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  • 22
    Apr
    2013
    12:49pm, EDT

    Reese Witherspoon and other stars who have waved the celeb card

    Atlanta Department of Correction

    Reese Witherspoon and husband James Toth after their Atlanta arrest.

    By Randee Dawn, TODAY contributor

    When Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon and her husband were pulled over by police early Friday morning in Atlanta, it turned out that even America's sweetheart couldn't resist pulling the celebrity card: "Do you know my name?" she asked the officer. "You're about to find out who I am."

    For years tabloids have been doing their utmost to prove that celebrities are just like us -- but that all goes out the window when an A-lister (or aspiring A-lister) goes to pains to remind the little people that they're kind of a big deal.

    When leaked, it's a PR disaster of the worst kind, especially when the celeb card is waved under the noses of regular folk (usually police officers) just trying to do their jobs.

    But Witherspoon is hardly alone. 

    Margaret Cho vs. Korean spa
    Korean spas are traditionally communal and, in gender-segregated areas, a place where people can soak and shvitz in the buff. But when the heavily-tattooed Cho sat down for a rest, the manager came over and asked her to cover up. As Cho explained in a Gawker essay in late March, "in Korean culture tattoos are very taboo and my body was upsetting everyone there." But cultural sensitivity or no, the comedian was angered. Cho continued, "This is something I have never done -- I actually said, in Korean, 'Do you know who I am?' I am Margaret Cho!" 

    LeBron James' mother vs. Miami Beach police
    In 2011, Gloria James was picked up by police in Miami after reportedly assaulting valet worker Sorel Rockefeller. "I'm very, very humiliated because she told me again, 'Do you know who I am?' when she slapped me," said Sorel of the Miami Heat star's mom.

    Lindsay Lohan's mother vs. Hollywood nightclub and Carvel ice cream
    The mom who takes the cake (or not, as the case might be), however, has to be Dina Lohan. In 2009 she was turned away from Hollywood nightclub Villa when she tried to get both of her daughters in with her. Lindsay was 22, but Ali was only 15 at the time. "Do you know who I am?" Dina protested, it was reported at the time, and Lindsay jumped in with "You're making a huge mistake. Huge!" A year later, she was busted when trying to pick up a free cake from Carvel with a promotional item giving Lindsay free ice cream for 75 years. She was turned down (because the entire Lohan family had been abusing the privilege), and as Radar reported, she said, "It just shows how (Lohans) get treated so much worse than regular people." And yes, the cops were called.

    Tom Hanks vs. West Fargo diner
    Let's face it, if a celebrity asked one of us for a special favor, who would say no? In 2012, a jet company Tom Hanks was using called up the TNT Diner in North Dakota and asked owner Tammy Hagensen if she'd open her doors early for an unnamed special guest, reported the Associated Press. Curious, Hagensen opened at 4 a.m. and in walked Hanks, his wife Rita Wilson and their two sons. Hanks was cool: Later he tweeted that the diner "makes killer breakfast." We all know Tom Hanks is the most fun celebrity out there -- but that's another reason why we occasionally get a Witherspoon-esque blunder -- few people can resist doing a celebrity a solid. (And by the way, that Jane-Fonda-turned-away-from-a-steakhouse story? Fake, fake, fake.)

    Still, there may yet be hope for celebrities. Though the absence of smug hubris rarely gets reported on, there's at least one incident worth noting from 2009:

    Bob Dylan vs. New Jersey police
    According to The Awl, police were summoned to a home in Long Branch, N.J., after a report of an "eccentric-looking old man" wandering in the front yard. Officer Kristie Buble showed up and questioned him -- and he said he was Bob Dylan. But she didn't believe him, and took him back to his hotel where he and his manager verified his ID with a passport. (Later reports indicated Dylan might have been looking for a house two blocks away where Bruce Springsteen wrote "Born to Run.") You gotta respect an actual living legend who not only didn't pull out the celebrity card, but doesn't appear to even carry one.

    Related content:

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  • 9
    Jan
    2013
    4:15pm, EST

    Mark Wahlberg does traffic and weather reports for Philly TV

    By Courtney Hazlett, TODAY

    Add "weatherman" to Mark Wahlberg's list of onscreen talents. The actor stepped in and handled traffic and weather during his "Good Day Philadelphia" appearance on WTXF Wednesday morning. There to promote his new film "Broken City," Wahlberg, alongside director Allen Hughes, handled the seven-day forecast for the area, but really hit his stride when it came time to report on local traffic. 

