MYST #5 Larry Crowne

I really enjoyed watching Larry Crowne, not only because it was co-written and directed by Tom Hanks (also starring Julia Roberts) but also because of the fun surprises in Pam Grier and Wilmer Valderrama.  These two were a great pair, playing both comedic and forceful characters.

Tom Hanks play a character that is forced to change once he (Larry Crowne) is fired from his job at U-mart (like Walmart) and he must go back to college as a middle aged divorced man who joined the navy right out of High School.  He would stay in the the Navy for 20 years after that, and eventually come back to a low paying job, and an overwhelming mortgage.  This makes me think of a very valid topic in today's news that Americans do not take care of their veterans.  Although the subject if subtly touched upon, I thought it was an important character point. 

The audience was given a few cool shots to admire, one being when the bike gang is all together riding through town.  They had to do a high-long shot to get all of the people on mo-peds together in one shot.  They also did a couple of shots at the beginning of scenes where they would just show the door before showing anyone and it would give the audience a sense of their surroundings.  Overall, there was nothing terribly special about the film work in this movie.  

There also wasn't too much to the sound of this movie.  It was mostly just dialogue but they made it work.  The style of this movie did not call for lots of sound effects and music, so I am glad they left all of that at the way side.  The moods of each scene were heavily reliant on the actors vocal inflection, facial expressions and body language.  

The dynamics between the characters were okay, but how they met I did not like.  Larry Crowne ends up getting into a 'gang' when he meets this girl in the school parking lot.  It was not creative at all.  She instigates a conversation by commenting on his mo-ped, and although it was plausible, it was not very exciting to watch.  Now all the sudden they are best friends.  Kind of random, but it was fine.  How they go from place to place with each other is extremely ordinary as well.  She says that she is hungry and he tells her they know a place. They go.  Whoop-te-doo.  What happens within the relationships are worthy of the screen, but the way they meet is far to plain.  

Another criticism I have for this movie is the beginning scene when he gets fired from his job at U-mart.  They were trying to make it humorous, but they came up short.  So it was awkward when Larry lost what he worked so hard to maintain and these people were joking around with him, making fun.  

I think it it very impressive to multi-task as a director and actor on set, and Tom Hanks did a good job leading the pack.  I have to give him respect for what he did.  This movie kind of felt like a one man show though.  Nothing behind the camera really stood out to me, whether it be the lighting or cinematography.  This was an average movie that is worth watching if you have nothing else to do.

I give it 3 stars out of 5.  Not bad.