Larry Crowne

Larry Crowne
Directed by: Tom Hanks
Cast: Tom Hanks as Larry Crowne
Julia Roberts as Mercedes Taniot
Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Talia
Cedric The Entertainer as Lamar
Wilmer Valderrama as Dell Gordo
Bryan Cranston as Dean Tainot
George Takei as Dr. Matsutani
Rated PG-13

*The following may contain spoilers*

Life is hectic. No matter how many plans we have or goals we set, life has a way of rewriting and redirecting our paths. And with these changes come decisions; the decision of how to handle the strife that comes your way. Consistently, there are only two choices. You can choose to find the bright side in life, or choose to focus on the negatives. It is these choices that make us human, through these decisions, we bare our soul. They are the essence of humanity and Larry Crowne showcases them beautifully.

Directed by Tom Hanks himself, Larry Crowne tells the story of man of the same name. When we first meet Larry, he has one passion: customer service. He takes his job at the Wal-Mart type store very seriously. Great to customers, everyone loves Larry and everyone expects him to make employee of the month once again. However, life hits in the form of the corporate heads firing Larry due to his lack of a college degree.
After a brief spiral into the black hole of unemployment, Larry chooses to see the positives and decides to return to college and get his degree, as well as beginning the journey to better himself.

Enter Mercedes Tainot, not "tie-not" but "tay-know", an English professor at the local community college. Mercedes is stuck in a rut, teaching passionless students the very thing she used to have a passion for. Mrs. Tainot goes through her day just trying to avoid the horrors of her classes, counting students to make sure there are enough to even justify the class. After school, she returns home to a deadbeat husband and the highlight of her day: a margarita.
Mercedes' life has not turned out the way she wanted it to and she has chosen to focus on the negatives. Thankfully, one particular student named Larry Crowne is about to change her outlook on life.

What I Liked: 
In case you couldn't tell already, I took a slightly deeper meaning away from Larry Crowne. With the all-too-regular occurrences of unemployment and foreclosures in the world today, Larry Crowne offers a brighter, achievable reality. When the credits roll, the Larry we see is not the Larry we met; the change in him is evident, and even for the better. He's confident, on a new track and out of debt. And these did not occur through some Hollywood plot device. It is all because of his outlook and this fact offers something for everyone to take away.
While all of your problems may not disappear overnight, life does become considerably easier when you choose to focus on the good. The world just seems a little bit brighter.

On top of the inspiring plot, the cast is really what brings the film together. As you may have noticed at the top of the article, this film is pretty heavily star-studded. Each cast member plays their part perfectly, bringing a life and character to them so strong that it's easy forget that they are just acting.
The combination of all these different characters really create the perfect storm of ordinary, each bringing a different stereotype to the mix. While simplistic in theory, the execution turned out really well and the whole film came together in a way that felt real.
George Takei (the original Star Trek Sulu) and Wilmer Valderrama (Fez from That's 70's Show) deserve special mention, as each steal the scene every time they come on screen. Takei is hysterical as the slightly-crazy Economics professor and Valderrama is simply amazing as the jealous boyfriend that walks in at the wrong time. If you're fans of either of these actors, they alone make it worth your time.

These two things, the cast and the plot, is really all there is to Larry Crowne. There are no special effects or unnecessary and pathetic attempts at comedy. That alone puts it above most of the other movies out right now.


What I Didn't Like: 
I really did love this movie and almost everything about it. There were just two hiccups in the whole thing that I felt could have been smoother.

*SPOILER ALERT* Mercedes and Larry kind of get together in the end of it. Kind of could have seen that coming.
Anyways, the first thing kind of bothered me was that their "relationship" felt really sudden and somewhat forced. I would have preferred a little more obvious chemistry between the two before the first kiss, or maybe just no cliche get together at all.

The second thing was the character of Mercedes. I love Julia Roberts and she did an amazing job, but the footage the movie had her transition from grouch to sunflower pretty quickly. Once again, it just felt a little awkward that she changed so quickly. I feel that the whole thing could have been fixed with one or two more scenes of her dealing with her private life.

Final Thoughts:
Those really are my only two issues with the entire film. The whole thing is just a beautiful piece of movie magic that gets back to the basics of what film making should be. Relying on the talent of your cast instead of effects really does wonders for the quality of movie, in my humble opinion. The whole thing was genuine and heartfelt throughout, never missing a beat in it's subtle reflection on the hardships that we all face at some point in our lives. For the first time in a while, you can take something home from the movie that isn't an over priced snack. Thank you, Larry Crowne.

When Should You See It?
If you thought anything in this review or description was interesting, go see it. It's worth your time and money in every way.

Personal Rating: 8 of 10
Plot: 7 of 10
Sexuality/Sensuality: 3 of 10
Mercedes' husband is once seen looking at pictures of bikini-clad women on his computer and Mercedes references his "sitting at home and watching porn" all day. Mercedes also thinks that Larry and his 20-something friend, Talia are sleeping together.

Drugs/Alcohol: 2 of 10