    Philadelphia News, Weather and Sports from WTXF FOX 29

    Subbing his Boston accent for a Philadelphia one, Wahlberg pointed to a congested area on the traffic map. "Expect delays here ... stop and get yourself a hoagie."

    (Sage advice, but not a cheesesteak?) 

    If this kind of stunt looks familiar, it's because standing before the weather map and getting a little silly seems to be that thing celebrities want to do lately. Everyman Tom Hanks let loose and busted out some dance moves during the weather segment on Univision's "Despierta America."

    And during her appearance on TODAY, Scarlett Johansson kindly filled in for Al Roker when he fell prey to a case of laryngitis. It was hardly a hardship for Johansson, though: the move was described as her "lifelong dream."

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  • 8
    Nov
    2012
    10:39am, EST

    Tom Hanks bilked? Insurance agent pleads not guilty

    Evan Agostini / AP

    Tom Hanks

    By Natalie Finn, E! Online

    Who could take advantage of Tom Hanks? Well, a Los Angeles-area insurance agent maintains that he didn't, pleading not guilty to federal charges that he bilked four clients, including Hanks and The Police's Andy Summers, out of more than $800,000. 


    Follow @ TODAY_ent

    Jerry B. Goldman was released on a $25,000 bond hours after being arraigned on 10 charges of mail fraud, each of which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. He was arrested at his Thousand Oaks, Calif., home Wednesday. 

    First look at mustachioed Tom Hanks playing Walt Disney

    According to the Los Angeles Times, a grand jury indictment handed down Oct. 30 alleges that Goldman overbilled his clients by as much as 600 percent between 1998 and August 2011 by creating bogus invoices on his company letterhead that overstated the premiums due.

    The indictment didn't break down how much he's accused of getting from each client.

    Tom Hanks' work in pictures 

    Reps for Hanks and Summers haven't commented on Goldman's arrest. A trial date has been set for Dec. 18.

    Show more
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  • 26
    Oct
    2012
    5:13pm, EDT

    Tom Hanks is everywhere, but will that make you see 'Cloud Atlas'?

    Chris Pizzello / AP

    Fancy seeing you ... all over the place. Tom Hanks at the premiere for "Coud Atlas" in Los Angeles on Oct. 24.

    By Lauren Schutte, NBC News contributor

    He’s everywhere! No, we’re not talking about Psy and his "Gangnam Style," but the near-constant media presence of Tom Hanks.

    Of late, the genial actor has participated in the presidential debate on "Saturday Night Live," shared a "Full House" slam poem on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," typed a personal (and witty) letter agreeing to appear on Nerdist’s podcast, AND paraded a troop of his own movie-themed Halloween costumes on "The Colbert Report" -- with a little help from former "Saving Private Ryan" co-star Matt Damon.

    What was the reason for the actor’s sudden barrage of media appearances? Oh, that’s right, Hanks' ambitious time-travelling flick "Cloud Atlas" -- an adaptation of David Mitchell’s 2004 novel -- opened Friday.

    The film, which links six plots over the course of multiple centuries, has received a lot of mixed reviews for it’s complicated storyline. The New York Times said, "watching ['Cloud Atlas'] is a bit like doing a series of math problems in your head," while Roger Ebert admitted, after watching the movie twice, "I no longer believe repeated viewings will solve anything."

    Which brings us back to Hanks, who has been using his funny and likeable personality to entice fans to see his serious and complex film. But will it work?

    "I don’t think it’s going to have a huge impact," Phil Contrino, vice president/chief analyst of Boxoffice.com, told NBC News. "It doesn’t hurt for him to be out there making headlines. Every time somebody writes 'Tom Hanks did something funny on Jimmy Fallon,' at the end of that article is 'he's got 'Cloud Atlas' opening.' So that doesn’t hurt, but it’s not going to turn the movie around."

    According to Boxoffice.com, "Atlas" is only expected to pull in $12 million on its opening weekend (a long way away from its $100 million budget).

    So what is it that puts people in the seats? Contrino said it's a matter of popular appeal.

    "This is inherently a cult movie, people reacted well to the trailer; it just wasn’t enough people," he said. "It appeals to hard-core film buffs who don’t mind seeing a 2-hour, 50-minute movie multiple times to pick it apart. Your average moviegoer isn’t going to want to see this."

    Now that the movie's in theaters, the actor can take a break from his media blitz and get back to working on television poetry. Maybe a "Saved by the Bell" piece? Whichever way the box office numbers go, no one can argue Hanks didn't do his promotional duty.

