MOVIE REVIEW LARRY CROWNE

Take vagaries of age and multiply it with a home loan that rests like an albatross around your neck.Add to this your status as an unemployed and we have an impressively tragic plot. Tom Hanks latest directorial venture makes its eponymous hero Larry Crowne with an "e" go through this arduous trek. But we neither feel pity nor cry for him and the sordid state of affairs he gets stuck in.But this is not a folly in the film. Some moments into our stay and we realise we are not meant to feel sad at all. Just like the character Larry picks up the pieces of his life and and makes something off it(in this case French toast) we too are supposed to laugh along.So this film neither denigrates the global economic crisis nor focuses on the existentialist angst of his pain.Infact the light hearted manner in which this subject is treated makes us empathise with Larry even more.We all have had our down and out moments and Larry doesn't seem distant at all.

Tom Hanks is by now a master is extraordinarily portraying the ordinary characters on screen. Larry is affable and the epitome of"everyday and ordinary"thus making him so special.He never went to college, has just been thrown out of his job as a store keeper, puts up a garage sale, tucks in his polo shirt and makes wonderful french toast. He decides to go to college and learn economics under the rather amusing guidance of Dr Mastsutani. He also enrolls in the course Speech 217: The Art of Informal Remarks and thank god for that coz then enters Ms Robert as Mercedes Tainot with her  stilettos and bitter angry expression.The reason for this as we understand later is her porn addict husband !!

This class changes not just his life but gifts us the chance of seeing two brilliant actors Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks light up the screen. But the fireworks happen thanks to  Gugulethu Sophia Mbatha who plays Talia.Bike crazy and free spirited ,the bond that her character shares with Larry is heart warming.

Its a film that demostartes the beauty of the understated. Once we are allowed into the world of Larry we swim along. The student teacher relationship thaws into a budding friendship resulting in a romance...the only thing lacking is that the story never peaks. There is no real climax to boast of nor any tension to resolve.Its good yes,but like  a bike ride minus the adrenalin rush.

For this some might find it a little bland for their palate,but if an honest story and some solid performances can weave  magic them the spell can sure work on you.
Larry Crowne is like a Sunday siesta- a little lazy but enjoyable neverthless!!