Tom Hanks’ 10 Best Pre-Oscar Comedies

Ever since his first Oscar win for playing an AIDS patient in Philadelphia, Tom Hanks has become deeply embedded in culture as one of America’s finest actors. His everyman quality, as well as the trust he instills in the audience, has led to career-defining roles ranging from socially inept protagonists to real-life heroes and beyond. Having collaborated with such filmmakers as Steven Spielberg, Robert Zemeckis, Clint Eastwood, and Paul Greengrass, Hanks has come a long way from his days as a popular comedic actor.

The following list looks back at Hanks’ ten best comedic roles before achieving an Oscar win in 1993. Most of the films on this list were produced at a time when the former sitcom star of Bosom Buddies was in league with the likes of Michael Keaton and James Belushi competing for similar 'mid-30s roles. While some of these films remain products of their time, others gave glimpses of Hanks’ ability to make audiences laugh and cry all at once.

10 ‘Dragnet’ (1987)

The classic ‘50s police procedural was given a comedic update for the ‘80s in the midst of the buddy-cop movie boom of the era. Headlined by Dan Aykroyd as Sgt. Joe Friday; Hanks co-stars in Dragnet as his young, carefree rookie partner, Pep Streebek. Together, the LAPD detectives investigate a series of thefts tied to the cult P.A.G.A.N. (People Against Goodness And Normalcy) and their leader, the Reverend Jonathan Whirley (Christopher Plummer).

Hanks was the perfect comedic foil to Aykroyd’s dry “just the facts, ma’am” approach to police work. As absurd as the premise is under the direction of James Bond franchise screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz, Hanks keeps his role grounded while leaning on the absurdity of twisting a once-serious cop show. He’s able to make any comedic bit in Dragnet into gold, whether he’s undercover as a mustached gangbanger or performing the film’s rap theme “City of Crime” alongside Aykroyd. The music video tie-in remains a campy highlight viewable online.

9 ‘Bachelor Party’ (1984)

When Hanks was starting as an actor in the early ‘80s, comedic sex romps were the rage in Hollywood. Bachelor Party comes from the same slapstick DNA as Police Academy, Porky’s, and Revenge of the Nerds. Here, Hanks plays a wild, partying bus driver, Rick Gassko, who is ready for matrimony with longtime girlfriend Debbie (Tawny Kitaen). This leads his best friend Jay (Adrian Zmed) to spearhead the most insane bachelor party in an upscale hotel, where hilarity ensues.

Bachelor Party is loaded with every outdated attitude in the book: misogyny, racial stereotypes, hookers, hotel orgies, and transphobia. Yet, Hanks has a relatable charm that cuts through the immature humor. Rather than completely diving into the spontaneous madness of the night, he manages to restrain himself from all female temptations in a way that feels honest and pure. Bachelor Party is the movie where Hanks establishes his ability to be the straight man in an otherwise raunchy comedy.

8 ‘The Money Pit’ (1986)

The Money Pit was the earliest collaboration between Hanks and Steven Spielberg, who produced the destructive comedy under Amblin Entertainment. A loose remake of the Cary Grant film Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, Hanks and Cheers star Shelley Long play a couple who land a bargain on a million-dollar mansion. But as soon as they move in, everything breaks down, including the home, their bank account, and their relationship.

Up to this point in his career, The Money Pit showcased Hanks as a physical comedian in ways his previous comedy vehicles did not. He endureseverything from collapsing staircases to exploding water pipes. The Money Pit’s best remembered scene features Hanks nearly setting the kitchen on fire at every turn. Looking to bathe himself after the fires take their toll on him, he pours water into the tub, only for the tub to fall apart from under him. Hanks’ maniacal laugh in the wake of such bad luck underscores why audiences love him. He does not defy incredible odds. Instead, he gets us to relate to the frustration of overcoming the odds.

7 ‘Turner & Hooch’ (1989)

Turner & Hooch is another buddy-cop film, but this time he trades Dan Aykroyd for a slobbering Dogue de Bordeaux in one of the actor’s most beloved comedies of the ‘80s. Hanks plays a small California beach town detective named Scott Turner, whose murder investigation results in taking custody of the victim’s pet dog named Hooch. Soon, the cop’s squeaky-clean lifestyle is turned upside down by the catastrophic mutt.

Though the comedy is driven by Hanks frequently reacting in horror to Hooch drooling and tearing up his home, there’s a great deal of warmth that grows in the relationship. When Turner & Hooch reaches its tragic climax, Hanks breaks down in a dramatic fashion that foreshadows how he can get audiences emotional over anything from a terminally ill loved one to a volleyball. As Hanks recalled in a 2001 interview withLarry King, the actor recalled the challenges of working alongside the dog.

“We had a car on the set that was surrounded by bungee-cams, literally cameras that were hanging from bungee cords. And the whole thing was about whatever this dog does, I react to. We will not ask the dog to do anything specifically; this dog will just do things".

