Review of Larry Crowne

Larry Crowne is mostly a waste of good actors. Tom Hanks plays the titular title character who is fired at the beginning of the movie by his company for not having growth potential, as he has no college degree. Why Larry would not have been told this prior to his firing, as he is portrayed as a model employee, is never said. After Larry is fired he enrolls at community college where he meets a young pixie type who invites him to join a scooter gang. She also proceeds to make over Larry and improve his life.

However, despite this girl positively affecting Larry, Larry's love interest turns out to be his speech teacher, played by Julia Roberts. Robert's character is fairly awful. She's a horrible teacher and generally unpleasant to be around. She's also involved in a bad marriage and appears to drink too much.

The movie proceeds exactly how you would expect it to proceed. The road bumps are fairly minor, the characters don't really seem to learn much and in the end, Larry does find a new love in his teacher.

Overall, this isn't a bad movie, but it isn't a good movie. It's just kind of there. The characters don't seem particularly real, and the story is slightly ridiculous. There really isn't anyone to root for or against. Nothing unexpected happens, and while that is fine, it doesn't make for the most exciting movie.