I watched Larry Crowne because of Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman. I especially liked Biff Henderson’s brief cameo in the restaurant.
When we meet Larry Crowne he is a very happy employee at a big box store, a kind of cross between Wal-Mart and Target. He loves his job. He comes into work with a smile on his face as he picks up garbage in the parking lot-and he has been Employee of the Month 8 times. This all ends when a number of higher ups in the company fire him-the reason given is that he doesn’t have a college education.
Larry is a nice enough guy, but his life is in tatters because of a divorce and he is upside down on his mortgage. He also seems to have chosen Urkel as his personal fashion icon. He decides to go back to college, where he meets a few young people and a teacher who doesn’t seem too interested teaching anymore.
One thing leads to another. Larry gets a makeover from a young hottie. The Teacher breaks up with her loser/blogger husband. We sit in on a couple of classes with Larry and watch as he changes from mild mannered geek to mild mannered fashionista and financial hotshot. We also watch as the Teacher learns to love teaching again and go a little easier on the booze.
The Wife said that Larry Crowne looks like a Lifetime movie-and she didn’t really want to pay to see it. The fact that most of the Coming Attractions were for horror and sci-fi movies and one was for a period piece about equal rights says a lot about the projected audience for Larry Crowne-that is to say, there isn’t one.
Character development used to be a big deal in the movies, but now with every movie wanting to be part one of ten, characters aren’t supposed to change. Larry Crowne is a stand alone movie. About normal people. No zombies. No aliens. Nothing blows up. In fact, I was expecting a car crash at one point-and I was surprised when it didn’t happen.
I liked the story, I liked the actors, but Larry Crowne was not as good as it could have been. I still want everyone to go and see it, just so someone will be encouraged to make movies that aren’t CGI driven like Transformers and Green Lantern.
The real problem with Larry Crowne is that Larry is not the master of his own fate. He is blown about like a leaf in the wind. He is fired. He goes to college and lets a passing stranger tell him what classes to take. A fellow student pretty much takes over his life, deciding everything from what clothes he will wear to how to arrange his furniture. He needs a job but can’t find one, an old friend gives him a job without having to be asked. His would be girl friend is married, so she kicks out her husband to clear the path for him. Larry has no spine, no will. His one action is to default on his home loan and ruin his credit. Are these the acts of a hero?
Maybe Tom Hanks should just stick to PBS and HBO specials.
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I think that the fact that Larry (Hanks) does not get to make any of his own decisions is a good depiction of life in our times. When do people get to make any decisions for themselves when everything seems to be going down hill. The only thing you can do is abandon ship… is what Larry does when he goes to the bank.
I think the movies shows that it is not bad to rely on other people and to trust other people. I think that is shows the great thing about living in a civilized society… we are never alone.
Since I usually go to the movies to be entertained I rarely put that much thought into the movies before I go and therefore I am ready to be immersed in the story.
Of course, it does not hurt that I am in that place in life where I just want everything to work out and to find people that make my life better rather than always fighting to keep my head above water. So to me Larry is a hero… just not wearing tights!