Tom Hodges is without a doubt an actor that belong back in the 80s and 90s no matter how much he’s aged and improved over the years since those two decades, especially the 80s, really defined him since he took on some of the best and most memorable roles of his career. In a way, it sounds as though I’m trying to minimize his talent by saying this, but the truth is that he created a couple of characters that are hard to forget since they were over the top to the point that it was difficult to let them slide from memory since if anyone remembers what high school or summer camp was like then they’ll remember the characters of Bruno from Lucas and Lars from Heavyweights. They’ll also realize that the redemptive arcs that both characters were eventually given served to give Tom a bit more depth than he might have otherwise received. He could have been turned into one of the biggest, most irredeemable bullies in the history of teenage movies, but in a couple of roles, he was thankfully given a chance to come out looking like someone that had at least learned to respect those he’d once picked on. That kind of bully character is usually among the best since taking them from worst enemy to trusted friend, or at least ally, tends to reflect reality in a certain way as well.
Lucas was actually his first time in a major motion picture it would appear, and his role as Bruno was pretty simple. He was a big guy, blond, played football, and was someone that girls wanted to be around, so in other words, he was a popular jock. He was also a spectacular jerk, one of the biggest jock stereotypes that one can imagine since it’s persisted for quite a while in the movies. He was one of those picked on the titular character, played by Corey Haim, while his fellow jock, played by Charlie Sheen, tried to protect Lucas and keep him from being harmed. Bruno was as you might expect a jerk every chance he got since he tended to look at Lucas as weak and easy to pick on, but by the end of the movie he’d come to respect Lucas more than a little as he and the rest of the jocks decided to kick in and buy Lucas his own letterman’s jacket after his near-fatal attempt to be a part of the football team. One thing that’s accurate about Lucas, apart from the verbal and emotional abuse, is that guys the size of Corey Haim probably shouldn’t be on the football field unless they’re the average size of every kid there, since it’s likely that they might get pummelled unless they’re the kicker.
Another slightly memorable character is Bob from the extremely low budget movie titled Going Overboard, which starred Adam Sandler in one of his very first and most forgotten roles as the character known as Schecky. Bob was one of Schecky’s only friends as they worked on a cruise ship together, and despite being Schecky’s not always reliable best friend, he also doubled as Schecky’s mother in a daydream that Schecky had, which was par for the course in this movie since it only got crazier from there. Tom has taken on several other roles and has been a guest star throughout the years, but another role that’s been fun to watch was when he played the character of Lars in the movie Heavyweights. Looking back at the movie now it’s more than a little disturbing when a person takes the movie too seriously, but from a comedic standpoint it’s, well, still a little disturbing, but definitely still funny since the basic premise is that when the main character, played by Aaron Schwartz, is sent to a summer camp for overweight kids, oh let’s just say it, a fat camp, he and the rest of the campers end up discovering that the camp owners have been forced to sell after their accountant cleaned out their finances. This brought in Ben Stiller’s character, Tony Perkis, and his staff, of which Lars was a part. The great thing about Lars is that while he was kind of part of the problem he flipped when given the chance and became a big part of the solution.
Tom has managed to stick with his acting career for quite a while, but there have been moments when he’s been kind of absent from the scene over the years, but it’s hard to say what he was doing since there’s not a lot of information on him. Some actors keep their private life on the down-low for various reasons, but it could be that Tom was content with showing up now and then and then going back to a quieter life.
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