Buy Larry Crowne (LQ) Movie. Watch online or Download
Genres: ComedyRomanceDr
Starring: Dale Dye, Tom Hanks, Sy Richardson, Rob Riggle, Tina Huang, Barry Sobel, Randall Park
Director(s): Tom Hanks
Country: USA
Year: 2011
Available Quality: DivX, iPod
IMDB Rating: 5.9 out of 10 (14281 votes)
Until he was downsized, affable, amiable Larry Crowne (Hanks) was a superstar team leader at the big-box company where hes 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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Visitors Review
brandonsullivan91 (17 May 2012)
Slowe with an "E"
The opening credits of this movie were great! Names fly by as LarryCrowne (Hanks) is picking up garbage, stocking shelves with a smile,and cleaning puke off a mechanical horsey which instantly makes it easyto like the hard-working Crowne. As the credits finish the "powers thatbe" call in Hanks for a talk. The leadership team of the store informsCrowne he doesn't have the schooling for promotion and fire him. It iseasy to relate with the frustration and bewilderment of Crowne as heponders his next step.Sadly the movie bogs down and loses steam. Not a lot happens and ittakes a long time for it to happen. Hanks and Roberts save the moviefrom being painfully slow and move my classification to tolerable.The weirdest part of the movie was Crowne's friendship with the motorbike gang leader Talia. For some random reason Talia adopts Crowne as amissing father figure/lost puppy/charity case thing. It's weirdlyflirtatious, mostly pointless, and never explained. My guess is Taliagave the movie a legitimate way to make-over Crowne from lamedepartment manager to the hip achieve your dreams American dreamCrowne.This is a feel good, romantic comedy that you can skip.
(17 May 2012)
Forget the Critics
The problem with most critics these days is they are jaded. They often fail to take a movie at face value and just enjoy it for what it is. They look for what is not there and end up missing the mark. It's sad, really.In this case, "Larry Crowne" is a nice movie. It is a slice-of-life film about a regular Joe who falls on hard times, and has to re-invent himself to make it. There are enough laughs and amusing moments performed by a great cast to make it worth while. It is a story that is just right for this day and age. I would not recommend it for anyone looking for a big, splashy, in-your-face Summer blockbuster. But, if someone just wants to watch a delightful film done very well, with a good beginning, middle, and end, then this is the movie to see.Don't waste your time reading the "professional" critics, they have somehow missed the mark. This movie is worthy of your time.
(17 May 2012)
Public Speaking Made Easy
I always enjoy a good movie with Julia Roberts, and I found this one gave us Roberts fans complete satisfaction. She stars as Mercedes Tainot, a community college teacher in Southern California trapped in a loveless marriage to a writer of epic-sized fantasy novels like A GAME OF THRONES, only not very successful. Mercedes feels used by her husband, and for some reason feels especially irked when it is revealed that he (Bryan Cranston, not bad in an underwritten part) is exposed as the type of buy who, as soon as Julia Roberts leaves the house, heads for the @sexchannels on his computer. Like that's supposed to be a terrible crime against humanity. Meanwhile Tom Hanks (we are not told but I assume he is pornfree) has become a student in Mercedes' public speaking class. This part of the movie was very intriguing, for all to seldom do the movies show an actual class in operation from beginning to end, well, at any rate you get to learn something here. I learned a lot about public speaking from Julia Roberts' sensible, no nonsense advice.She says that when you begin to speak, you should look up and directly confront the face of someone way to the left of you. A few minutes later, raise your head from your notes once again, and address someone directly in front of you. Then try swiveling your head to catch the attention of those on your right. By the time you have done this, advises the Oscar-winning star, you will have made the whole room feel like they've just had a direct conversation with you--you will have gotten through to them.As in every other movie where the heroine has an unusual or bizarre name, I suspected an anagram right away. Like the way the name of the heroine in THE TIME TRAVELLER'S WIFE anagrammed out to "Isabel Archer," the heroine of Henry James' novel THE WINGS OF THE DOVE, I sat upon the name "Mercedes Tainot" wondering how to puzzle out its secrets. It must have signified something to Tom Hanks, who wrote the serviceable screenplay as a vanity vehicle for himself. But what? I worked out a few anagrams, but do any of them really make sense as a "Rosebud"-style revelation to the inner meaning of LARRY CROWNE? There's "Mister Anecdote," which I like, also, "Comedian Tester," which would have been good in some other movie perhaps, not this one however. Then there's "Remote Distance," but to me that hardly describes the one and only Julia Roberts! Maybe someone more regal and haughty like Charlotte Rampling, or Naomi Campbell!
