Tom Hanks has throttled down on his acting career in recent years, seemingly content to dabble in various producing chores while keeping his hand in the blockbuster game with the “Da Vinci Code” movies. I miss his great run of the ’90s, but if the g
uy’s happy, good for him.
Now he’s made his second feature as director, “Larry Crowne,” and it has the same kind of enjoy-it-or-not quality his career has had lately. This is a pleasant middle-aged reverie about a nice guy who basically stays nice, and it’s a rare summer movie you wouldn’t fe
el embarrassed to take your mother to.
Larry, played by Hanks, loses his job at a megastore. A former Navy cook, he never attended college, so decides to make up for the missing sheepskin by attending his local community college.
This uncomplicated scenario, which Hanks wrote with “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” scribe Nia Vardalos, plays like an attempt to make a movie without any discernible conflict, aside from the initial firing. Hanks’s first film as director, “That Thing You Do!“, looks melodramatic by comparison.
Larry is taken up by a scooter-riding hipster (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) who seems to adore him instantly but without any creepy older-dude vibe. Even her tough-looking boyfriend (Wilmer Valderrama) is a softie.
Larry’s speech-class instructor is the cynical (but only mildly so) Mercedes. She’s played by Julia Roberts, who excels in one extended drunk scene and otherwise puts up with her shiftless husband (Bryan Cranston).
The presence of Julia Roberts, who’s also dialed down her career recently, adds to the throwbacky quality of this movie. Hanks feels no need to move along at the speed of a “Transformers” picture, nor to turn Larry into a great hero or create some fantastic miracle before the end.
When Hanks does try a little physical humor (an underpants scene, and a scooter mishap) it feels out of place, as though he’d remembered he was making a comedy and needed to goose things along.
It’s a very sincere movie, and there’s something plucky about Hanks’s belief that things are going to work out in these bad economic times. When Larry drives away from his foreclosed home and watches his former life recede through his rear-view mirror, Hanks strikes a potent mix of sadness and hope.
That’s “Larry Crowne” in a nutshell. But overall, it could use a bit more of Tom Hanks’s wired-up energy to provide some edge; this is one mellow movie, and a little mellow goes a long way.
“Larry Crowne” 2½ stars
A very mellow directing outing by Tom Hanks; he plays a middle-aged guy, newly laid off, who goes to college to improve himself. The film’s a pleasant enough tale of a nice guy who stays nice, and Julia Roberts adds to the old-fashioned quality (she plays Hanks’s speech-class teacher), although overall the project could use just a bit more of Hanks’s wired-up energy.
Rated: PG-13, for language, subject matter
Showing: Alderwood mall, Cinebarre, Everett Mall, Galaxy Monroe, Marysville, Stanwood, Meridian, Metro, Thonrton Place, Woodinville, Cascade Mall
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