If you’re looking to cast an actor as a humble, honorable American hero in your movie, Tom Hanks is your man. He’s the kind of good guy the whole family can get behind, and who will make your dad tear up at the movies. And now he’s playing that role again, this time in pilot’s gear.
When Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg last made a war film, they produced Saving Private Ryan, which was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, and features what’s widely considered one of the greatest battle scenes ever captured on film. They’ve worked together since, including on Catch Me If You Can, one of the best movies of either man’s career, but Bridge of Spies might be considered a kind of spiritual sequel to Ryan. That was Hanks and Spielberg’s World War II picture. This is their Cold War one.