Blu-ray Review: Unfunny ‘Larry Crowne’ Patronizes Middle-Class Moviegoers

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CHICAGO – “Larry Crowne” is a would-be crowd-pleaser that’s filled to the brim with chipper laughter. It’s the sort of laughter often heard on morning news programs, where overpaid anchors giggle and quip while laughing all the way to the bank. Yet very little of “Crowne’”s onscreen gaiety transfers to the bored, mildly annoyed audiences paying to sit through the self-congratulatory drivel.

Director/co-writer/star Tom Hanks has clearly lost touch with what made him the most appealing actor in American cinema during the ’90s. He hasn’t had a truly great star vehicle since 2000’s “Cast Away,” and his once effortless charisma feels more mannered and forced than it did a decade ago. Yet that’s not the real problem here. The patronizing depiction of middle class downsizing scripted by Hanks and “Big Fat Greek Wedding” one-hit wonder Nia Vardalos is what sinks the whole show.

HollywoodChicago.com Blu-ray Rating: 1.5/5.0
Blu-ray Rating: 1.5/5.0

The titular supermarket employee-turned-unemployed college student (played by Hanks) is nowhere near as endearing as he thinks he is. In fact, he’s an innocuous simpleton with a Gump-like naïveté about the world that verges on aggravating. He’s a middle class everyman as envisioned by multimillionaires with zero understanding of the current economic struggle. The filmmakers applaud him for accepting his mundane existence and expect the audience to follow in step. Did Hanks really expect the lower 99 percent to embrace this flimsy schmaltz? His picture is no more insightful and relatable than “Tower Heist,” and is just as forgettable. In both cases, the word “topical” merely translates to “marketable” in the eyes of studio executives. There’s no effort made on the part of Hanks and his creative team to authentically portray the plight of this underdog protagonist.

Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts star in Larry Crowne.
Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts star in Larry Crowne.
Photo credit: Universal Home Entertainment

Ever since Hanks helped Vardalos’ “Wedding” make a big, fat splash, she’s churned out a series of awful screenplays that rely heavily on tired sitcom tropes and saccharine characterizations. Everyone in “Crowne” is either impossibly sweet or obscenely nasty. During his first day back in college, Larry makes instant friends with Talia (a perpetually sunny Gugu Mbatha-Raw), a member of the world’s cuddliest biker gang. They can’t step foot in Larry’s apartment without giving it an instant makeover. On the flip side is Dean (Bryan Cranston), a sleazy scumbag who spends all day watching porn while complaining that his statuesque wife (Julia Roberts) doesn’t have big enough ‘knockers.’ “I’m a guy who’s a guy being a guy!” he exclaims. I hope someone was paid big bucks to write that line.
 
Roberts huffs and clomps through the one-note role of a depressed speech professor without ever generating tangible chemistry with Hanks, who previously forged an unmemorable collaboration with her in “Charlie Wilson’s War.” Nevertheless, their romantic pairing in “Crowne” is inevitable from the get-go, and like Larry’s pastel motorcycle, the plot rolls slowly toward its obvious destination. I would’ve rather seen a love story blossom between Hanks and George Takei, who injects some refreshing camp into his few scenes as a stern economics instructor. Here’s a typical example of the film’s humor: Takei scolds a chatty student with the line, “They are called smartphones, but only dummies use them in my class.” I can’t imagine anyone outside of a sleepy senior center finding this film remotely involving. At least Hanks’ wonderful directorial debut “That Thing You Do!” didn’t soften the heartbreak and obstacles inherent in its characters’ journey. “Larry Crowne” is so cheery that it’s guaranteed to turn even the most sentimental viewer into an embittered grouch.

Larry Crowne was released on Blu-ray and DVD on Nov. 15, 2011.
Larry Crowne was released on Blu-ray and DVD on Nov. 15, 2011.
Photo credit: Universal Home Entertainment

The film’s Blu-ray edition is presented in 1080p High Definition (with a 2.40:1 aspect ratio), accompanied by English and Descriptive Video Service audio tracks and includes a pocketBLU app. The scant extras include an 11-minute making-of featurette that primarily consists of cast members describing the plot, as if it wasn’t obvious enough. Hanks praises Larry for his “lack of guile,” and says that his contentment in a dead-end job is “not only endearing but admirable.” Vardalos admits that the initial plot was Hanks’ idea, and that his goal was to make an “authentic romantic comedy.” To Hanks, “movies are joyful enterprises,” but as evidenced in the extended reel of onset clowning, it appears that much of the joy took place behind the lens. It’s clear that the set of a Hanks film is a blast—complete with group knitting sessions and generous dollops of improvisation. Perhaps if Hanks approached the project as less of a frivolous lark and more of a nuanced, Capra-esque comedy, he may have been on to something.
 
There’s a moment amidst the eight minutes of deleted scenes that hints at what the picture could’ve been if Hanks had put forth a little more effort. It opens with a nifty shot of the newly fired Larry placing his employee paraphernalia on a glass table before being escorted by security guards out the door. Hanks employs some Aronofsky-like sleight of hand enabling Larry to appear as if he’s floating in a daze, but the half-baked visual trickery just looks amateurish. It is, however, one of the only interesting cinematic ideas attempted by Hanks, who mainly sticks to shooting the insipid script on autopilot. The only glimmers of charm to be found on this disc are in the outtakes where Hanks cracks up while acting opposite his wife, Rita Wilson (who makes an amusing cameo as a platinum blonde banker). They are so cute together that it makes one wonder why they haven’t yet been paired in a romantic comedy. Now that might be something worth smiling about.

‘Larry Crowne’ is released by Universal Home Entertainment and stars Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Wilmer Valderrama, Bryan Cranston, Cedric the Entertainer and Taraji P. Henson. It was written by Tom Hanks and Nia Vardalos and directed by Tom Hanks. It was released on Nov. 15, 2011. It is rated PG-13.

HollywoodChicago.com staff writer Matt Fagerholm

By MATT FAGERHOLM
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
matt@hollywoodchicago.com

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