Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks’ ‘Larry Crowne’ movie review

Friday, July 1st, 2011 at 12:44 pm , filed under Reviews by Nelson

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Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks new movie, ‘Larry Crowne’ is slightly acceptable around the edges but hollow and shockingly unconvincing at its core. The adult romantic comedy is about supposedly real people and it is the kind of movie that would be welcomed by its tone of hopelessly contrived Hollywood sincerity.

However, Tom Hanks who has also co-written and directed with Nia Vardalos has done no favor to the movie. The story of the movie is about an ordinary guy’s Pygmalion type makeover after a midlife crisis and it plays more like a double-barreled vanity project than anything worth watching it.

Hanks have a rare talent for improving ordinary material with his inherent likability. He plays Larry, who is a divorced Navy vet suddenly, fired after many years on the job at the big-box store. He then heads to a community college to start over and selling his house and the most of what is in it. He was aided by the door neighbors, Cedric the Entertainer and Taraji P. Henson, who host the daily yard sales. Larry then becomes a part of the colorful community of outcasts. In his public speaking class, he develops an unexpected crush on his teacher Mercedes Tainot, played by Julia Roberts who has lost as much passion for teaching as she has for her husband.

Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks have an easy chemistry but that is not it far-fetched for the striking, intellectual Mercedes to take up with Larry. In his second filmmaking venture, Hanks directs with assurance. We can say that Tom Hanks was slightly successful in writing and directing it. We scale to 2.5 stars out of 5.

Tags: Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks Larry Crowne, Larry Crowne movie review.