LARRY CROWE (Rated PG-13 for adult themes, some explosive profanity)
We're all familiar with the kind of roles Tom Hanks plays, most of them likable, sometimes gullible characters like those in "Forest Gump," "Turner & Hooch," and even "Polar Express." One begins to believe all are part of the actor's deep down personality, and, indeed, it is virtually guaranteed here by his writing (with Nia Vardalos) & directing a harmlessly cutesy, tepid romantic comedy
Hanks is the title character - a nice, likable fellow with a perpetual look of puzzlement, who forsook a higher education to join the navy for 20 years, only to find, eventually, that without that higher education he is now, in his mid-50s, without a job. Times are tough; he has no alternative but to enroll at a junior college and taking a class in, of all things, The Art of Informal Remarks (an inside joke maybe, or a slam at the proliferation of non-erudite classes?) His teacher, Mercedes (with a last name that is consistently mispronounced), is played by Julia Roberts -, an acidic teacher in her mid-40s. The two connect. Both have been unhappy in marriage; he rolls with the punches, but she becomes bitter, even caustic. Nothing much happens; more time than necessary is spent sort of developing the lesser classoom characters than on the economic crunch (a timely insertion that should have been expanded upon) and the mismatched couple's on-again, off-again, on-again relationship. Larry has a chance to show his improvement in Informal Remarks in a scene that is pure aw, shucks, as if we haven't had an hour & a half opportunity for that effect. Do they clinch at the end? Guess
Hanks & Roberts play off one another beautifully - most of the time. But their scenes together, and the scenes involving a large number of friends & classmates, send out a tinny, hollow ring. Hanks' inadequate directorial hand is constantly on display. Even by film's end, one has the uncomfortable feeling that the film is filled with cardboard characters we've seen before. Everyone is so nice, so cozy in the personas presented; it's almost embarrassing watching them ACT. Worst of all is a grandiose professor (George Takei) whose unwarranted self-aggrandizement is as phony as ever.
The movie is 99-minutes of sometimes amusing, sometimes touching, but never quite right problems that only a better script and better direction could improve.. (Grade: C+)