Nothing in Common

Nothing in Common (1986) is an American comedy-drama directed by Garry Marshall that you can watch online on iFILM, with Tom Hanks playing David Basner — a Chicago ad man who is charming, successful, and completely unprepared for what his parents are about to put him through.

David runs hot at his agency. Clients love him, his social life never stops, and his boss keeps handing him bigger accounts. Then his parents — married for thirty years — announce they are splitting up. His father, played by Jackie Gleason in one of his final film roles, turns out to be far less self-sufficient than David ever realized. Health problems, loneliness, and a grown son who has never bothered to actually know him. David's carefully managed life starts pulling apart at the seams.

Marshall builds the film as a hybrid that works better than it has any right to: the advertising world plays as sharp comedy, but the father-son thread is genuinely affecting. Hanks shows here the dramatic range that would define his career through the 1990s. Stream Nothing in Common (1986) online on iFILM.