Larry Crowne Review: Underdevelopment At Its Finest

Larry Crowne is classified as a romantic comedy but unfortunately, it is neither. Instead, it’s a painfully vanilla flick with a severely underdeveloped storyline and dull one-dimensional characters. I didn’t go to Larry Crowne expecting to unravel a web of complex twists and turns, but I did think that with two great actors like Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts headlining (plus Taraji P. Henson, Byran Cranston and Cedric the Entertainer), I’d be entertained. Nope.

Tom Hanks stars as Larry Crowne, a sweet and happy man gainfully employed at the retail giant U-Mart. That is, until U-Mart’s management decides to let Larry go because he didn’t go to college (not entirely sure why a college education is vital to Larry’s success at U-Mart but nonetheless, we move on). Larry is heartbroken and after a brief stint looking for another job, decides, at the urging of his neighbor Lamar (Cedric the Entertainer), to pursue a college degree. He signs up for Speech 217 – The Art of Informal Remarks, taught by the bitter curmudgeon Mercedes Tainot (Julia Roberts). While on campus, Larry meets a slew of characters including the free spirited Talia (Guju Mbatha-Raw), Dell Gordo (Wilmer Valderrama) – Talia’s boyfriend and the leader of the local scooter gang (a scooter gang, really?), a handful of random non-cohesive characters all taking Speech 217, and Dr. Matsutani (George Takei) – the econ professor with a smoooooth voice.

As Larry works to get his degree, he falls for Mercedes who is struggling in a loveless marriage to Dean Tainot (Bryan Cranston), a porn watching blogger. We see from the get go that Dean is a douche with little respect for his wife. This must be what leads Mercedes to drink frozen margaritas 24-7. The movie slaps us with the fact that Mercedes and Larry will eventually be together so it takes no liberty in developing why. It does little to explore the emotional content of their relationship so when they finally get together as the credits roll, I couldn’t have cared less.

The simple and timely premise of the movie has potential – a man hit by hard economic times and who’s struggling with a home that’s underwater, decides to get an education and meets a lady along the way. The execution is where everything goes wrong. Tom Hanks along with Nia Vardalos (from My Big Fat Greek Wedding fame) create a screenplay with very little depth and cardboard characters. The dullness of the movie is highlighted by the fact that Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, two Oscar winning actors, can’t even bring the script of life support. Add in some sub-par acting (Wilmer and Taraji, I’m talking to you…yes, I know you didn’t have much to work with but still) plus a gratuitous scooter gang and you’ve got the perfect reason to spend $12 bucks elsewhere.

Tom Hanks wrote, directed and acted in Larry Crowne. And there is a part of me that wonders if this movie would’ve gotten the greenlight had any lesser name been attached to the project – probably not. It’s unfortunate to have to write this review – particularly because Tom Hanks brought us Josh Baskin (Big), Andrew Beckett (Philadelphia), Forrest Gump (Forrest Gump) and Woody (Toy Story), not to mention countless other meaningful characters but you can’t hit the jackpot all the time so I’m placing Larry Crowne in the vault, where movies go to never be seen or heard from again (Other films in my vault? Most movies with Jennifer Lopez, Nicholas Cage, Jennifer Aniston and all movies with Pauly Shore.)

Now, I can’t end this review on such a sour note so let me offer up my best “pro” for Larry Crowne – at a run time off 99 minutes, its strength is its brevity.

Images courtesy of Universal Pictures.