Larry Crowne is a Tom Hanks movie and not to put it under pressure but we here at TNiFN Towers have not seen a bad Tom Hanks film. So does Larry Crowne live up to the heady heights of the Tom Hanks pedestal of movie greatness? Let us find out.
Larry Crowne is the title of the film and the name of the character played by Tom Hanks, who also co-wrote the storyline and produced the film. Crowne is the amenable staff member who works at the local U-Mart store. He never went to college, instead went straight into the Navy and after spending twenty years serving his country, as well as the sailors, since he was just a cook, he went onto the U-Mart. Unfortunately his glittering sales assistant career is cut short, when the affable Crowne is down-sized, essentially fired. Which comes at a bad time, as he has just bought out his ex-wife's half of the marital home and so he is in debt and really needs the job. The reasoning behind the firing was that Larry had no college qualifications, so would have no future with the company.
So he decides to go back to college, gain some qualifications and find a job.
That all sounds very simple and not really a tantalising prospect for a film, but the beauty of this film is its simplicity. There are no overtly complicated plot twists, no minor details of apparent insignificance that resurface later with massive consequences. It is just Larry enrolling in a college course and then falling in love with his tutor.
Oh. Did I not mention the tutor? Mrs Mercedes Tainot is teaching "Speech 217: The Art of Informal Remarks". Tainot is played by the absolutely fantastic Julia Roberts and she is sublime as the college tutor, who is far too close to the recreational rum bottle and not very close to her work shy husband.
When Larry hits college, as a mature student, he clearly shows his age, but forms an unlikely friendship with a younger student called Talia (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) who makes it her mission to restyle Larry to fit in with the in-crowd, much to the chagrin of her boyfriend.
That's about it really, there is not much plot, but there doesn't need to be as the film explores the juxtaposition between the old and new Larry, along with the relationships he has with his neighbour, his college peers, his work colleagues and of course his college tutor. Intrinsically it's a journey through the vagaries of college life played out by Larry, his fellow students and his tutor. Look out for some brilliant pieces by George Takei who plays an Economics professor, another course that Larry has enrolled for.
Larry Crowne is partly a feelgood film, partly a romantic comedy and partly a dramatic comedy. It is short, sweet and innocent which could have been a recipe for disaster if it wasn't for Tom Hanks or Julia Roberts. Roberts just shines through the screen, her broad smile could melt the coldest heart and her warmth of character resonates superbly with the Hanks played Crowne. A delicious chemistry is produced when both share the screen and you can sense an electricity between the pairing, albeit in a low key scene. Any other actors would probably not have produced the goods, but here the Roberts and Hanks combination seems to fill the screen with a palpable, organic dynamic which conveys this simply spun story into a beautifully knitted piece which can delight a perceptive audience.
Reading the reviews, it didn't get received very well. A 6.0 rating on IMDB and only grossing $13 million on it's opening weekend in the USA. Compare that to Captain Phillips which grossed twice as much in it's opening weekend. Also, if you pop across to Rotten Tomatoes another film site, that might get a bigger audience than this one, Larry Crowne is dwindling with a rating of 35%. Either way Larry Crowne is a film that you need to make your own mind up on. We thought it was a whimsical jaunt, through a simplistic plot, portrayed by a superb cast, which kept us entertained for the full 98 minutes. It also had a superlative soundtrack with songs arranged by James Newton-Howard, that complimented the on screen action with a subtle nuance and a deft poignancy that added another layer of shine to an already sparkling example of filmography.
We liked it. Happy New Year to both of loyal readers!!
TNiFN Rating 83%
IMDB Link
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