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"WEEKEND STAR" FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2000 - 9 Oscar awaits: Hanks is brilliant in Castawa SCREENING ROOM By John Foote CASTAWAY (Pete deve vx) Directed by Robert Zemeckis Now in theatres Tom Hanks gives the performance of the year and his lifetime in Castaway, a piece of acting that will surely win him a third Academy Award. Already, Hanks has collected the presti- gious best actor prize from the New York Film Critics Circle, and earned high praise ~ from critics around North America for his bold, brilliant performance. This is the type of acting that is exciting to watch because you can feel the charac- ter's anguish, his sense of isolation, and his inner turmoil. It is the type of performance that brazenly reminds the viewer that there are indeed actors out there striving to create cinematic performance art instead of simply accepting a cheque for a routine role. The sheer force and power of this astounding performance will leave audi- ences gasping as Hanks does work that can best be described as breathtaking. When did this man become a great actor? I am not asking about his being a good actor because, in reality, he always was. But when did he enter the same league as Robert Duvall, Meryl Streep, and Marlon Brando? His performance in Castaway is not only the best performance by an actor this year, but stands among the ten great- est performances in the history of the cine- ma. With two Academy Awards to his credit, one would think that Hanks became a great actor many years ago, but that is sim- ply not so. Lots of adequate or good performances win Oscars, and often an actor who sur- passes their Academy Award winning per- formance 'will not be honoured for that work. Case in point would be Denzel Washington who won in 1989 for Glory, but has never won another despite great per- formances in Malcolm X (1992) and The Hurricane (1999). In fact, in 1993, when Hanks won his first Oscar as the AIDS-stricken lawyer in Philadelphia, Washington actually gave a stronger performance as a homophobic lawyer in the same film. | Hanks surpassed his Oscar-winning work in Philadelphia (1993) with a superb portrayal of the title character in Forrest Gump (1994), for which he became just the second man in film history to collect two consecutive Oscars for best actor. After that coup, it was highly anticipated he would earn a nomination for Apollo 13 (1995), but it did not happen. In Steven Spielberg's masterpiece Saving Private Ryan (1998), Hanks sur- passed both his Oscar winning perfor- mances with what many felt to be the career capping performance of his illustri- Tom Hanks continues to amaze with his work in Castaway, a new film from director Robert Zemeckis. ous filmography. Cast as the brave but deeply terrified leader of a squadron dur- ing the second world war, Hanks anchored the film with a powerful performance that haunts long after the film has ended. In between his brilliant performances, he would remain a popular actor in box office hits such as Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Toy Story (1995) and You've Got Mail (1998), all of which grossed in excess of $100 million. Last year he gave a strong, quietly dignified performance as a Death Row guard in The Green Mile, a perfor- mance many felt would earn him another ay A RS a 3 a8 nomination. With Castaway, he has surpassed every- thing he has ever done, taking risks very few high-profile actors would take, and giv- ing the most nakedly emotional perfor- mance of his career. Placing enormous trust in director Robert Zemeckis, Hanks creates a man's journey into his own heart of dark- ness, brought about by the desperation and loneliness that attacks his mind when he is the lone survivor of a horrific plane crash, and washed up on a remote, desert- ed island. Please turn to page 20 g Le To Fo \VA 2 ToT, TTT. Models H Janaany 6th, 2007 'We pay the G.S.T. and take $500" off virtually all 2000 & 2001 Models! No Payment for 90 Days or Choose 0% Purchase Financing for 48 Months on All 2000 and Come See the 27 Cruiset 111 OU? Yale XixeYela2, DEAN WATSON AUTO SALES LTD. i ¢ En CHRYSLER | Dodge Jeep ILL AA Tao I ap a MT) (2) {[s]e]= 905-852-3313 » 1-866-852-3133 A a a 3 lo i CHRYSLER | Dodge i JEON '0 = ~ Ta oF" 4 Day Sal Vednesday December 2 7th Sr P, 1 t o off ntire Winter Collection Sale Continues at 25% - 50% off Hours | Mon. to Thurs. 9:30pm til 5:30pm | Fri. 9:30 til 8pm Sun, 11 to 5pm 189 Queen St., Downtown Port Perry, al HERI RN 905-985-0143 iE FASHIONS & FINISHING TOUCHES CASUAL TO EVENING WEAR