I have mention before how much I love Netflix, both streaming and dvds. While cruising around their site, I ordered Larry Crowne primarily because it stars Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. I didn’t know they had made a movie together. The one-line synopsis reads, “After losing his job, a middle-aged man reinvents himself by going back to college.” Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) is also in this film.
It’s really a delightful movie. It just seems unusual to me is that it’s the sort of film these heavy dramatic actors might have made 20-25 years ago … think Big, Pretty Woman, or Amazon Women on the Moon. Tom Hanks in a chick-flick? in 2011?
Tom Hanks wrote (with Nia Vardalos) and produced this picture but, in my fantasy, I can hear him calling up Julia and Bryan and saying, “Hey, what are you doing next week? Let’s make a movie. Bring the kids. Come on … it’ll be fun.” Because it looks like they probably had fun making this movie.
There are cameo roles by Cedric the Entertainer, Rita Wilson (Tom’s wife), George Takei (of Star Trek fame), and Chet Hanks (son of Rita and Tom). Mr Hanks also gave work to a lot of unknown or new-to-the-business actors, technicians and crew (credits rolled forever).
All in all, this effort turned out to be a good story about a how a guy whose life has stalled gets jump-started again … how a college teacher (Roberts) who has lost her passion for teaching finds she can still make a difference in her students’ lives. And it all happens without sex, violence or obscenities. How refreshing.
I definitely recommend this movie.
I liked it, too, and can see it coming to be just as you imagined.
It’s good to hear about a refreshing movie. Thanks for the review. If I get the chance, I might watch it too.