If Tom Hanks boards your plane, get off. The man is bad luck. Birds disable his planes, oxygen tanks explode on his spacecraft and tropical storms crash FedEx flights he’s on.  Hanks also has trouble with water. He gets shipwrecked in the Pacific Ocean and hijacked in the Indian Ocean.  Then again, if you star in as many movies as Hanks (56) disaster eventually finds you as it does in Sully, his latest hit. Hanks plays Captain Chesley Sullenberger, the US Air captain who safely lands his Airbus 320 in the Hudson River after a flock of birds knock out both engines shortly after takeoff.  Hanks and Clint Eastwood, Sully’s producer-director, make a five-minute plane ride a compelling 90-minute movie.
For New York and New Jersey residents, perhaps it’s the immediacy – both geographically and because it only happened seven years ago – which grabs our attention. Maybe it’s Eastwood’s brisk directing, or the controversy about Sullenberger’s decision to ditch in the Hudson. (NTSB officials suggest he should have returned to LaGuardia or landed at Teterboro in NJ, and saved all 155 passengers and a $100-million plane). More likely, it’s our disposition to like Hanks the actor, the man and the quality of his work.
Hanks, one of the greatest film actors of all-time, isn’t movie star handsome. Tom Selleck, Brad Pitt and Patrick Dempsey best him in that category but he has a certain charm – he’s likeable. He’s earned our trust and admiration. We’re happy for his successes unlike some actors who we enjoy watching but wince at their off-camera antics – Mel Gibson and Tom Cruise come to mind.  Doesn’t matter the role or the genre; it’s fun watching Hanks: 

 Comedy – Think Splash, his breakout movie in which he pursues mermaid Daryl Hannah, or Bachelor Party what its title purports to be, or Turner and Hooch, every dog lovers’ favorite.
Romance – Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail, both with Meg Ryan.  

Drama – Philadelphia and Forrest Gump, the roles for which he won consecutive Oscars, not to mention Saving Private Ryan, The Green Mile, and Charlie Wilson’s War.  

Thriller – The Da Vinci Code and Road to Perdition, not Oscar worthy but excellent entertainment.

Animation – Toy Story and Cars, who doesn’t like Woody
The man can act and entertain. If box office success is a measure of those abilities, Hanks has it: his films have grossed $4.3 billion in the US and Canada, and $8.5 billion worldwide, making him among the five highest grossing North American actors of all-time. (Samuel L. Jackson, Harrison Ford, Morgan Freeman & Eddie Murphy are the other four.) Hanks’ net worth is $350 million.
Hanks’ career stretches beyond film. Many of a certain age – 50 or older – remember Peter Scolari and Hanks as Bosom Buddies, a sit-com in which they dress as women so they can reside cheaply in a ladies’ boarding house. If you look closely, you’ll also spot Hanks as a guest star on Happy Days and Family Ties.
Hanks’ appeal also crosses generations. Grandparents, parents and kids enjoy watching him as Josh Baskin, a kid in a man’s body, in Big as much as they do as James Donovan, the honorable lawyer in Bridge of Spies.
Sully, even though we know Hanks will crash and survive, is in a similar category: solid entertainment that appeals to a wide audience. That’s been Hanks’ trademark throughout his 36-year career. And what separates him from other mega-stars like Al Pacino or Robert DeNiro is that he rarely makes a dud. The only thing with Hanks: take care traveling with him – you may end up in the Hudson River, or atop the Empire State Building.