SET (16 May 2012)
Larry Crowne
I like this film. It was very interesting. I have been waiting for a good Tom Hanks film to be released for some time now. Julia Roberts was also very good in the role of a teacher. I would recommend this film to anyone who likes a good clean movie. It doesn't have a lot of curse words, it has no drugs or sex involved and it is a good clean movie that anyone can see. The acting was good and this film has a very good message. Don't listen to the critics. They never like anything. I was not bored by this movie, as some critics would have you think.
dhealey12 (14 May 2012)
Hanks Should Write What He Knows
Right from the outset, with Hanks being fired at work while histerminators make stupid jokes, it is clear that writer Tom Hanks hasnot spent much time in the real world. Next Tom is in his fifties buthis new best friend at school is a beautiful young black girl in herearly 20's( yeah, that happens ).Unfortunately for her, Julia Roberts bought in to this gig based onHank's reputation no doubt. Apparently Julia can't read well enough tosmell a stinker when it is steaming in front of her. Julia has anaffair with student Tom, but the acting is so hokey and the charactersso wooden, it is tough to care.Tom should put the pen down and promise never to direct another of hisown scripts. Julia has proved that she can no longer make millionssimply by flashing more teeth in a single smile than would seem humanlypossible.Run, run far away and do not spend your hard earned money unless youenjoy watching former superstars embarrass themselves.
Robert Armstrong (13 May 2012)
Zero conflict -- other than a serious discredit to community college instructors.
Comedy authority Stan Freberg said once, and I agree, that humor needsto be based in reality. Unfortunately the reality thatdirector-screenwriter-star Tom Hanks has constructed for himself hereis that convenient target of community college as a collection ofuninterested losers who try the instructors' patience to the extremethat he or she, much like leading-lady prof played by Julia Roberts, isangry, cynical -- yet at the same time apathetic -- and something of atippler. Along comes Tom Hanks as Larry Crowne who, as anewly-unemployed middle-ager among the weeds of youth, somehow(osmosis?) introduces the unique perspective that age, intelligence andlife experience can bring to continuing adult education.As Larry/Hanks struggles with his early attempts in the class, that ofconversational speechmaking, we see Julia Roberts' character roll hereyes upward and refine her growing contempt as the younger folk in theclass give supposedly insubstantial talks such as shopping andcomparing one Star Trek series to another. Well, what should they bedoing instead? In the meantime the instructor herself, as far as theaudience can see, contributes nothing.Under the circumstances these kids are making a valiant, sincereeffort. Okay, the one guy had crib notes written on the palm of hishand.By the way -- has anyone else figured this out -- there is nothingunusual about older adults, intelligent or otherwise, who return toschool and find the real, practical self-enrichment they seek. Thisfalseness of the film's primary concept is an embarrassing display ofhow little Hanks, et al, grasp the everyday realities which, to themovie audience, are dirt-common.I'd forgive any of the wrong turns taken in this film if it were funny.I didn't laugh once.Subplot that Roberts' character's own marriage is deteriorating (gee Iwonder why), other than making her available to LC as a love interest,has, like so many other story elements (the motor scooter "gang," theeternal garage sale next door, waste of George Takei's good characterwork as poor man's John Houseman in Larry's other class -- wasn't Larrysupposed to be taking three classes?) little or no integration withrest of story.Near end of picture Julia's character says to Larry/Hanks "You're agreat student" and he says "You're a great teacher." No she isn't! Thefirst and only time she shows the remotest interest in her job is fiveminutes before the final exam, when she has the students do a mildaerobic exercise to loosen up.It is, rather, the very fact that community college instructors don'tmake much money and don't find intellectual gold at the end of alltheir hard work that we know that they do care. My impression, and I'msure many will agree, is that, if a student gives the slightestindication that he or she is trying to learn, a community collegeinstructor will bend over backwards to give that person an education.Tom Hanks as director is out of touch with human society to a degreeunprecedented since Kubrick in Eyes Wide Shut. One can only assume heagreed to this project as part of a deal to let him do something goodnext. Turner and Hooch 2? Will Hooch even return Hanks' phone calls after this?
