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Larry Crowne
| Released |
1 July 2011 |
| Director |
Tom Hanks |
Starring
|
Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Bryan Cranston |
| Writer(s) |
Tom Hanks, Nia Vardalos |
| Producer(s) |
Gary Goetzman, Tom Hanks |
| Origin |
United States |
| Running Time |
98 minutes |
| Genre |
Comedy, drama |
| Rating |
12A |
|
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Too eager to please.
Ranked as the highest all time box office star, with nearly four billion dollars total box office gross, one can imagine that Tom Hanks has pretty much got carte blanche when it comes to filmmaking in Hollywood. So when he pitched the idea of bringing Larry Crowne to the big screen, dubious studio bigwigs undoubtedly gave the green light safe in the knowledge that no matter how utterly banal the storyline, Hanks has the necessary charm to turn it into gold-standard. When Julia Roberts came onboard, they imagined they had a hit on their hands. Pretty Woman and Forest Gump together?! An irresistible combo-or so it would seem.
Larry Crowne tells the story of a middle-aged man who reinvents himself by attending the local college. Let go from his job as a popular team leader at U-Mart Larry (Hanks) is determined to acquire new skills which would make him more employable in a stagnant economy. Hence he enrols in community college and immerses himself amongst a colourful group of social misfits and outcasts who ride in a phalanx of shiny scooters. It isn't until he falls heavily for his disillusioned teacher Mercedes (Roberts) that Larry realises that, despite his unemployment and mortgage arrears, there are more important things in life.
This is Hanks' second attempt at movie directing (after 1996's equally lacklustre That Thing You Do!) and like his first outing, Larry Crowne is glib. The pace of the movie is frustratingly slow. We know what's going to happen, hell we even know how it's going to happen, but Hanks and co-writer Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) insist on wringing every last drop of smaltz from the well-meaning script. Hanks is as ever amiable and affable as hapless geek Larry while Roberts brings her trademark megawatt smile. Yet the absence of any sort of conflict, any real sense of drama means that the audience can invest absolutely nothing in Larry Crowne. We are neither emotionally nor intellectually engaged by the film as it pans out on screen. Perhaps it may appeal to those grown-ups who are tired of high octane CGI and superheroes and aspire to a benign evening at the cinema-but that's about it.
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Louisa McElwee |
