Mr. Hanks plays the titular Mr. Crowne, one of those only-in-the-movies simpletons who loves, loves, LOVES, his job - in this case at the local UMart big box store. The opening sequence, set to the disorienting strains of E.L.O.'s "Hold On Tight", features him carefully aligning the store's inventory (A place for everything...) and picking up a piece of litter that some inconsiderate has dropped in the parking lot (...and everything in its place!), all done with an aww-shucks grin. Unfortunately, this all comes crashing down when he is laid-off for never having attended college. He is, naturally, informed of this by a triumvirate of front-office drones who spout hysterical corporate nonsense, which is funny because that cliché hasn't been beaten to death for the last thirty years. Oh wait, yes it has.
So, back to school Mr. Crowne goes, and right into a class (Speech 241: The Art of Casual Conversation, or some such), taught by Ms. Mercedes Tainot (Julia Roberts). Seeing as this class is at a local community college, Ms. Tainot is a disillusioned professor. It seems she took her Masters in [insert obscure subject] and this is the only job that she can get! The student pond is also stocked with the standard stoner, foreign student, vapid blond, etc, characters right out of 80s gem "Summer School", which actually played them more humorously, honestly, and effectively. Along the way Mr. Crowne learns to... be himself? Trust himself? Be someone else? Learn to love? It's somewhat unclear.
The long-and-short is that "Larry Crowne" is a complete mess. Mr. Hanks seems unsure of how to play the character, vacillating between 10 IQ points north of Forrest Gump and 20 south of Will Hunting, making it extremely hard to identify with or like him. Julia Roberts is equally uneven, though to be fair, playing an unhappy character deprives her of the use of her famous 10 (or is it 100?) megawatt smile, or her piercing peals of laughter, which is rather like looking to Taylor Lautner to play a character that keeps his shirt on.
The lion's share of the blame must fall on the shoulders of the screenplay. Written by Mr. Hanks and Nia Vardalos ("My Life In Ruins"), with possible uncredited re-writes by 10,000 monkeys with 10,000 typewriters, it feels more like a series of scenes borrowed from a writing class than it does a cohesive story, which does nothing to help Mr. Hanks' rudimentary directing skills. Given a strong script, he could certainly sit back and let the actors and the camera do the work, but in a situation that requires shaping and coaxing of both, he fails to provide the requisite guidance.
The only saving grace comes from some of the supporting cast. Fortunately, Mr. Hanks has the juice to get pretty much anyone to sign on to his movies, and he's clearly not shy about asking. Cedric the Entertainer, playing the neighbor with the perpetual yard sale, attacks his part with gusto and steals the few scenes where the comedy moves the story. Watching George Takei brings his own spin to the classic Ben Stein character also goes down quite well, as do the few scenes involving the always refreshing Bryan Cranston. Also nice to see Wilmer Valderrama get some work, even if it is as another racial stereotype.
While the final 20 minutes or so of this 99 minute slog have some charming (if predictable) moments, it is not worth suffering through the first 79. For all of Mr. Hanks' talents and power in Hollywood, he would be wise to remember that he established himself by delivering quality and working with the best. Just because he can get something greenlit, doesn't mean that he should.
| Movie title | Larry Crowne |
|---|---|
| Release year | 2011 |
| MPAA Rating | PG-13 |
| Our rating | |
| Summary | Sadly, the presence of Tom Hanks isn't the guarantee of quality that it used to be. |
