Tom Hanks talks about film critics and how he believes perceptions of a film can change over time.
The Oscar winner recently appeared on Conan O'Brien needs a friend podcast, in which he jokingly used the phrase “cocksucker” to describe a film critic who initially wasn't a fan of his 1996 directorial debut That thing you do!.
“Let me tell you something about these cocksuckers who write about movies,” Hanks said, drawing laughter from O'Brien. “Can I say it?”
THE Here the actor continued: “Someone who wrote about [That Thing You Do! wrote] that “Tom Hanks needs to stop hanging out with TV veterans because it's just like it was made on TV, and it's no big deal.” That same person later wrote about the cult classic That thing you do!. The exact same person. All you need is 20 years between now and then, and he'll end up talking somewhere.
Hanks went on to acknowledge that negative reviews come with the territory and that it's “the thing we all signed up for.” However, the actor believes that time can also change someone's opinion on a film.
“This is, you know, this is carnival. This is the competition,” he added. “Right? I have faith in this, it's fine.”
Elsewhere this week, up Happy Sad Confused podcast, Hanks chimed in on the conversation about superhero fatigue (the genre has seen numerous flops in recent years such as The Flash AND Mrs. Web). While he understands that fans once craved that genre, including himself, he senses that audiences are now looking for new stories.
“There was a period of time, and I felt this way too, where we watched DC and MCU movies to see these better versions of ourselves,” he explained. A man called Otto the actor said. “God, sometimes I feel like an X-Man. I'm just as confused as Spider-Man. I'm as angry as Batman is. I love my country as much as Captain America.
However, he noted that “we've probably had 20, 15 years to explore this kind of thing, and now we're at an evolutionary point where it's: 'And what's the story? The topic is what? What is the purpose of this film?'”
“The industry often says, 'Well, if it works, it'll work again.' But the audience is way ahead,” Hanks continued. “They see what's familiar and say, 'I've seen this before.' What's the next step?” And it's not just the mind-blowing stuff. It's, 'What's the story? Tell me about myself.” It seems like every year we're in new territory on that.”