    So tell us, do you notice when a star makes a push for a new movie? Will you see "Cloud Atlas"? Take our attached vote, and weigh in on Facebook.

    Related content:

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    Lauren Schutte is a Los Angeles-based writer. 

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  • 10
    Oct
    2012
    11:06am, EDT

    Tom Hanks bribed into an interview with vintage typewriter

    Robyn Beck / AFP - Getty Images file

    "This is my FINGER! I use it to TYPE!"

    By Courtney Hazlett, TODAY

    Landing an A-lister for an interview is typically a long, drawn-out affair that involves publicists, logistics, and countless back-and-forths before actually getting the person in question locked in to a date. But that was not the case recently with Tom Hanks, America's most genuinely affable actor.

    When Nerdist Podcast host Chris Hardwick wanted to book Hanks for a show, he appealed to the actor's affinity for vintage typewriters, and sent Hanks a 1934 Smith Corona typewriter along with a typed invitation to come on the podcast.

    Hanks typed a response in return (below).

    And herewith, the resulting podcast. Which, not surprisingly, is great (and includes very specific references to "The Brady Brunch," a pitch for "Replacement Refs: The Movie," space travel and more).

    Tom Hanks: you remain the most fun celebrity out there. We thank you for that.

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  • 13
    Sep
    2012
    10:57am, EDT

    Tom Hanks offers touching, humorous eulogy at Michael Clarke Duncan's funeral

    By Randee Dawn, TODAY contributor

    If Tom Hanks wasn't already considered the most fun celebrity out there, he certainly proved he has the chops to take on any situation -- including the funeral of fellow "Green Mile" actor Michael Clarke Duncan.

    Watch on YouTube

    Getting the right tone for a humorous, nostalgic tale of the dearly departed isn't easy, but Hanks' emotional, funny eulogy at Monday's memorial service hit all the right notes. Using a spot-on imitation of Duncan's voice, he shared a story Duncan once told about about growing up in Chicago, and wanting to join a gang. After approaching the gang and saying he wanted in, Duncan got beaten up, then was admitted to the gang -- and went home with the gang's sign (a red spot) sprayed into his Afro.

    Mom did not take this well -- and after meting out some punishment of her own, sent him back to tell the gang members, "My Mama says I can't be in your gang."


    Follow @ TODAY_ent

    Hanks had the room laughing through tears. Check out the video for yourself!

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  • 27
    Aug
    2012
    12:43pm, EDT

    Yes, Tom Hanks is the most fun celeb out there

    By Courtney Hazlett, TODAY

    We know from the comments related to this post about Tom Hanks' star power that you're big fans of the actor. And as if that plus his onscreen capability do not provide sufficient evidence to prove Hanks is worthy of your affection, the below photos should.

    Here, a fan ran into Hanks in a restaurant, proceeded to borrow the actor's glasses, and then played drunk. More importantly, Hanks played along, proving that really really famous people can take some time out to be nice.

    Have you ever had an encounter with a star that proved to be as great as you hoped? Let us know on Facebook. Or just take the opportunity to love on Hanks.

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  • 9
    Jul
    2012
    4:09pm, EDT

    Happy birthday, Tom Hanks!

    By Rebecca Macatee, E!Online

    Tom Hanks has played an astronaut, a women's baseball coach, a prison guard and everything in between. In real life, he's known as a really nice guy.

    Slideshow: Tom Hanks

    Matt Sayles / AP

    Launch slideshow

    For that reason -- and the fact that we'd believe him as pretty much any character -- we're super excited to celebrate his 56th birthday today!

    "Thanx for the B'Day wishes.! Born in '56, turning 56. That mean anything?" the actor tweeted Monday. "Not bad looking for 56, eh?" He then linked to a comically distorted WhoSay picture of himself hamming it up for the camera.

    In honor of Tom's special day, take a look back through some of his best movie roles through the years!

    PHOTOS: Tom Hanks: Movie star!

    What's your favorite Tom Hanks role? Vote in our poll, and tell us on Facebook.

     

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  • 19
    Jun
    2012
    1:23pm, EDT

    Falling stars: Is big fame over for Tom Hanks, Reese Witherspoon?

    EPA, Getty Images

    Reese Witherspoon and Tom Hanks.