warren (13 May 2012)
Left wanting more
I liked it but it could have been much better. With a cast like Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts I was expecting much more. With two of the tops actors/actresses in the business this could have been a knockout with a good story line and something that resembles a plot. It failed at developing a real since of attraction between the two main components of the movie. What a shame.
napierslogs (12 May 2012)
Too little of anything other than juvenile and cheap laughs
Tom Hanks is a nice guy. Larry Crowne is a nice guy. But as a movie,"Larry Crowne" is only somewhat likable. Larry Crowne (Tom Hanks) isfired from his 9-time-employee-of-the-month job at U-Mart. Yes, we'resupposed to feel sorry for him, and we do, but it's mostly played upfor laughs. The most we get into the psychology or economics of thedown-sizing is that "times change." Determined to not be down-sized again, Larry is off to college, for thefirst time. This is the beginning of the end for the movie, because allthe characters we meet at college are on the losing end of the need forcheap laughs. The college dean is obsessed with one of the teachers.Why? Because it provides a few laughsÂthat's the only reason. On hisfirst day of classes, Larry meets Talia who is going to help Larryreinvent himself. Why would a likable guy like Larry allow a hippiecollege girl to teach him about life? There aren't even any real laughswith their relationship, so there's no reason at all. Talia thenintroduces Larry to a gang of scooter riders. Apparently they have allseen "West Side Story" (1961), but there's no way if you went to yourlocal community college would you find that many kids so familiar withthe movie.Opposite Larry (in every sense of the word), is Mercy (Julia Roberts),an unhappy, alcoholic "teacher". I would classify her as one of theworst possible teachers. She claims that she wants her students to careand she wants to change their lives, but she doesn't actually want toteach. She doesn't want to show up on time for class, and she just sitsthere hung over. My biggest problem with "Larry Crowne" is that I'mpretty sure we were supposed to like and care for this creature. She'sgoing through a divorce. But she's divorcing Dean (Bryan Cranston) andsure he's a lazy, lying has-been, but he made me laugh with every linehe said. (But then again, I like Cranston so much I would probably evenmarry him as Walter White in "Breaking Bad").When it's just Hanks and Roberts, playing off of each other, the movieis adorable and funny. Their chemistry is perfect, and that's exactlywhat "Larry Crowne" needs, but they don't give me enough of it. Hanksand Roberts one-on-one (even throw in Cranston and George Takei) andthe movie would have been significantly better. An adult romanticcomedy with minimal romance and PG-comedy is welcome and refreshing,but the romance was down-played too much and the comedy was toojuvenile and not very funny.The best part of the movie is George Takei playing the greatest andfunniest economics professor you could ever imagine. He was givenenough time, but again, only for laughs, there's just so little reasonfor anything occurring.
jhamman (12 May 2012)
Surprisingly Fun Movie to Watch!
I have to be in a rare mood to watch romantic comedies but I could notpass up the chance to see what I would consider both the King and Queenof ROM COMs on the screen together -- Hanks and Roberts. Although theyworked together in "Charlie Wilson's War", this film may be a first inthat they are in a romantic comedy opposite one another.This movie exceeded my expectations! It was an extremely fun experienceand the humorous pace was very consistent throughout. There were neverpredictable lapses that one comes to expect with a romantic comedy.Very cleaver humor throughout.I would have to say that it would have been hard for anyone other thanHanks and Roberts to pull off, because much of the humor wassituational and went deeper than cheap one-liners. The emotionalexpression displayed by two of the best actors in the business madethis movie work.Veterans may like this one as well, and not just for the theme about aNavy veteran coming to grips with life. There were two former MarineCorps Public Affairs Officers -- Dale Dye and Rob Riggle. Riggle wasonce again at the top of his game and it was refreshing to see Dye showhis range as an actor beyond military roles.The only negative comment I would make is the color seemed like it wasoff a bit. It may have been the effect they were aiming for or it couldhave been the theater I saw it in, but it seemed like what you wouldget in a 110 camera for those of us old enough to remember them.Also, Cedric the Entertainer seemed to be billed heavily butunderutilized.Overall, this was a sweet, engaging but most of all hilarious film. Iam not easily moved but I had to dab the corners of my eyes a few timesdue to inspiration vs. sadness.I highly recommended catching this film in the theaters because I thinkthis will develop a cult following. Trust me, you don't simply want toearmark this for when the DVD comes out or you will miss out on thechatter about this one.
creability-1 (11 May 2012)
One of the worst ten movies I have ever seen...
