Forrest Gump currently dominates Captain Phillips 80–20

The Verdict Decade Duel

This matchup has 10 votes. The picture may shift as more people weigh in.

Hanks as Gump is a performance so embedded in American culture that the character has separated from the actor. The bench, the chocolates, the running. Zemeckis built a film where a simple man walks through thirty years of American history without understanding any of it, and Hanks made the simplicity feel genuine rather than condescending. Captain Phillips is Hanks in a completely different register: competent, frightened, negotiating with Somali pirates with the body language of a man trying very hard not to die. The final scene, where Hanks breaks down in the medical bay, is some of the best acting of his career. The cultural icon is overwhelming the dramatic performance. The bench outperforms the lifeboat.