Did you hear the one about the middle-aged guy who lost his job and remade his life without breaking a sweat?
Sounds boring? Welcome to “Larry Crowne,” a tension-free affair directed, co-written and starring Tom Hanks. The Oscar winner proved handy behind the camera with the 1996 film “That Thing You Do!” Hanks’ sugary expose of a pop band’s ascent looks like “My Dinner with Andre” compared to this inconsequential “Crowne.”
It’s great to see Hanks starring in a comedy again, and even better to pair him with fellow Oscar winner Julia Roberts. They clicked during their scenes in “Charlie Wilson’s War,” and they look good together once more here.
But “Crowne” is a zeitgeist grabbing story with no bite, leaving the mega stars to their own comic devices.
Larry (Hanks) is the best big box store employee you could find. He’s courteous, smart and dedicated to his craft. That makes it all the more heartbreaking when management unceremoniously fires him for lacking a college education. The move stuns Larry, but it also leaves him buried in bills he can’t pay.
So he swaps his gas guzzler for a scooter and enrolls at the local community college. He takes a public speaking course he’s told will “change his life,” and it’s there he meets Mercedes (Roberts), a bleary-eyed professor in a disastrous marriage.
Before the two can run through their obligatory romance Larry strikes up a friendship with fellow scooter devotee Talia (Gugu Mbatha-Raw). She embraces Larry instantly, introduces him to her scooter club and even gives him a makeover worthy of TLC’s “What Not to Wear.”
“Speck-tack-ular,” as Larry would say in a forced attempt at a catch phrase.
So … where’s the tension, the conflict facing a suddenly out of work man at an emotional crossroads? Heck, who wouldn’t want to be fired if it meant scootering with the gorgeous Talia, flirting with a leggy professor and meeting a gaggle of great new friends?
Hanks’ taste in subject matter isn’t the problem. To paraphrase James Carville, it’s the writing, stupid. And if the characters in “Larry Crowne” feel as broad and phony as those seen in “My Life in Ruins” or “I Hate Valentine’s Day,” then you’ve spotted the screenwriting credits. Hanks co-wrote “Crowne” with Nia Vardalos, the rinky-dink auteur behind those two comic misfires.
Hanks and Vardalos give us one smart supporting character, a no-nonsense econ instructor played by George Takei. Otherwise, we’re stuck with Cedric the Entertainer as Larry’s neighbor, a man who runs a non-stop garage sale, and Bryan Cranston as Mercedes’ boob-lovin’ spouse. Talia’s beau, played by Wilmer Valderamma, flashes some jealous stares at Larry whenever the middle-aged man beams over her affections. It’s the best of the film’s weak running gags.
The story could have be saved if Hanks pulled off some of his patented rom-com magic, the kind he once manufactured so effortlessly with Meg Ryan. But when Larry and Mercedes finally kiss it smacks of narrative desperation, not the first few notes of a beautiful love song.
Maybe it’s Larry’s fault. Hanks’ character is so bland he could stand in front of an untouched canvas and not draw attention. Couldn’t Hanks write himself any scenes of quiet desperation, the kind a man in his situation might actually experience?
“Larry Crowne” often goes down smoothly based solely on the skills of its lead performers. Audiences rarely get to see older characters fall in love, which makes the tepid romance here all the more exasperating.
(Photo: Academy Award® winners Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts come together for a romantic comedy about how the hard knocks from today’s recession inspire one everyday guy to undergo a personal reinvention and an unexpected second act in his life: “Larry Crowne.” Photo Credit: Bruce Talamon. Copyright: Copyright: © 2011 Vendôme International, LLC)
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Don’t you think it’s probably difficult to write about a normal, every day Joe when you haven’t been an every day Joe for decades? These people should hire real writers to write their material! Haven’t seen this movie and wasn’t planning on it, but now I certainly won’t. The previews looked contrived and contrived + boring means I won’t be opening my wallet for this film. Now, how do I explain why I opened my wallet for Bad Teacher? I have no excuses.
Great point. I think some actors/comics have kept in touch with the regular Joe and Jane through the years (Seinfeld’s stand-up, the last time I saw it, is a good example)
For other celebrities, fame can warp their sensibilities. Howard Stern turned from a family man into a phony persona over the years.
LARRY CROWNE looks like a complete nightmare, I’m glad Hanks thinks it’s okay for him to be funny again, but this movie looks like un filme de Nia Vardalos, boring and not funny. But Hanks hasn’t made a good movie in awhile, and when’s the last time Julia Roberts was in something that’s worth a damn? These are three big, bland talents coming together to offer the public a big bowl of cold white rice.
This seems like it could have been one of those ideas that could have been given to a new unknown and untested writer just to see what could have resulted.
I remember a tv show once which took place in a television executives meeting where the pitch was a safe and traditional show. The head of the studio said that isn’t what she wanted. She wanted something newer and more in tune with the audience. It appears with Larry Crowne you get the latter.
Which is a pity because Hanks is at that age thats hard for actors. Not yet old but not young anymore. And you want to see good writing for this particular age group. Why is it so hard to write for? Does hollywood’s pathetic worship of youth actually make this happen?
As likable as Hanks is, I just got a middle-America condescension vibe from the trailer, something along the lines of “look how cute a bland, unhip middle-aged white guy can be when he leaves his natural Walmart-esque habitat and hangs out with diverse people on a college campus?” I’ll catch it on cable.
Drewster, Hanks’ contemporary Dennis Quaid seems to get a lot of work these days, not only in a lot of family films (Soul Surfer), but so more interesting mature characters, such as in Pandorum, Vantage Point, Flight of the Phoenix, and Legion. There are interesting roles out there, I just think Hanks is having more fun producing shows for HBO.
Props to Liz for Dennis Quaid. I didn’t think of that. Still though when you think of this particular genre (rom coms) it seems like the field is dominated by the younger crowd. But there are exceptions.
I am still unable to get why a business would fire a perfect employee simply because he doesnt have a college degree???? That makes no sense except as an excuse for why Hnaks character would be forced to go back to college.
Agreed, Dwester. Why they can’t make more films like the Thomas Crown Affair remake is a mystery. Now there were two leads with maturity, intelligence, and it sizzled. Most of the younger actors today couldn’t come close to pulling that off.
Worked for one of the major big box stores for years, we had people, including salaried management be fired without warning.
Having not seen the film, I could see the company Hanks works for in the film using the lack of a college degree as an excuse to fire him. Given his age, and if he’d been with the company a number of years it would be cheaper for them to replace him with someone fresh out of college. The company I worked for purged, or attempted to, all the store managers who had been with the company for 25-30 years and pulling in a verrrry good income. After two suicides and several lawsuits filed the purge ended.