I saw "From Dusk til Dawn" in a movie theater when it came out. I leftafter about 10 minutes, but that movie was way better than this pasty,silly, off putting, poorly written piece of nothing. If there was azero rating, I would use it here.Acting and in extension script-writing, directing, has to be a)effortless and b) believable. Unfortunately this movie managed none ofthat. A script that was so incredibly unbelievable paired with actingof dubious (at best) quality made this a train-wreck of a movie.Train-wreck in the sense that although horrible, it is hard to avertyour eyes. The make over of the Umart employee of the month to what hebecomes, chain in his wallet and all. The over-acting outside Julia'sdoor, looked a lot like Meg Ryan, it is one of the two moves she isasked to do in all movies she is in. The gang, brrrrrrr, horror ofhorrors... the gang...We get it, economic downturn, you can make it work! Think positive!There must be a better way of showing it!Save your money and above all, save your time.
Maeve T (05 May 2012)
Loved the movie but dismayed at fans' reaction
This is my first review here in IMDb and I felt I just had to defendthe movie esp Tom Hanks. I really felt bad that a couple had to tellhim in person they thought he did a bad job with it. I understand theneed for constructive criticism but there is a right time and place aswell as the right person for it.The movie was not at all too long or boring. It was beautifully fine.It was a feel-good movie and anyone who thought Hanks wanted it to besomething else was definitely bound to be disappointed. I even broughtmy teenage brother to watch it and he loved it - a huge thingconsidering he generally prefers to watch either action flicks or thecerebral stuff.
bkoganbing (04 May 2012)
Pretty Woman Comes Into A Life
I thoroughly enjoyed Larry Crowne which starred a pair of veterans inthe leads. Julia Roberts, a little older since she played in PrettyWoman, is still one thank you very much and she comes into the life ofTom Hanks who is in her speech class. Double, no triple dose of kudosgo to Hanks who wrote, directed, and played the lead the title role ofLarry Crowne.In America in 2011 Tom's life is a bit shaky, but he's still got a jobhe's held for years at a chain store called U-Mart. Gee, I wonder whomwe are talking about here. He's already broken up with his wife and hegets a call into the common break area and thinks he's once again to beemployee of the month. Instead in one of those corporate downsizing hegets the pink slip and it also looks like he's about to lose his dreamhouse because between alimony and mortgage he can't do it on justunemployment.What Hanks can do and presumably under the GI Bill of Rights is that hecan go to college. He never went before serving in Uncle Sam's Navy.And one of his classes to teach articulation for interviews is a speechclass with Julia Roberts who is also pretty burned out on life. The onethat's doing the burning for Roberts is her husband Bryan Cranston whois also an academic and pretty bored himself with the marriage. ButCranston has an ego that won't let him see it's time to call it a daywith Roberts.Larry Crowne is a feel good film with a bit of social commentary mixedin with the entertainment. Hanks is going back to his comedy roots andRoberts is enjoying a great role for herself that she looks like she'shaving fun doing.Also to watch out for are Cedric the Entertainer as Hanks's neighbor,Maria Canals-Barrera as one of Julia's colleagues in a 21st centuryupdating of the Eve Arden part and Rami Melek as one of the kids inRoberts's class with Hanks who is great as a partially brain deadskater dude.In these opening days of summer you'll do well to get out of the heatand go see two of the very best in contemporary Hollywood in LarryCrowne.
(01 May 2012)
What a love affair?
Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks fail to generate much chemistry in this romantic comedy about the affable, jobless Larry Crowne. Julie and Tom are really good actors, but there wasn't that mix that makes a really good movie here. Julie looked like she could have phoned in her lines, she was not matched right with Tom Hanks. See it if you are really die hard fans of these too very good actors. Three stars was I think really more than it was worth though. Have a great day guys.
