# LARRY CROWNE (Blu-ray; Universal)



## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

[img]http://www.ascully.com/images/bluray/larrycrowne/cover.jpg[/img]*Title: Larry Crowne
Starring: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts
Directed by: Tom Hanks
Written by: Tom Hanks, Nia Vardalos
Studio: Universal
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 99 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: November 15, 2011* 

*Movie:*:2.5stars:
*Video:*:4stars:
*Audio:*:2.5stars: 
*Extras:*:1star: 
*HTS Overall Score: 20*


*Summary:*

Tom Hanks directs and stars in this delightfully forgettable romantic yarn-spinner about a Walmart-style store manager who’s way too super happy about his job and who is eventually let go in a corporate twisty turn, courtesy of some typical back-stabbing types in the higher levels of company management. Hanks’ title character finds himself looking for employment in a world he hasn’t become really comfortable with; he tucks his striped polo golf shirts into his slacks, ends up buying a used motorbike from his neighbor (played by Cedric the Entertainer…on a side note, doesn’t this guy have a real name?) and hits the pavement looking for a new – any new – career. What ends up happening is truly a waste of an hour and 40 or so minutes, as Larry Crowne enrolls in a local community college to take classes on Economics and improving his communication abilities. _Star Trek’s_ own George Takei plays his Economics teacher, while a foxy-looking Julia Roberts portrays his communications professor. The whole scenario on display here is forgettable and questionable with regard to suitable subject matter for a motion picture of any interest; Roberts’ character is dealing with a husband that calls himself a writer but stays home and blogs all day while looking at a multitude of dirty, XXX-rated sites, and this is beginning to burn her out, turning her into a bitter, depressed, moody you-know-what to put it lightly. She finds further distain for her career as she arrives at the community college each day to find an unsuitable number of students to teach, routinely ready to cancel her courses per college regulations…until Mr. Crowne becomes the extra student she needs in the communications course in order to continue going through with the class. From there, a weird attraction begins between Crowne and his teacher – maybe it has something to do with how gorgeous Roberts looks in her head-turning summer dresses and high heels or the fact that Hanks’ character is drawn to dowdy, depressed cougars on the prowl – and after a hardcore drinking night with her husband, she’s picked up by the motorbike-driving Hanks at a bus stop after she gets out of the car during a heated argument with the hubby. At her door, the intoxicated teacher makes advances towards Crowne, which he dismisses as a drunken misdemeanor, but it’s clear he’s getting feelings for her too.

Additionally, ridiculous sub-plots such as one of the students in Crowne’s class getting him to join their “motor scooter club” and taking a distinct interest in changing his looks and wardrobe begin to develop, but the whole notion is so out there and downright stupid, it was even difficult to watch – this cute young girl, at least 20 years Hanks’ character’s junior, comes on to him almost as strongly as Roberts’ character does, to the point her hot-headed, bad-boy type boyfriend needs to make warning threats towards him, eventually begging the viewer to ask why she’s so desperate to have him join their motor scooter fold and partake in the actions of the young people. Whatever; I wasn’t really interested at that point anyway.

You know what happens – Hanks’ Larry Crowne ends up really falling for Roberts’ character and vice-versa, to the point she’s depressed when he apparently doesn’t show up for one of her new classes the next semester at the college. This is after he passes her previous communications course with an A+ grade due to an outstanding delivery of their final project speech – I didn’t get the hoopla surrounding this confusingly uninteresting final exam which Hanks’ character breezes through, nor did I care to be honest. The final frame in which Roberts’ character searches for Crowne where he has moved to a small apartment above some streetside stores after he sells his house due to monetary restraints, and eventually runs into his arms for a passionate kiss, the two of them admitting pretty much that they can’t be without each other, just has the disastrous mark of the un-talented Nia Vardalos (co-writer of this film and star of _My Big Fat Greek Wedding_) written all over it. 

*Rating: PG-13 for brief strong language and some sexual content* 










*Video:*:4stars:

If anything could make up for this boring film, it was the video quality on Blu-ray Disc – equipped with a stunning 1080p 2.40:1 transfer, _Larry Crowne_ looked eye-popping in most places, with deep, rich color saturation, solid black levels and a generally noise-free appearance. Another solid BD entry from Universal.

[img]http://viewerscommentary.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/larry-crowne-julia-roberts-tom-hanks.jpg[/img]

*Audio:*:2.5stars:

The English DTS-HD Master Audio track accompanying _Larry Crowne_ – in a 5.1 arrangement – had nothing really to speak of; given the subject matter, this wasn’t surprising, but outside of some solid dialogue locked to the center channel, I did not recall any noteworthy moments to this soundtrack. 

*Extras:*:2stars:

Blu-ray includes an 11-minute Making Of, an 11-minute “Fun On The Set” featurette, a five-minute interview with Hanks and seven deleted scenes totaling eight minutes.


*Overall:* 

Unless your old lady is holding a gun to your head to see something in the vague realm of a “chick flick” – which is nearly what happened between me and my wife for this one – you can skip it. 


*Recommendation: Rent It if there’s nothing else available​*


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