Okay, I'm just going to say it... I still LOVE Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts in frivolous romantic comedies. I have to respect actors who know their niche in the industry and lovingly embrace it. Tom and Julia as covert operatives for the CIA? Ugh, box office disaster. But... Tom as an age-worn everyman struggling to stay competitive in today's ruthless economic climate and Julia as a slightly cantankerous and pessimistic junior college instructor whose outlook on life is just waiting to be converted by Tom's positivity and self-initiative? Golden.
This film stars Tom Hanks as Larry Crowne, a superlative retail sales employee who finds himself on the chopping block after a recent corporate overhaul on account of the completely non-relevant fact that he never attended college. Eager to gain some control over his rapidly unraveling life, he enrolls in a local community college where he meets Julia Roberts' character, a speech and communications instructor named Mercedes whose faith in public education and sobriety are both on shaky ground. The audience will have a great time commiserating with Larry and the financial woes that he struggles with: downsizing from a gas- guzzling sport utility vehicle to discovering the joys of motor-scooting across the expansive Valley, struggling to balance part-time work and classes, losing his home, to finally, losing his preconceived notions about what exactly constitutes a successful life.
Tom Hanks does a great job in keeping the thematic undercurrents of the movie from dragging us down too far -- his Larry Crowne character is delightfully innocent in this movie, seemingly unmarred by the bitterness and resentment that so often colors stories of the recent economic recession and its downtrodden, and exudes a type of go-with- the-flow positivity that I recall seeing in 'Forrest Gump.' Heck, he even gets the girl.... on a side-note, check out the actor who plays the economics professor in the fictional East Valley Community College. It's guaranteed to induce uncomfortable flashbacks about your own introductory weeder courses in college!
This movie was deliciously light and frothy, a sort of pared-down social commentary on how people need to adapt and keep adapting in these times, how fickle and unsympathetic the winds of change can be. The critics who call it trite and without substance can kiss my solid middle-class ass -- I found it to be a gentle reminder about how tough it is out there economically, and the message sat well with the audience I attended with, who weren't really interested in watching anything that hit too close to home.
Go watch this flick if you have the desire to watch an after-school special made for adults. Okay, so the likelihood that an unemployed, middle-aged man in LA would go back to school, ride with a scooter-gang, and develop an attraction for a hottie professor that was reciprocated is practically nil. We can't eat fiber all the time, right? At least this picture promotes staying positive in light of the crappy economy, and I was rooting for Larry Crowne from the second he started downsizing his life. Live long and prosper, everyone.
This film stars Tom Hanks as Larry Crowne, a superlative retail sales employee who finds himself on the chopping block after a recent corporate overhaul on account of the completely non-relevant fact that he never attended college. Eager to gain some control over his rapidly unraveling life, he enrolls in a local community college where he meets Julia Roberts' character, a speech and communications instructor named Mercedes whose faith in public education and sobriety are both on shaky ground. The audience will have a great time commiserating with Larry and the financial woes that he struggles with: downsizing from a gas- guzzling sport utility vehicle to discovering the joys of motor-scooting across the expansive Valley, struggling to balance part-time work and classes, losing his home, to finally, losing his preconceived notions about what exactly constitutes a successful life.
Tom Hanks does a great job in keeping the thematic undercurrents of the movie from dragging us down too far -- his Larry Crowne character is delightfully innocent in this movie, seemingly unmarred by the bitterness and resentment that so often colors stories of the recent economic recession and its downtrodden, and exudes a type of go-with- the-flow positivity that I recall seeing in 'Forrest Gump.' Heck, he even gets the girl.... on a side-note, check out the actor who plays the economics professor in the fictional East Valley Community College. It's guaranteed to induce uncomfortable flashbacks about your own introductory weeder courses in college!
This movie was deliciously light and frothy, a sort of pared-down social commentary on how people need to adapt and keep adapting in these times, how fickle and unsympathetic the winds of change can be. The critics who call it trite and without substance can kiss my solid middle-class ass -- I found it to be a gentle reminder about how tough it is out there economically, and the message sat well with the audience I attended with, who weren't really interested in watching anything that hit too close to home.
Go watch this flick if you have the desire to watch an after-school special made for adults. Okay, so the likelihood that an unemployed, middle-aged man in LA would go back to school, ride with a scooter-gang, and develop an attraction for a hottie professor that was reciprocated is practically nil. We can't eat fiber all the time, right? At least this picture promotes staying positive in light of the crappy economy, and I was rooting for Larry Crowne from the second he started downsizing his life. Live long and prosper, everyone.