Dodger Dan (30 April 2012)
Hanks and Roberts Go For the Easy Payday
For somebody who has delivered so many fine movies, this movie is a huge disappointment: flat, predictable, with little energy as everyone seems to be just going through the motions. This should have been released as an airplane movie rather than to the paying public.
bdgill12 (29 April 2012)
Somehow makes Hanks unlikable
Larry Crowne (Tom Hanks) is a long-time floor manager of aWal-Mart-like superstore who happens to love his job. Due to therecession, however, his company begins downsizing redundant employeesand because of Larry's lack of a college education, he soon findshimself without a job. In order to make himself more marketable, heregisters for some classes at a local community college. Here he meetsa set of new friends, led by Talia (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) and Dell Gordo(Wilmer Valderrama), who share his passion for scooters and who attemptto revamp his image. He also meets Mercedes Tainot (Julia Roberts), analcoholic speech teacher in a failing marriage and an even lessfulfilling job. The two strike up an awkward friendship that ultimatelybenefits them both in this story of revitalization and renewal in theface of adversity.First off, I love Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. At one time or another,I would have listed them both as my favorite actor and actressrespectively. Hanks is the classic All American Actor, the guy you rootfor at all times and who seems to genuinely understand his massiveappeal. Roberts is the female version of Hanks, the beautiful girl nextdoor who's managed to remain a fan favorite for 20 years in an industrythat forgets women the second they turn 35. I am always happy to seeeither of them on screen (unless it involves "The Da Vinci Code") anddespite the dip in productivity that each have experienced over thelast decade, they can still get me out to a theater based solely ontheir names. I have long believed that you can't make either of thesegreat actors unlikable. Well, I was wrong. "Larry Crowne" is an absolute disaster in every sense of the word. Noneof these characters are in the least bit relatable or likable. Tainotis an awful old bat that I pretty much hated the moment she stepped onscreen. I'm all for a good redemption story and I understand that youhave to start low to make the high more significant, but if thischaracter had been hit by a bus in the tenth minute, I would have beenfine. Larry himself is so thoroughly hapless that I just couldn't bringmyself to invest in him despite the numerous times my brain told me,"Come on dude, that's Tom Hanks! You've got to love his character! It'sjust a rule." He is a painful mix of Forrest Gump (my least favoriteHanks film until now) and the kid from "Big" that comes across aswholly unbelievable. No one is this naïve. No one. The rest of thecast, which includes George Takei, Cedric the Entertainer, and RobRiggle, ranges from totally worthless (Pam Grier) to cringe-worthy andone dimensional (Bryan Cranston, how in the name of "Breaking Bad" didyou get talked into this role?!). That's not even mentioning Mbatha-Rawwho probably shouldn't be allowed to act again. Shockingly, Valderramagives the best performance of anyone in the film but in some ways,isn't that all I need to say? The foreign dude from "That '70s Show"who has done absolutely nothing else of note in his career is the bestpart of this film. Ouch.All of these retched characters are nothing, however, compared to theexcessively cheery and somewhat pointless nature of the film'snarrative. There is no real humor in "Larry Crowne", only watered-downjokes that might suffice on a middling CBS sitcom but don't do the jobin a feature film. The overt cheeriness goes hand-in-hand with Larry'snaivety but as I said before, this naivety is irritating, notendearing. Everyone is happy all the time (except for Tainot) and as aresult there is no depth to the characters or the story. The eventssimply play out in front of the helpless audience instead of bringingthem into the story. That's not always a bad thing, I guess, but whenyou're working with an extremely relevant topic like job loss, you'rewasting an opportunity to engross the audience. "Crowne" really doesn'teven make an attempt to do so and that is perhaps its most egregiousoffense.In short, this film has Nia Vardalos' fingerprints all over it. IMDbwill tell you that Hanks co-wrote "Larry Crowne" with Vardalos but Idon't believe it for a minute. This mess has Vardalos' fingerprints allover it: one note characters, a shallow plot, and abysmal dialog.That's all Vardalos has treated us to since "Greek Wedding" scored $350million at the box office and I was willing to accept that she wouldalways be involved with horrible movies that I would simply stay awayfrom. But now that she's infected the glorious careers of both TomHanks and Julia Roberts well, I think I'm ready to preserve the greatergood and rid the world of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and everyone whohad anything to do with it. Since I'm out of plutonium, however, I'lljust have to implore you, dear readers, to stay away from "LarryCrowne" and pretend you've never heard of Nia Vardalos.Check out my site: www.thesoapboxoffice.blogspot.com
zzzzz-1 (29 April 2012)
Larry doesn't work... neither does anything else in this film
