Movie Review: Larry Crowne



Larry Crowne(Tom Hanks) works for U-Mart. After spending 20 years in Navy as a cook, he has taken up this sales job in retail business. He is shaken when he is downsized from the workforce for lack of college education. Without a job, he cannot even repay his mortgage. The bank is also unwilling to refinance his mortgage. When his search for a new job does not yield any results, he decides to enroll in a community college.

To survive without an income, he sells some of the items in his house and buys a motor scooter from his neighbors Lamar(Cedric the Entertainer) and Bella(Taraji P Henson). Arriving at the school, he meets another motor scooter enthusiast Talia(Gugu Mbatha-Raw) who takes a friendly liking for him. At the communication class, he meets his professor Mercy Tainot(Julia Roberts). Mercy is an alcoholic who has no interest in the students with a very short attention span. Later, in the economics class, Larry bumps into Talia. Talia enrolls Larry into her gang of fellow motor scooter riders. Soon, there are changes in Larry’s life.

Tom Hanks dons the dual hat of the director and the leading man in this comedy. He has chosen a story of a common man forced to change the course of his life in troubled times and portrayed it with liberal doses of humor instead of going the melodramatic way. This makes the proceeding interesting and gives a good feeling for the audience. The story has a multitude of characters who are all striving for a good life. The credit goes to Tom for telling a story without getting lost in this multitude of characters. Thankfully, the emphasis is on Larry’s struggle and not on romance.

Larry Crowne is a tailor made role for Tom Hanks. Period. It is Julia Roberts who surprises as an alcoholic spreading negativity all the time.

Watch this when you get a chance. This movie will make you smile.

Language: English

Genre: Comedy

Rating: ***

Tags: Movies,Tom Hanks,Julia Roberts,Comedy

Comments

  1. I like the review. Will make it a point to watch it. Besides I think Tom Hanks is a great actor.

    ReplyDelete
  2. @Radha - Let me know after you have seen the movie.

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  3. the verdict is 'watch this' yet 3 stars ... tsk! tsk!

    ReplyDelete
  4. @Laks - Yes. It is a feel good movie. But not spectacular to deserve more stars.

    ReplyDelete

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