Rated PG-13 for brief strong language and some sexual content
Cast: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Bryan Cranston, Cedric the Entertainer, Taraji P. Henson
Director: Tom Hanks
The story is set in the midst of this very economic recession, and I have a bad feeling many critics will focus solely on that. This isn't a hardcore drama about economic hardship. (If that's what you're seeking, a more appropriate title would be last year's "The Company Men.") Director Hanks and co-writer Nia Vardalos ("My Big Fat Greek Wedding") have given us a sweet romance about two middle-aged people; one whose life path has shifted on a dime and the other whose own life could use the same, and how their convergence cooks up happiness neither thought was still possible.
The movie opens on a confident note, with a montage of shots showing Larry Crowne (Tom Hanks) performing his duties as a department store attendant with giddy exuberance, all set to the upbeat tempo of ELO's "Hold on Tight." He is called into the break area for what he assumes will be yet another Employee of the Month coronation. Instead, he's informed that due to his lack of collegiate education, he has no chance of advancement into management and will be let go. This news hits him hard. Despite his sunny disposition, Crowne is not some happy-go-lucky man oblivious to hardship. We learn his marriage ended and he is in debt, yet has somehow mastered the near-impossible task of not wearing such frustrations on the sleeve.
Crowne liquidates his assets and surrenders his SUV for a motor scooter sold by his neighbor, Lamar (Cedric the Entertainer), an engagingly sly salesman who once won a fortune on a tv game show and now runs a year-round yard sale. Lamar suggests that Crowne go to college. On the first day, he befriends a new age fellow scooter rider named Talia (played by British charmer Gugu Mbatha-Raw) who proceeds to make over not only Crowne's look, but his home as well. His first class of the day is a speech course taught by the well-meaning but cynical Mercedes Tainot (Julia Roberts) who has seen her life's aspirations slide cruelly into oblivion. She is part of an unhappy union to a twice-published author (Bryan Cranston) who now surfs for internet porn at all hours. ("I'm just a guy, being a guy, doing guy things!" he exclaims when confronted. Lines like this crystallize Mercedes' cynicism.) The teacher is at first wary of this new middle-aged student in her class, but slowly senses there may actually be something to this whole reinvention thing.
This isn't a particularly deep movie; there are no grand swings of the narrative pendulum, no betrayals, no forced contrivances. It's a film that feeds off of its own likability. Hanks' performance gives us what we expect from Larry Crowne... charming, sincere, stoic. Playing a character more viewers, I think, will identify with, Julia Roberts demonstrates a mastery of subtle acting. One of her best scenes has her leaving a bar with her husband. She is a bit intoxicated, as he drones on with justifications for his sedentary lifestyle. (His banality knows no depths.) She never looks at him, but her eyes convey a multilayered animosity not just to him, but to what she has unwittingly allowed her life to become. A lesser actor would have overplayed the intoxicated angle or engaged him directly. She imparts a lot of meaning with seemingly little effort.
There are humorous bits scattered throughout to counterbalance the melancholic undertones of the story. Some work, some not so much. (A scene where Crowne joins a "scooter gang" by snapping in unison with the other members feels a little awkward and forced.) I did, however, enjoy comic turns from the always engaging George Takei as a renowned professor with zero tolerance for cell phones, and Rita Wilson as a bank manager who emits phony compassion while laying out the harsh realities of Crowne's financial status. (She offers him not just coffee, but "complimentary coffee.")
If the surfeit of thunderous summer action flicks aren't your thing, "Larry Crowne" is a pleasant diversion. Its charm lies in the understanding that while learning to be successful and maximizing your potential is important, it's also a young person's game. There comes an age where such embodiments of success play second fiddle to the unbridled joy in simply learning to be happy, regardless of the form such happiness takes.
* * * out of * * * * stars
