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. Underwater on his mortgage and unclear on what to do with his suddenly free days, Larry heads to his local college to start over. There he becomes part of a colorful community of outcasts, also-rans and the overlooked all trying to find a better future for themselves...often moving around town in a herd of scooters. In his public-speaking class, Larry develops an unexpected crush on his teacher Mercedes Tainot (Roberts), who has lost as much passion for teaching as she has for her husband. The simple guy who has every reason to think his life has stalled will come to learn an unexpected lesson: when you think everything worth having has passed you by, you just might discover your reason to live.
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"During the film I found my cheeks were aching, and I realised I was smiling"
Larry (Tom Hanks) is a positive, optimistic, employee-of-the-month kind of guy. But when out of the blue he gets fired from work, Larry suddenly finds himself at the bottom of the career ladder. Enrolling in his local college he finds himself in Miss Tainot’s (Julia Roberts) public speaking class, with a mixed bunch of waifs and strays. Being a middle aged college student shouldn’t work, but he quickly falls in with the cool kids, joining their bike gang and reinvents himself as Lance Corona (well a classmate tries her best to restyle him).
Both lead characters find out that there’s more to life, and that friendship and love can change everything.
Proving he is a man of many talents, Hanks directed, co wrote and starred in the movie. Larry Crowne is easy viewing. Yes it’s predictable, kind of cliché and a tad cheesy at times, but it’s fun and instantly likeable. It’s a classic romcom perfect film for a night out with the girls, and a great date movie if you can drag your man along.
It was just as I'd expected; easy viewing, feel good with a happy ending. But Hanks can do no wrong in my books. Always loveable, borderline cool and effortlessly charming in this flick. Roberts was also strong. Well cast as the cocktail guzzling, bored-of-life teacher. They made a great pairing.
During the film I found my cheeks were aching, and I realised I was smiling. Sitting there with a silly grin on my face I knew what the ending was going to be, long before the film was finished but that didn't matter. Larry Crowne left me with a positive message, and the feeling that the best things can happen even when it doesn't feel that way. If you want a fun, upbeat film, go see Hanks do his thing.