I have seen quite a few problems regarding this film. Yet, I'd like tobegin with something positive, so I have to say it is not that long andit can be considered to be... well, viewable... by most standards. Likesome soap commercial. It tells you something about a soap in a moststraightforward manner and that's it. In other words, you probablywon't fall asleep watching "Larry Crowne". And that's about that. Onthe other hand, the list of "issues" this film has to offer is verylong. First of all, I have seen it listed here and on some other placesas a comedy. Comedy should, by definition, be at least somewhat funny.This film has exactly two places I have found a little bit funny. Notoverwhelmingly-hysterically-over-the-top funny, but just funny. Thereare some melodramas that contain more humor than this "comedy".Secondly, the plot is a mishmash of several subplots vaguely related toeach other. For example, the main problem at the beginning of the filmis related to Larry losing his job. This problem becomes solved out ofnowhere in the middle of the film. You can say this is a MacGuffin usedto start up love story. But I think it's not the case. This dead-endstory about Larry losing his job is here only to try to relate tomillions of Americans who have recently lost their jobs. I am fromSerbia, so I cannot relate to that problem, and watching it from theside, it becomes even more obvious that there is no explanation forthis part of the plot. Then, there is a story of friendship with a muchyounger girl, and that part of the story looks just pathetic. There isno psychological explanation for that friendship, her "motorcycle gang"is composed entirely of no-name characters and literally none of themspeaks a single word. Then, there is a love story. The main story. Ifthere was a filmed love story with less on-screen chemistry, I havemissed it. I just don't get it. Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks look likepeople from different dimensions, or, to be more precise, from entirelydifferent films. Which leads to one of the main problems - acting. TomHanks is a great actor, he has proved that fact many times. But,obviously, he needs a director he won't be able to see only in mirror.His acting is flat, I wasn't sure if Larry was retarded or a genius, ifhe was unconfident or overly confident, I don't know what attracts himto Julia Roberts' character and vice versa, I know nothing about him.The director Hanks and the actor Hanks together work upon creating atotally inexplicable changes in characterization. Roberts, on the otherhand, is a little better, yet again, far from her best. The otheractors don't have much to offer, but I would say that Rami Malek andGeorge Takei use their chances to make likable characters. Yet, that'sfar from enough. The whole film is a mess and just doesn't work neitheras a comedy, nor a romantic comedy, nor a drama, it just doesn't work.And there are far too many problems regarding this film to say therewas something that could have made this film better. It was irreparablefrom the very beginning, it's incoherent, slow and empty. And if youwant to see it, think once again, that would be my most sinceresuggestion.
rightwingisevil (28 April 2012)
A brain-dead unrealistic farce instead of a comedy
If you would like to know what the Hollywood connections this guy got,watch this movie. Because you'd know that three movie productioncompanies all jumped in together to allow this guy to do whatever helikes to do: writing the screenplay, directing and acting as the maincharacter. Do you know that these Hollywood movie production companiesgot to pay him 3 different invoices, no matter how the movie turnedout? I totally agree with one of the reviewers' "The humor has to beclose to the reality" quote. If it failed to grasp the basic comedyrequirement, then the movie is not qualified for being a "comedy" but afarce, a misinterpretation of "comedy". So based on the basic foundation of comedy, what we got here are:1) The middle aged guy was laid off and lost his job and he would haveto get by with his short-term meager monthly unemployment checks. So heshould be frustrated, depressed and desperate. 2) The guy decided to goto the community college to re-educated himself in order to re-enterthe ever changing job market. So he must choose some more trendycourses to make him, a past prime middle aged guy, an employablecandidate again in the job market. But what we got here? Did he reallyconcentrate on his classes to salvage his career or just a regular job?3) The guy suddenly started riding a scooter day in and day out.Motorcycle driver's license? Still got the extra money to buy amotorbike? 4) Any chance in the real world a guy like him would be ableto hook up with the female teacher in the community college? A joblessguy, actually a certified loser? Okay, who got a good heart, agentleman, so what? Imagine yourself as the guy in this pathetic movie,do you still has the intention, the guts, the enthusiasm, the heart tohave a romance? The dating usually caused a lot of money, from anunemployment check? 5) The female instructor played by the washoutRoberts is another pathetic miscast. She didn't look convincing in theleast. 6) The romance? One naive jobless guy hooked up with a bitterand cynical educator? What we got here is just a wishful thinking scenario and unrealisticstoryline that doomed to crash and burn from the very beginning, butTom Hanks still got paid mucho deneros, no matter how outlandish andridiculous the movie is. Because he is one of the most powerful guys inHollywood, connections are everything, no matter what kind of crap hethrows to those movie companies. He could always keep up his image onscreen with botox injections.This is a very stupid movie, absolute tasteless.
spoko (28 April 2012)
Tries too hard, and simply doesn't succeed
I had expected that Hanks would manage to do a decent screenplay, buthe seems to be really going for a lot of quirk, and he simply didn'tpull it off. By contrast, the romance plot line was just taken as read,and he hardly even bothered devoting five full minutes to it.Acting-wise, Hanks was also trying way too hard. Julia Roberts, on theother hand, completely phoned it in. For the record, I prefer thelatter, if only because it seemed proportional to the weight of thefilm itself.It's not painfully bad, but even for a fairly by-the-book RomCom, itwasn't very good either.