6 ‘Joe Versus the Volcano’ (1990)

Hanks’ strangest movie on this list is also significant because of his first pairing with a popular rom-com star of the time: Meg Ryan. Joe Versus the Volcano sees the actor in the title role as an unhappy factory worker from Staten Island with only months to live due to a “brain cloud” disease. Enticed by a wealthy industrialist (Lloyd Bridges) willing to pay for his last days on earth, Joe agrees to a deal in which he must jump into a volcano in the middle of a small Pacific island.

Between its surrealism and unconventional tone, Joe Versus the Volcano is a different kind of modern-day fairy tale. Hanks walks a fine line between an in-over-his-head unorthodox hero and a charming romantic lead opposite Ryan. Though Sleepless in Seattle would be the Hanks/Ryan collaboration most movie lovers remember, Joe Versus the Volcano has earned cult status through the years for its whimsical approach to a man facing mortality.

5 ‘The ‘Burbs’ (1989)

Long before Keke Palmer brought it to the small screen on Peacock, The ‘Burbs brought Hanks out of his comfort zone and into the dark comedy realm of director Joe Dante (The Howling, Gremlins). Hanks plays bored suburbanite Ray Peterson, who suspects his isolated new neighbors, the Klopeks, are psychotic killers. Leading his own investigation with best buddy Art (Rick Ducommun) and war veteran Mark (Bruce Dern), Ray’s curious suspicions get out of control.

With a biting social commentary about suburban life, Hanks works in Dante’s Hitchcockian comedy because of his everyman traits. As Ray, he can switch up from a guy simply observing his neighbors’ business to becoming a conspiracy-theory-obsessed nutjob. It showed that Hanks’ range was not just broad, slapstick humor, but also a nuanced, slow burn into madness.

4 ‘Nothing in Common’ (1986)

Hanks had already carved out a string of likable characters by the mid ‘80s. When Nothing in Common came around, however, he was ready to dial up his acting chops. Part comedy and part drama, the Garry Marshall film follows Hanks’ successful but immature ad agency worker David Basner having a crisis of conscience after his parents' divorce. The distractions of caring for his parents take a toll on David’s work. But the father-son dilemma slowly blossoms into some much-needed emotional healing.

Hanks still deploys the fast-talking wit and likable quality that defined him. Yet, his performance opposite Jackie Gleason in his final film role as David's father is tempered by frustration, guilt, and adult vulnerability. The comedy comes from the moments in life people relate to, from awkward family dinners to generational clashes.

3 ‘A League of Their Own’ (1992)

Hanks trashed his boyish charm almost entirely for Penny Marshall’s A League of Their Own. Appearing rugged and out of shape, he plays an alcoholic ex-baseball player named Jimmy Dugan who gets enlisted to manage an all-girls baseball team called The Peaches against the backdrop of World War II. His condescending nature towards the players eventually gets softened as the on-field leader, Dottie Hinson (Geena Davis), takes charge and leads the Peaches into victory.

The film is best remembered for Dugan’s “There’s no crying in baseball” line, which made AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Movie Quotes list. However, A League of Their Own was a significant turning point in Hanks’ career. While he drives the comedic energy alongside the film’s A-list ensemble, the actor’s full commitment to playing the brash, intoxicated manager was a sharp departure from his likable everyman roles, and it proved to the industry he was ready to embody far more challenging roles.

2 ‘Splash’ (1984)

Ron Howard’s romantic fantasy blockbuster broke Hanks out of the sitcom world and onto the silver screen. Splash sees Hanks play brokenhearted wholesale fruit and vegetable business owner Allen Bauer, who has a chance encounter with a mysterious woman on Cape Cod named Madison (Daryl Hannah), unaware that she’s really a mermaid. But when government scientists capture Madison for research, it's up to Allen and his obnoxious brother Freddie (John Candy) to save her.

Splash is the very reason why audiences fell in love with Hanks. Living every man’s fantasy of meeting the perfect woman, he brings comedic sincerity to scenes in which Hannah’s Madison adjusts to life on the land, whether it’s reciting lines from TV shows or devouring lobster at a seafood restaurant. Additionally, Hanks’ brotherly chemistry with the late Candy balances rivalry and affection within Splash’s most emotionally driven scenes. Splash opened the doors to Hanks’ future as a Hollywood leading man.

1 ‘Big’ (1988)

If there is any one film that Hanks could have landed his Oscar win for before Philadelphia, it would have to beBig. The definitive role in Hanks’ career in the ‘80s, Big follows 12-year-old Josh Baskin, whose wish to be tall in front of a fortune-teller machine transforms him into a 30-year-old adult overnight. Within days, he becomes the top employee of a high-end toy company and falls in love with a beautiful executive (Elizabeth Perkins).

Beyond its iconic FAO Schwarz giant piano scene, Big was the first time Hanks truly molded himself into a character. He did not give a cookie-cutter performance. Every fiber of his being, from his childish attitude toward adult themes to his innocent speech patterns, captures the way adolescent kids truly behave. That is also what makes Big so grounded on an emotional level. There is a sense of culture shock at how adult life lacks the fun of childhood. Big is the reason why Hanks’ appeal has spread across so many generations of moviegoers for nearly 46 years.