Word: hanksian
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...song.' That was the worst time in my life as far as our family goes." LaBeouf drew on the memory again for scenes in Disturbia, in which he plays an aggrieved high schooler who attacks a teacher and ends up under house arrest. For all his Hanksian Everyguy appeal, LaBeouf's performances in these two films reveal flickers of Sean Penn--style pent-up fury. "A lot of actors in their 20s don't have that much range," says LaBeouf's Transformers co-star John Turturro. "The world is different now, less rugged in some ways. Everything is facile...
...psych explanation is that this comes from his youth. A child of divorce, Hanks moved constantly as a boy. But he seems loath to talk about his personal motivations, and when I suggest this Hanks-as-Odysseus thesis, he responds--in the most generous, droll, affable, Hanksian way--that I'm full of crap. "They each have their voyages, but I guess I don't see that [similarity]. The danger of getting home was inherent in Jim Lovell's choice to go to the moon. I guess Captain Miller [fits], but I don't think he ever thought...
...offers the mildest demurral, and his bosses say, "Sounds like you've got a case of the Mondays." So ordinary worker ant Peter (Ron Livingston, with a suburban charm and anxiety that verge on the Hanksian) wonders how to end the day. Quit? Suicide? Or a little corporate revenge? He picks (c), which is where Office Space goes off the rails. For the first half of the film, though, Judge (King of the Hill) runs some interesting twists on workaday boredom. At its shambling best, Office Space is like a bracing break at the coffee machine. Some horrible Monday...
...Wonders come together without cohering and fall apart without reason. We know the movie thinks the drummer (the criminally cute, severely Hanksian Tom Everett Scott) is the band's soul, destined to get that kiss from Liv Tyler. But we don't learn what inspired the Wonders' leader (Johnathon Schaech) to compose the title song--kind of crucial to know, since it's played 11 times in the film. Other band members are mere ciphers (Ethan Embry) or shtick (Steve Zahn). As their manager, Hanks is villainous or fatherly, depending on the script's errant needs. Why he would create...
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