Ed Uyeshima (26 April 2012)
Hanks Tackles the Economy and Romance in a Facile Feel-Good Dramedy
The tepid reviews that this 2011 dramedy is receiving have beenpervasive, yet there is something innately Capraesque about Tom Hanks'sophomore directorial effort, his first since 1996's "That Thing YouDo!" The movie proudly wears its heart on its sleeve, and thecommitment that Hanks shows in his character's plight goes a long wayto compensate for the episodic, by-the-numbers screenplay co-written byHanks and Nia Vardalos ("My Big Fat Greek Wedding"). The screenplay iswhat makes the film a bit disheartening to watch since its amiablenature and can-do sensibilities don't produce much in the way ofcompelling conflict. The concept appears timely, but the treatmentfeels like a Hollywood studio-manufactured version of what happens whensudden unemployment and economic hardship alter your reality.The title character is a divorced man in his mid-fifties who is theideal employee in a Walmart-type store after spending nearly twentyyears as a cook in the Navy. Thinking he was about to win anotheremployee of the month award, Larry finds out that he is the victim of adownsizing ostensibly due to his lack of a college degree being told hehas reached his maximum growth potential with the store. In order toensure that he never has this problem again, Larry enrolls in a localcommunity college where is advised to take an introductory economicscourse and a class on public speaking where he meets a lovely butdisillusioned professor named Mercedes Tainot, herself dealing with abad marriage and a drinking problem. Larry also acquires a scooter andattracts the strictly platonic attention of a fellow student namedTania, a free spirit who is a member of a harmlessly hip scooter gangand makes him over to look more fashion forward.Little time is spent on Larry's actual economic situation, and Hanksuses the convenient device of a pretentious loan officer (playedcomically by his wife, Rita Wilson) to explain what Larry has to do tocurtail his sinking mortgage payments. Along the way, he finds a job asa line cook at a diner, makes new friends, and learns to loosen up alittle and enjoy the small things in life. At first, Hanks as an actorappears to be in "Forrest Gump" mode as Larry, avuncular and docile tothe point of appearing mentally challenged, but then he gravitatestoward his "You've Got Mail" character when he sets out to win Roberts'heart. As Mercedes, Roberts seems to be sliding into middle age a lotsmoother than I would have expected from an actress whose popularitypeaked a decade ago. She's certainly a lot more endearing here than shewas in her navel-gazing exercise last year, "Eat, Pray, Love".Gugu Mbatha-Raw is appealing as Tania, but her character is probablythe most unbelievable in the story. As Larry's constantly hucksteringneighbor, Cedric the Entertainer is used primarily for comic relief,while Taraji P. Henson has a barely-there role as his perky wife. Sodoes Pam Grier who provides her earthy presence all far too briefly asMercedes' fellow faculty member. Bryan Cranston has the predictablerole of Mercedes' porn-surfing, no-account husband and plays himexactly to formula. George Takei steals several scenes as theself-absorbed economics professor, while Wilmer Valderrama appears tobe upending his role as Fez on "The 70's Show" as Tania's innocuouslyjealous boyfriend. By the way, it's hard to miss Grace Gummer as one ofthe students since she is a carbon copy of her mother Meryl Streep'syounger self. The movie rallies in the second half of its 99-minuterunning time, but despite a heavy likability factor due to its stars, Iwish there was less Hollywood fairy tale dust in the story.
Amazinggrace (25 April 2012)
This is a wonderful movie!
Just got home from watching it and loved every minute of it. We've been waiting a long time for a good movie to come to the screen and this was it. It was funny from start to finish, moved very fast, from start to finish, and it left you feeling good about everything. I guess we have been watching too many old movie classics, because it really appealed to us. In fact we watch TCM so much we can't stand most of todays movies that no longer entertain but depress. I wish more writer, director, producers like Tom Hanks would come along. This movie was just good!
Review total: 20, showing from 1 to 20