for brief strong language and some sexual content, SXSW 2021: Broadcast Signal Intrusion, Offseason, SXSW 2021: Clerk, Not Going Quietly, Tom Petty: Somewhere You Feel Free, SXSW 2021: Delia Derbyshire: The Myths and Legendary Tapes, Alien On Stage, The Spine of Night, SXSW 2021: Sound of Violence, Jakob's Wife, Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror. Underwater on his mortgage and unclear on what to do with his suddenly free days, Larry heads to his local college to start over. Is Larry Crowne any good? This film is the cinematic equivalent of a marshmallow. The story arc is simplicity itself: Larry Crowne is a nice man who becomes nicer with the encouragement of other nice people. No complex characters. and the Terms and Policies, Copyright © Fandango. But the pictures are pretty, the story is sweet and it's told by a top-notch team of Hollywood pros. There, he becomes part of an eclectic community of students and develops a crush on his teacher. In "Larry Crowne," Hanks plays a nice guy who gets fired from his retail job because he lacks the education to qualify him for a management position. He eventually inspires the bad teacher to become a good teacher, abandon her porn-surfing loser of a husband, cure herself of alcoholism and fall in love with him. Tom Hanks on a motor scooter! In place of conflict, the story substitutes cutesy whims. Larry Crowne is a sweet drama, with some light comedic and romantic elements. Could have been a solid, straightforward rom com coasting on likable leads; half-hearted additions trying to link the movie to economic crisis just detract. Tom Hanks directs and stars in "Larry Crowne" a man who does what no other human being has EVER done....learn something worth learning in a public school. The film was produced and directed by Hanks, who co-wrote its screenplay with Nia Vardalos. Larry Crowne is agreeable, nimble and oddly reassuring, a big-studio comedy/drama that is funny but refreshingly unemphatic in its jokes and emotional beats. As a writer she seems drawn toward banality. Larry has long been U-Mart’s most conscientious employee. Read full review ... lacks any sense of gravity. I often complain about screenwriters who slavishly follow the story arcs taught in screenwriting classes. More than this a nice guy cannot be expected to do. Review: Larry Crowne. Although Hanks' hand is quite noticeable in the powerful cast, as in the pleasing plot, the story is too simple to make this film transcend beyond providing a few hours of wholesome fun... [Full review in Spanish]. June 30, 2011 by: Chris Bumbray. It's soft and fluffy, but it leaves you unsatisfied and hungering for more after you consume it. Rating * * By Sukhdev Sandhu 30 June 2011 • 17:16 pm . Release date July 1, 2011 In "Larry Crowne," the title character (Hanks, of course) finds himself middle-aged and broke, with a big mortgage and no prospects, and so he enrolls in community college, hoping a … Don't get me wrong. Bereft of conflict, the film coasts along in second gear on breezy charm, gentle humanism and star wattage. Larry Crowne is one of the cutest, well made romantic comedy films I've ever seen! All rights reserved. Hanks has too much moxie to let little things like unemployment and an underwater mortgage get him down... Only hints at the comedy and poignancy that its two powerhouse leads could deliver if given better material. An exceedingly minor entry on already impressive resums. Sign up here. Get the freshest reviews, news, and more delivered right to your inbox! "Larry Crowne" has Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts and a good premise and a colorful supporting cast, but what it doesn't have is a reason for existing. Since then Vardalos wrote and starred in the awful "Connie and Carla" (2004), starred in the dismal "My Life in Ruins" (2009), and wrote and directed the train wreck "I Hate Valentine's Day" (2009). Larry is simply a nice guy who cares about others, does his job well and keeps going no matter what life hurls at him. Rated PG-13 Neat! It's not great; but it sure is likable. Film. When the film was as near as my fingertips and Roku remote control, I became a steady viewer and/or reviewer. Larry Crowne is a reinvention tale, at times cloying, but not without small charms. Not necessarily a bad thing -- just cloying. Larry Crowne I had seen with Peg when it came out in 2011 in a movie theatre. A middle-aged man (Tom Hanks) loses his job, enrolls in college, and reinvents himself. Larry Crowne could be subtitled, "My Big Fat Mid-Life Crisis.". The film tells the story of Larry Crowne, a middle-aged man who unexpectedly loses his job and returns to education. We watch not in suspense but in envy. When he suddenly finds himself without his long-standing blue-collar job, Larry Crowne enrolls at his local college to start over. Please enter your email address and we will email you a new password. Tom Hanks stars as the titular Larry