Absolutely. I’d love to see Tom Hanks play a serial killer in a dead-serious movie; I think he’d nail it, and freak people the hell out.
I found him convincing in Road To Perdition.
Well, he’s always being compared to Jimmy Stewart, for much the same reason: most of Stewart’s early career was devoted to playing noble men with humility, or humble men with nobility, and always of course a dash of aw-shucks. Stewart plunged headfirst into the effort to change his image, however, when he made a series of very very dark–VERY dark–and brilliant–Westerns, directed by Anthony Mann. All five of his films with Mann have stood the test of time, and a couple of them are among the greatest masterpieces in arguably the most important American movie genre.
So I won’t nail Hanks’s coffin lid shut just yet, but I’m done with him until he makes a similar effort to escape the comfort of his typecasting.
I realize I’m coming in late… I agree with a lot of posts - Nicholson is overrated, although he amused me in Witches of Eastwick. The Batman movies, well, they are comic books turned movie, what do we expect? 
Regarding short leading men, Alan Ladd frequently stood on a box to appear taller than his diminutive 5’4". Movies sets were made double, one larger for use with women, the other smaller for the men. Height has nothing to do with how good an actor one is/is not.
The movie era of Cary Grant, et al. was a lot different than today. IMHO, it’s a bit difficult to compare then and now.
Just my 2cents
*He was the village idiot… he wore leg braces… they picked on him in school… but he was a nice guy anyway. Then his woman died and the Agent Orange exposure set in, and Forrest turned mean…
TOM HANKS IN "FORREST GUMP II: KILLIN’ IS AS KILLIN’ DOES
“Life is like a box of pain!”*
Colin Farrell, Jack Nicholson - seconded.
Has anyone mentioned Dustin Hoffman? I just don’t think he’s a very good actor. He was praised for his turn as Willy Loman in “Death of a Salesman” but I hated him in that. Even in “Rainman” or “The Graduate” he’s just Dustin Hoffman up there.
Colin Farrell was great in In Bruges, so there’s that.
And I second DiCaprio: mediocre at his best.
What is Philip Seymour Hoffman doing anywhere near this thread? Watch The Talented Mr Ripley and 25th Hour. Are his characters even alike?
See Road To Perdition, then. Hanks plays a merciless, cold, efficient mob hitman, and it’s a fantastic, beautifully-directed movie. Paul Newman, Jude Law, Ciaran Hinds, and Daniel Craig are all in it too. I’m not a Hanks fan for most of the same reasons mentioned earlier here (he’s too much of the “aw shucks” Jimmy Stewart-style everyman), but that is his most interesting and challenging role by far. Needless to say, it didn’t do well at the box office.
There are a few actors who are generally big yawns who make awesome villains. I would love to see Tom Hanks play a genuine baddy.
A short list:
Tom Cruise - Collateral
Denzel Washington - Training Day
Kevin Costner - Mr. Brooks
Interesting, I thought Road to Perdition was incredibly boring. Interesting that Ciaran Hinds and Daniel Craig were in it. I didn’t know who they were at the time, and love them since Rome and Munich.
I’ll add my voice to Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, Julia Roberts and Robert DeNiro.
Can Colin Farrel really be counted for this thread? I mean, does anyone really consider him to be a good actor? It’d be hard to overrate him. Maybe he’s underrated but most people I know think he’s atrocious.
It’s a slow movie, I can’t lie about that. But so is Blade Runner (which took me a few tries over the years before I finally made it through), and yet both are visually stunning and captivating if you watch them in the right mood.