    By Courtney Hazlett, TODAY

    A bold claim sits in the midst of a lengthy new piece in The New Yorker about Ben Stiller, "Funny is Money: Ben Stiller and the dilemma of modern stardom." The author, Tad Friend, contends that "plenty of people who were big stars 10 years ago now are not." Fair enough on the surface, right? Well, take a look at the list Friend posits: Keanu Reeves, Mel Gibson, Demi Moore, Tom Hanks, Reese Witherspoon, Russell Crowe, Nicolas Cage, John Travolta.

    Someone deigns to suggest that Tom Hanks is no longer a star? What? And why are we counting down the days until Witherspoon has her third baby if she's not a star? Friend's proclamation seems to exist where two main tenets -- the definition of a star and the perception of who is a star -- intersect. "A star, to the industry, is someone who can dependably get a film to 'open,'" Friend wrote. "A star to the rest of us, is the person our eyes are always drawn to on screen."

    To that end, some of the names on the list do make sense. Demi Moore, sure. Her last big film, "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" was definitely a disappointment, and she hasn't had top billing on anything substantial since "G.I. Jane."

    Reeves is almost 10 years removed from "Matrix Revolutions" and "Matrix Reloaded," which both opened in 2003 and made a combined $420 million domestically. But, "Revolutions" made only $48 million its opening weekend, perhaps an indicator that he wasn't carrying films like he once was.

    Crowe is a slightly more complicated case: "3:10 to Yuma" in 2007 definitely didn't light the box office on fire (it grossed only $70 million worldwide) but doesn't the film's two Academy Award nominations count for something? (On a side note, Crowe does have nearly half a million Twitter followers. If Crowe and the studios he's working with can harness this following for any of the five films he's got coming up between now and 2014, maybe his star rises somewhat?)

    Mel Gibson, with all his ancillary controversies might be in a category all his own, but even if you set his temper aside and look at the numbers, Gibson hasn't had a film open at the No. 1 spot since "Signs" in 2002. It seems certain that Gibson has become more spectacle than star and once the scales tip in that direction, it's tough to get them back.

    The names on the list that maybe deserve some special dispensation are Witherspoon, Cage and Hanks. As Witherspoon's pregnancy tracking proves, you can still have star quality without a massive box office hit. Her most recent film, "Water for Elephants"  "This Means War" made $54 million domestically, but if you look at her last 10 years' worth of films, even the biggest hit, "Sweet Home Alabama," was only a $127 million movie. We aren't talking about a leading actress who was opening billion-dollar franchises and suddenly isn't covering the budget. Witherspoon is just a solid, steady star (with an Oscar under her belt) which will likely give her career serious longevity.


    Follow @ msnbc_ent

    As for Cage: his "Saturday Night Live" persona might be the most interesting thing he's got going right now, but that's just here in the United States, where his films don't do nearly as well as they do internationally. Did you see "Season of the Witch"? Me neither, but enough people saw it in foreign markets that it earned $66 million there, while the film only made $24 million at home.

    And then there's Tom Hanks. The man who made "Big" big, and led "Toy Story" to hold the title of most successful animation franchise, ever -- he will always be a star, even if "Larry Crowne" was unwatchable for vast, vast swaths of the population. And maybe that's the thing about stardom: once yours shines brightly enough, it never totally fizzles out. If you are able to remain "the person our eyes are always drawn to on screen," what's on the screen isn't always of paramount importance.

    What do you think? Have you scratched Hanks off your star list, or is there someone who deserves to be on the list who isn't? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.

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  • 22
    Mar
    2012
    7:36am, EDT

    Tom Hanks adds Bill O'Reilly to apology list over blackface video

    Andrew D. Bernstein / NHLI via Getty Images

    By Lucas Shaw, The Wrap

    Tom Hanks has apologized for invoking Fox News host Bill O'Reilly in a joke he made during a now-controversial blackface skit from 2004.

    The video, which surfaced this week, which shows Hanks hosting an annual fundraiser next to a man in black face and an Afro wig, prompting a controversy that has already driven Hanks to call the incident "hideously offensive."

    In an e-mail Tuesday night to the Daily Caller, which first reported on the video, Hanks apologized again, this time for making O'Reilly the butt of the joke.

    "I used Bill O'Reilly as the punch line of an uncomfortable joke that was hardly funny and unfair," Hanks told the conservative news website.

    In the video, from a fundraiser at the Pacific Palisades' St. Matthew's Parish School, which Hanks' kids attended, the actor appears next to investment banker James Montgomery, CEO of Montgomery & Company.


