Think The 40 Year Old Virgin for your mother. After a few minutes of thinking over the trailer for Larry Crowne, starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, that is the best that I can come up with. Written and directed by Hanks himself (his first time back in the driver’s seat for a feature film since 1996′s That Thing You Do!), the film follows an awkward middle-aged man who finds himself back in college after losing the low-skills job that he’s held for most of his adult life. He also dresses kind of funny and doesn’t always know how to interact with people around him.
It looks rather drab, but with its July 1st release, it is sure to bring in the casual moviegoing crowd and the film will more than likely live or die on the charm that Hanks and Roberts manage to bring to an otherwise uninspired-looking film. In the end, it will probably line up alongside other passable, but forgettable Tom Hanks date movies like You’ve Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle.
What do you think? Will the star power alone be enough to drag you to the theater or is this a Netflix-rental at best?
