film review Larry Crowne

LARRY CROWNE

Starring: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Cedric the Entertainer, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Taraji P. Henson, Wilmer Valderrama, Rami Malek, George Takei, Bryan Cranston,  Rita Wilson

Director: Tom Hanks

America's sweethearts Julia Roberts   and Tom Hanks share  remarkable chemistry in this heart-warming romantic comedy about how Every(wo)man takes adversity on the chin, and comes up trumps.

 

It must be said though the film belongs as much to the youthful cast as it does to   actor, director, co-writer Hanks as  the middle aged titular hero who  is sacked from his job and enrols in a community college where  he falls in love with the speech & communication teacher, Mercedes  Tainot (Roberts in mean mode).  He also signs up for  quirky (George Takei)  prof's economics course where  gorgeous Talia (Gugu Mbatha-Raw)  insists on calling him Lance Corona and invites him to tag along with her peers much to the chagrin of her perpetually jealous boyfriend, Dell Gordo (Wilmer Valderrama). This, he does, with some help from Talia and her buddies who cruise around town in scooters, much in the manner of the Vietnamese in Hanoi. Unlike the Viets who like to hang out at icecream parlours, the young Yankees frequent fast food restaurants and thrift centres ( at least in this film they do).

They are also exceedingly helpful (to LC) and accomodative of teachers who are either boring or bored with teaching. In Prof Tainot's case, it's the latter affliction, brought on by a  layabout spouse  Dean  (Bryan Cranston) whose primary occupation is the ogling of siliconed sluts online (and then trying to justify  it by saying it's a guy thing. ) Mercedes won't buy this and is countered with digs about her mammaries and her fondness for the bottle. 

 Unsurprisingly,  she vents her frustrations on her students and colleagues but doesn't take any steps to seek marriage counselling.(In Hollywood films, bickering couples never do, in case you haven’t noticed.)

I also wondered why  Larry ( Mr NICE GUY ) is SINGLE!!!

Curiouser and curiouser, impoverishment  never affects Larry as badly as it does Will Smith and his son in that movie ( I forget its name, pardonnez moi)) where both take refuge in a public toilet, since there's no room in the inn, sorry, night shelter.

But let me stop complaining right here and say the movie ends happily as all Tom Hanks movies do (and should.)