    Follow @ msnbc_ent

    Montgomery is wearing blackface and at one point, Hanks jokes "Ladies and gentlemen, a celebrity in our midst. Who would have thought that Bill O'Reilly would join us?"

    O'Reilly, the top-rated host in cable news, is a frequent target of liberal ire given his prominence among conservatives.

    O'Reilly, a provocateur himself, told the Caller that he accepted Hanks' apology and assumed he was just trying to tell a joke -- but an inappropriate one at that.

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  • 21
    Mar
    2012
    7:27am, EDT

    Tom Hanks calls fundraiser blackface video 'hideously offensive'

    Andrew D. Bernstein / NHLI via Getty Images

    By Brent Lang, The Wrap

    UPDATED 11:15 a.m. ET: Fallout from a 2004 fundraising auction emceed by Tom Hanks continued Wednesday, as James Montgomery, the investment banker caught wearing blackface at the school event, apologized Wednesday for his costume.

    "Each of us does and says things at one point or another in our lives we regret," Montgomery told TheWrap. "The costume I wore to the 2004 Fundraiser was one such thing for me."

    The video shows Montgomery wearing African tribal wear and carrying a stuffed gorilla.

    Montgomery, who is CEO of the Santa Monica-based Montgomery & Co., said he did not intend to cause offense.

    "While I can understand that some people may have read something other than what was intended into my wearing that costume to a costume party, as anyone who knows me would attest, that is not consistent with my beliefs nor is it with who I am," Montgomery added. "I am sick about the false impression it gave. All I can do now is to do what I did then and apologize for any offense I may have caused."

    ORIGINAL STORY: Tom Hanks responded to a controversial video that emerged Tuesday showing the actor hosting a fundraising auction that featured a white man in blackface, labeling the incident "hideously offensive."

    Hanks acknowledged that he emceed the annual fundraising event for St. Matthew's Parish School, the Pacific Palisades school his children attended, but said the incident was regrettable.

    "In 2004, I was blindsided when one of the parents got up on the stage in a costume that was hideously offensive then and is hideously offensive now," Hanks said in a statement to TheWrap. "What is usually a night of food and drink for a good cause was, regrettably, marred by an appalling few moments."

    The video came to light in a report on the Daily Caller. Eagles member Glenn Frey co-hosted the event, but the man in blackface was identified by the publication as investment banker James Montgomery, CEO of Montgomery & Company.


    Follow @ msnbc_ent

    In the video he is outfitted in African tribal wear and is holding a stuffed gorilla.

    At one point in the video, Hanks jokes, "Ladies and gentlemen, a celebrity in our midst. Who would have thought that Bill O'Reilly would join us?"

    The fundraiser was reportedly centered on a "Castaway" theme -- a reference to the 2000 hit film starring Hanks.

    The Daily Caller was co-founded by political analyst Tucker Carlson and launched in 2010.

    (Note: The video below features a scene from the event, and may be offensive to readers.)

    Did Hanks need to address the issue? Tell us on Facebook.

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  • 22
    Dec
    2011
    10:40am, EST

    Breakout child star fuels 'Extremely Loud'

    François Duhamel / AP

    Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn) plots an elaborate scheme to try and understand his father's 9/11 death in "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close."

    By Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter

    REVIEW

    Emotional fluency and literary pretense go hand in hand in "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," an affecting, well-acted tale of 9/11 trauma and a boy's effort to piece things together after his father's death. A self-conscious prestige project with weighty thematic elements, a tony literary pedigree and top-tier actors, director Stephen Daldry's fourth film is dominated by the performance of a 13-year-old with no previous acting experience, Thomas Horn, who enables his character's pinball intellect and inchoate emotions to pulse through every scene. While the subject matter will keep some prospective viewers away, many who do come will be emotionally wrenched by the treatment of loss and the interplay between parents and child, indicating good commercial prospects in most markets.

    PHOTOS: Warner Bros.' Fall 2011 Movies

    “The worst day” is how young Oskar Schell (Horn) understandably refers to 9/11, the day his jeweler father perished in one of the twin towers while there for a meeting. As seen in multiple flashbacks, Oskar and his father Thomas (Tom Hanks) shared an unusually close relationship, with the dad concocting all manner of intellectually challenging games and propositions his son happily took up. His mother (Sandra Bullock) played no part in this and their distance from one another has not diminished in the year since his death, the vivid memory of which is preserved by a series of six progressively agitated phone messages from Thomas on the fateful morning that his son continues to play.