Crowne. Hanks produced and directed the film, and co-wrote the screenplay with Nia Vardalos, his pal since the days when Hanks' wife, Rita Wilson, produced her "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" (2002). Surely her marriage must be more deeply troubled than we ever see, but the movie's still waters don't run deep. Larry Crowne the man and the movie exist in a parallel universe where pain never truly intrudes. Larry Crowne manages to deliver a steady stream of laughs, but like everything else in the movie, they feel unearned. Larry cashes in his possessions, trades his car for a scooter and decides to enroll in a local community college. As his economics teacher he draws Dr. Matsutani (George Takei), the only character in the film interesting enough to have a movie made about him. Following a high-saturation prerelease promotional campaign, the premise of Larry Crowne is already known to millions: Larry (Hanks) is fired from his worker-bee job at … More than this a nice guy cannot be expected to do. Larry Crowne is a 2011 American romantic comedy film starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. Larry Crowne is nothing we haven't seen before and at times feels over-done and cliched. No moments of high drama, no inspired speeches. She’ll be charmed by the actors she knows, and probably amused to a few chuckles, despite the … There he becomes part of a colorful community of outcasts, It’s also quite relevant in its approach to modern economic times, and a … Read Full Synopsis Cast + Crew Tom Hanks Director Julia Roberts ... Movie Reviews Presented by Rotten Tomatoes. They don't seem essential. When that core is two of the biggest movie stars around - Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts - it's an especially dispiriting situation. Unmoored for the first time in ages after his company downsizes, Larry Crowne (Tom Hanks) finds the ground suddenly unstable. Instead the experience reinvents his life as he makes new friends and falls for one of his teachers (Julia Roberts). That was a good movie. Unexpectedly, the happy go lucky, middle-aged Larry Crowne (played by Tom Hanks) loses his job at the local super store, UMART, due to the claim he wasn’t educated enough for UMART. PLOT: After being fired from his retail job for not having a college degree, LARRY CROWNE (Tom Hanks); a … Extremely modest, featherweight. Larry is … Summary: Until he was downsized, affable, amiable Larry Crowne was a superstar team leader at the big-box company where he's worked since his time in the Navy. Julia Roberts is fine here, to the degree that the film permits it. The story was inspired by Hanks' time studying at Chabot College. Larry Crowne was a romantic comedy featuring Tom Hanks as Larry and Julia Roberts as Professor Mercy Tainot. Synopsis Rediscover life and love. Larry is assisted in his lifestyle transition by the fetching Talia (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), who supervises a makeover; he ditches the regular-guy duds for basic black and gets a cool haircut. He also becomes a member of her motor scooter club, which is like a motorcycle gang of environmentalists. I enjoy watching bread rise, but it lacks a certain degree of interest. Review: ‘Larry Crowne’ is Painfully Awful. A likeable and light-hearted comedy that doesn't attempt to be anything more. She's pretty and has that warm smile and is transformed under the gentle pressure of Larry's sunny influence. Review: Larry Crowne. But the scene is … It’s about as substantial as a pep rally and serves the same function. More Info. Larry Crowne is a great movie to take your grandmother to. Larry Crowne, review. By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy But with such timely material and a stellar cast, it comes off mostly as a missed opportunity. There is also character interest from his neighbors, Lamar (Cedric the Entertainer) and B'Ella (Taraji P. Henson), but that's what they're in the movie for: character interest. Larry Crowne is an inside-out movie, acceptable around the edges but hollow and shockingly unconvincing at its core. How many scooter clubs are there in Los Angeles? When Larry Crowne (Tom Hanks) loses his long time job, the middle-aged man tries to reinvent his career by going back to college. Don't tell me. Larry is an older man who has to restart his life. and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango. It is apparently with that in mind that Hollywood has deigned to give us Larry Crowne. Movie Review - Larry Crowne. Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. He’s befriended by a motorcycle gang whose interests include interior design and makeovers. The screenplay carries blandness to a point beyond tedium. Underwater on his mortgage and unclear on what to do with his suddenly free … As his public speaking teacher, he gets Mercedes Tainot (Julia Roberts), a character who seems to have drifted over from the auditions for "Bad Teacher.". In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism. Until he was downsized, affable, amiable Larry Crowne (Hanks) was a superstar team leader at the big-box company where he's worked since his time in the Navy. Tom Hanks directs himself in this, and also wrote the original script, so if you ever thought you can't have too much Hanks here is something else to blow your mind: you so, so can. In the morning he scans the empty parking lot with happy anticipation of another day in retail sales. He eventually inspires the bad teacher to become a good teacher, abandon her porn-surfing loser of a husband, cure herself of alcoholism and fall in love with him. So he buys a second-hand motor scooter, signs up for classes at the local community college, and re-tools himself for this modern, confusing age. Nia Vardalos might benefit from one of those classes. At some point the sinking realization sets in that Larry Crowne was born a nice guy, will always be a nice guy, will find few bumps in his road and is destined for a happy ending. You look forward to it being finished. There's no deep message. Movie Info Once well-respected at his company, Larry Crowne (Tom Hanks) finds himself on the unemployment line after a wave of corporate downsizing. He's upside down on his mortgage and doesn't know what to do next. Larry Crowne (2011) Movie Reviews - Cinafilm has 832 reviews of Larry Crowne from movie critics and film fans. Review of Larry Crowne (2011) By Deborah Ross (538) for The Spectator (1,173) on 30 Aug 2018 Tom Hanks directs himself in this, and also wrote the original script, so if you ever thought you can't have too much Hanks here is… I laughed so unbelievably hard several times, mostly at Julia Roberts and her hilarious lines. Sidney Poitier’s 7 Most Memorable Performances, All Harry Potter Movies Ranked Worst to Best by Tomatometer, Golden Tomato Awards: Best Movies & TV of 2020. LARRY CROWNE is a breezy, comical take on mid-life crisis, but it has some moral problems requiring strong caution. Ratings, review and more on Cinafilm.com April 17, 2017, 12:02 p.m. Jerry Jerman; It’s often a dramatic, knuckle-gnawing experience. But watchable. I don't want to know. Forgot your password? Larry Crowne is agreeable, nimble and oddly reassuring, a big-studio comedy/drama that is funny but refreshingly unemphatic in its jokes and emotional beats. Drowning in debt and unable to find a new job, he enrolls in the local community college. Larry Crowne Synopsis. “Larry Crowne” is a rom-com fairy tale so tepid and well behaved that watching it feels like being stuck in traffic as giddy joy-riders in the opposite lane break the speed limit. He gets fired from his job at a large Walmart type store and can’t find other employment. Crowne, (Hanks's lovable character) a divorced navy veteran laid off because he never went to college, decides to make some changes. Tom Hanks's company Playtone appears to be dedicated to making movies where a Beach-Boys-y soundtrack and 1950s Boy Scout values still inform everything. Hanks' dorky routine - right on through to the ridiculous ELO-soundtracked end credits as he and Roberts drives around on a scooter in front of a green screen - is thankfully not as draining as one may assume. What we have here is a screenplay lacking in conflict. Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts make an unconvincing couple in a romance set against the backdrop of recession. It was released in the United States on July 1, 2011. Larry Crowne is a quirky, sweet film chock full of positive messages. This happens despite his countless awards for Employee of the Month. The story arc is simplicity itself: Larry Crowne is a nice man who becomes nicer with the encouragement of other nice people. This movie is just rip roaring fun all the way through. I watched the movie with all the pleasure I bring to watching bread rise. After years in the workplace, dealing with mortgages and taxes, raising kids and other mature stuff, an adult decides to begin—or finish—a college degree. Drowning in debt and unsure of … Larry Crowne (2011) Flick Filosopher Real Rating: rated N for extreme Niceness; some material may not be suitable for those seeking more acerbic entertainment MPAA: rated PG-13 for brief strong language and some sexual content BBFC: rated 12A (contains moderate sex references and one use of strong language) viewed at a private screening with an audience of critics Hanks’ Larry Crowne, an affable middle-level manager of a big-box store, gets fired when new ownership dislikes the fact that he never went to college. Review: Time Is an Oblique Look at Black Lives Undone by the Prison System. This movie may not change your life, but if you give yourself to it you'll leave the theater with a smile on your face. Don't have an account? In this sense, Larry Crowne feels like an anachronistic throwback, the kind of film that doesn’t get made too often anymore.