Larry Crowne (***)


Directed by: Tom Hanks
Starring: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Cedric the Entertainer, Taraji P. Henson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, George Takei, Wilmer Valderrama, Bryan Cranston, Rami Malek, Rita Wilson
Seen: July 29th 2011

*** Out of ****

Larry Crowne (Hanks) is a great guy and a hard worker, which isn’t enough for his employer, a large mart store, who decides to fire Larry, who’s been employee of the month 8 times; but the fact that he didn’t finish high school limits his career opportunities, which is seen as grounds for immediate dismissal. A 20 year Navy veteran, Larry has no back-up plan, and following his neighbour Lamar’s (Cedric the Entertainer) advice, he enrols in Community College to avoid a similar future fate.

Larry realises he needs to cut expenses to keep his home, and he buys scooter to save on fuel. He meets some scooter drivers led by Dell Gordo (Valderrama) and his girlfriend Talia (Mbatha-Raw) and joins their “gang”. At college he takes 3 classes, two focussed on in this movie: Speech 217 – The Art of the Informal Remark, presented by the near-alcoholic Mercedes Tainot (Roberts); and Economy, presented by the very odd Dr. Matsutani (Takei). In Speech 217 he’s joined by some odd students looking for what seems to be the ultimate blow-off class, and in Economy he keeps getting his mobile phone confiscated by Dr. Matsutani. Larry and Mercedes realise that there is chemistry between them as Mercedes goes through the process of divorce from her low-life writer-husband Dean (Cranston).

Larry Crowne is full of small and completely unrealistic elements (fired from a large mart type store for having no career path; taking a subject called The Art of the Informal Remark; and more) which are, in the context of this story, absolutely irrelevant. This little story is about the relationships between people, regardless of how they end up in the same cook-pot. There is not a single bit of nastiness in the movie, as Mercedes’ divorce and Larry’s firing are treated as small stumbling blocks on the way to something else, a way to advance the story. Larry Crowne is about one man who takes anything in his stride and makes the most of it, even if it is a massive change to his life as he’s always known it, and he takes it all with a demeanour of wonder and exploration.

It’s good to see Hanks on the big screen again after 2 quiet years. He makes Larry a lovable guy, an easy protagonist. Julia Roberts in Mercedes Tainot gives a light performance of someone going through a less-than-light time (divorce is never easy or funny); with Gugu Mbatha-Raw also weighing in with a heart-warming little performance as life-coach for Larry. This movie will not be remembered for much, but it is such a sweet and enjoyable little story that, regardless of its many flaws and almost directionless ambition, I can’t help but endorse it to anyone in the mood for a clean bit of entertainment. People will forget what you say and what you do, but never how you made them feel, and Larry Crowne definitely makes you feel, even if just for a little while.

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