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Larry Crowne

Starring: Tom Hanks, and Julia Roberts
Directed by: Tom Hanks
Screenplay by: Tom Hanks, and Nia Vardalos

     Finally, in a summer full of sequels, prequels, and other action packed films, here's one that's different from the summer trend, but still entertaining.
     Larry Crowne (Tom Hanks) is a divorced, sales associate at a major retail store.  The film opens up with him getting fired because he didn't go to college.  So, he goes to community college where he meets some new friends, and is in Speech 217 with Mrs. Tainot (Julia Roberts) as the teacher.  So, if you've seen the trailer, you can already guess what's going to happen next.  Larry's life has fallen apart and now he has to pick up the pieces and move on.  And it will be quite interesting to watch.
     The first thing that should be mentioned is that the romance between Larry and Mrs. Tainot is not the main point of the story.  In fact, it's hardly about their romance, but more about Larry's life and trying to improve it when it's not worked out for him.  Their relationship is only a product of Larry moving on.
      I have difficulty seeing any chemistry between Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts.  In some parts of the film, it looks like they feel kind of awkward around each other, setting aside the idea that it is a teacher-student relationship already which would be extremely awkward.  But they don't work together as well as they could.
      Everything in the movie connects to each other in the end, even the small details that don't even seem relevant somehow fit into a larger picture.  I'm used to seeing movies that contain things at the beginning that never show up again, creating plot holes.  Larry Crowne has surprisingly no plot holes.
      Summer is always a great time to see all the movies with action scenes and great special effects.  It's a time when something like Larry Crowne would have a hard time competing with films like Transformers, but it's a much needed break from the high intensity of the action and sci-fi genres.  I must recommend Larry Crowne to anyone who is a fan of Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and anyone who just wants to see something different this summer.
      I'm giving Larry Crowne a B.

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