It’s the first day of the month, so Netflix has delivered its usual ton of freshly licensed content to kick off June in style. There’s much to enjoy whatever your tastes, but Tom Hanks fans will be particularly interested to know that two great but somewhat underrated movies starring the legendary actor debuted on the streaming platform today, both from acclaimed directors. The films in question? 2002’s Road to Perdition and 2004’s The Terminal.
Road to Perdition is a crime drama from James Bond filmmaker Sam Mendes where Hanks plays against type as a mob enforcer in 1930s Chicago who goes on the run with his young son (future Superman Tyler Hoechlin) as they seek vengeance against a vicious mobster (Jude Law) who murdered the rest of their family. Daniel Craig, Stanley Tucci and Paul Newman also feature. Speaking of Superman, this pic actually marks Hanks’ one and only comic book adaptation, as it’s based on a comic published under one of DC’s mature imprints.
Onto something completely different, and comedy-drama The Terminal marked the third time (out of currently five) that Hanks teamed up with Steven Spielberg. The actor features as an Eastern-European man who becomes stuck at JFK Airport in New York after he’s denied entry to the United States but can’t return to his native country due to a political coup. Catherine Zeta-Jones co-stars in this feel-good watch, as does Hanks’ old Road colleague Stanley Tucci.
Because of the enormous amount of hits Tom Hanks has featured in, both of these movies tend to get unfairly forgotten. In particular, Road is a gripping, powerful experience that’s gorgeous to look at. If you’ve never seen one or both of these before, or at least haven’t revisited them in a while, make sure to do so now that they’re available to stream on Netflix.
