Larry Crowne

Starring Tom Hanks & Julia Roberts
Directed by Tom Hanks
Written by Tom Hanks & Nia Vardalos

by Joanna Orland

Meg Ryan has never been so sorely missed. When you think of a love interest for Tom Hanks, you don’t even think of his wife Rita Wilson, your mind goes to Meg! So why on earth did Tom decide to cast Julia Roberts as the love interest to his own lead character Larry Crowne? Seriously… think about it… Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks as a couple????

I am a firm believer that both Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts are incapable of making a bad film. And well, this is a perfectly watchable film. Except for the cringe-worthy kisses shared between co-stars (cue awkward laughter from the audience!) But yes, I was able to watch this film as it is able to be watched.

I suppose it’s worth mentioning Nia Vardalos as cowriter here. Mrs. Hanks, Rita Wilson, befriended Nia Vardalos back in the day when she was the writer/creator/star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding/Life. Totally relating to Nia’s experiences, the two women became friends and the ladies and Mr. Hanks have had some business dealings in the years since, with the latest outing being Larry Crowne.

There is nothing groundbreaking here. Hanks is a likeable Larry, Cedric the Entertainer is… entertaining, the foreign guy from That 70’s Show is pretty funny, Julia is as charming as ever… but this film is vanilla. Great for a rainy day when there’s nothing else on the telly, but other than that, I wouldn’t bother. If it was Meg Ryan rather than Julia Roberts on the other hand, well that may have been another story altogether.