    On the basis of his first two novels, "Everything Is Illuminated" and this one, which was published in 2005, Jonathan Safran Foer is a word wizard partial to bulgingly significant material and highly contrived narrative constructs of a sort that would never occur to a writer plotting an original screenplay. In this case, said invention is an odyssey on foot Oskar embarks upon throughout all the boroughs of New York to track down every individual with the last name “Black” (472 of them in all), for the reason that he found a key among his father's possessions with that name attached to it. He is convinced that, if he can find the matching lock, he will find or learn something of great significance about his father.

    PHOTOS: 10 Biggest Book-to-Big Screen Adaptations of the Last 25 Years

    This trek is something one can more readily accept on the page than onscreen, especially as in a book you don't actually have to listen to Oskar carrying a tambourine everywhere he goes or see him wearing an Israeli gas mask in the subway. Fortunately, at a certain point he begins to be accompanied by a mysterious old man who has recently moved into a room across the way at the apartment of his grandmother (Zoe Caldwell). The man, known only as The Renter (Max von Sydow), doesn't speak, and instead writes down anything he has to communicate on slips of paper. Oskar does manage to learn that the rangy old fellow was born in Germany and that his parents died in the bombing of Dresden, but the man won't address the reason for his silence. Oskar reasonably suspects The Renter is his grandfather but proof is not forthcoming.

    The pair's road trip to the nooks, crannies and far-flung outposts of New York City represents the film's highlight. From Queens to Staten Island and everywhere in between, parts of the city are seen that represent the astounding range and variety of its inhabitants. None of them, of course, knows anything about the key, but the odd relationship between the two temporary companions is a delight, as Oskar rattles on about this and that and The Renter reacts with everything from bemusement to angry annoyance. Best of all, von Sydow is absolutely wonderful, with the great veteran actor clearly relishing this very unusual role as he darts, skulks and, in a stealthy way, mugs across town. Without saying a thing, he dominates the middle part of the movie.

    The other adult actor who's terrific here is Jeffrey Wright, as the figure who unsuspectingly awaits Oskar toward the end of his journey. Portraying a man harboring his own pain and disappointments, Wright has one long scene of incredible emotional delicacy and transparency in which he once again proves his position among the very top American actors.

    Screenwriter Eric Roth and Daldry shuffle the chronological and emotional deck, slipping in past moments between father and son as well as incremental revelations of what Thomas experienced the morning of 9/11, all the while building to flashback revelations by the mother that, again, are harder to believe when depicted on film than when merely described in a book. More important, however, is the the crescendo of feeling the filmmakers have deftly engineered, a wave of such cumulative weight that, when it breaks, it will wipe a lot of viewers out. Whatever reservations one might have about various elements of the story, it's clear that such an effective climax can only have been achieved through the very skillful balancing and timing of elements by the writer, director and editor.

    Through it all, the dominating presence is Horn as Oskar. A non-professional discovered when he won "Kids Jeopardy" on television (he has also been a repeated finalist in the National Geographic Geography Bee), Horn has torrents of complicated, verbose, highly charged dialogue to reel off, is paired with a host of extremely accomplished actors, is in virtually every scene and must be entirely convincing as a bright, driven, emotionally convulsed kid who is likely on the outer edges of the spectrum of either austism or Asperger's Syndrome. For all these reasons, it is entirely possible that some will find him annoyingly precocious. Given his real-life accomplishments, it's likely Horn is just as articulate and intellectually advanced as Oskar is supposed to be and is therefore a perfect fit for the role. Whatever the case, it's an exceptional natural performance, entirely convincing and exhilarating to experience.

    The elimination of the Schell family's Jewish background, reportedly a result of casting decisions, feels unnatural, given their history and the context. Some repeated images of the father's likely fate on 9/11 are also jarring.

    Top-billed but filling what are actually supporting roles, Hanks gives the father an eccentric side that aptly complements his son's personality, while Bullock necessarily cuts an opaque figure as the disconnected mother until very close to the end. Viola Davis is very good in her brief role as one of the “Blacks” Oskar encounters on his rounds.

    Production-wise, the film is immaculate, from Chris Menges' lustrous cinematography and K.K. Barrett's spot-on production design to Alexandre Desplat's multi-flavored score.

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Randee Dawn, TODAY contributor

Randee Dawn is a frequent TODAY and NBC News contributor. She is the co-author of "The 'Law & Order: SVU' Unofficial Companion."

Courtney Hazlett, TODAY

Courtney Hazlett reports on all things pop culture across NBC's various online and broadcast platforms.

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