President Hanks

by Jim Cullen

This essay looks at the career of Tom Hanks, and the way in which his core belief in American institutions—from the military, to business, to schools, among others—makes him the heir of Abraham Lincoln and our imagined ideal of a society that works. Over the course of his thirty-year career, Hanks's choices as an actor add up to a coherent and compelling vision of U.S. history. That vision is all the more striking because it came into focus amid the complex and often conflicting agendas of filmmaking.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography

50 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 10, 2011

Reviews

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like it much more than I actually did - but it's an interesting way to look at Tom Hanks and his place in American society. It reads like a college thesis from a film program, and there are some weird glaring typos that might knock you out of your reading groove (the obvious example: calling Penny Marshall "brother" to Gary) but Tom Hanks' genial presence shines through even when he's merely being talked about.

Worth a read, especially since it's short and I think it's $1 in the Kindle store. I'd actually rate it 3.5, but you know, Goodreads, yadda yadda.

[Teri · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read about the career of Tom Hanks. The author tried to compare Hanks to Abraham Lincoln (who was a distant relative from Lincoln's mother's line) which I didn't think went over very well; however, it was a nice review of Hanks' movie career, including how he got started and how some films became iconic while others were panned.

[Frances Supernaw · Rating 2 out of 5]

A review of Tom Hanks and the movies he has made. The author gives a comparison of Tom Hanks to Abraham Lincoln and to Jimmy Stewart.

[Kate Eidam · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of this book was attractive to me. I enjoy Tom Hamks as an actor but not as the subject of this book. It felt like a document quickly thrown together to meet a deadline. Even a simple movie title - Sleepless in Seattle - was spelled wrong when beginning to discuss the movie. Movie summaries felt like those that may appear in an 8th grade newspaper. No real depth to the approach and analysis. Would recommend passing on this one.

[Adrienne · Rating 2 out of 5]

He lost me when he said that The Money Pit was "terrible".

[shawn stapleton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alot of movies to cover and to read about