf than revolutionary. Or even ones like Big, which, when you really think about it, doesn’t really age all that well in the broader discussions about age regression and consent.
This instead includes those that flat-out don’t make sense or don’t seem to have any plot whatsoever, like Hanks’ 1985 comedy film The Man with One Red Shoe, in which Hanks plays a man who unexpectedly becomes the target of the CIA after being mistaken for a spy. Thematically, it tried to tick all the boxes – comedic relief, cultural relevance, contextual resonance, and so on. But instead, it just about managed to miss the mark on every single one.
As such, it was a complete box office disappointment. Most people struggled because it wasn’t funny at all, and not even Hanks’ usual charm seemed enough to distract from the fact that the plot fell flat. Critic Roger Ebert even gave the film one star, saying that the lack of comedy is the main reason why it failed on all counts.
As he scathingly put it, “If The Man with One Red Shoe had been funny, it wouldn’t have mattered that it was a witless remake. But it is not funny, and that, I guess, is that.”
Funnily enough, Hanks himself doesn’t much care for the movie either. In fact, in a previous discussion with Playboy, the actor made it clear that he’d rather the film have never existed at all. “Not a very good movie,” he said. “It doesn’t have any real, clear focus to it. It isn’t about anything particularly that you can honestly understand. It made no money at all.”
As someone with a clear streak of hallmark Hollywood movies, and who particularly respects the ones that challenged him the most, it’s clear why Hanks doesn’t especially rate The Man with One Red Shoe. After all, it’s one thing that he didn’t like the story or anything else about the film itself, and another that it performed excruciatingly badly, which, as any actor knows, is always the cherry on top of the cake.
Nonetheless, the film’s failures did little to diminish Hanks’ legacy. In fact, some might argue that it’s those lesser-known trashy gems that make his legacy all the more charming – especially when you accidentally come across one and enjoy it despite its shortcomings. Either way, it’s also a sign of a good, well-adjusted actor when they dismiss their own work, no matter how major their reputation is.
