I have not seen Tom Hanks’s “Larry Crowne” and probably won’t for some time, I imagine. But it’s opening today (nicely counter-programmed against the big robots) and I guess some readers might have something to say about it, so fire away if you get around to it.
Comments
17 responses to “Tell us what you thought of ‘Larry Crowne’”
I have to reset after that A.I. comment.
I may actually go see this. I have a very good idea of what I’ll be getting but I don’t mind. Negative reviews don’t faze me either. Again, I know what I’m getting and as long as it meets *those* expectations I’ll be good.
I mean, I’m sucker for adult themed dramedies. “How Do You Know” was high on my most anticipated list last year. That one wasn’t quite what I expected but I dug it anyway ;).
liberal nonsense
I liked the response of the audience I saw the film with during the strategic default scene with the over the top character of the banking employee. Silence. Almost like everyone was thinking “hey, maybe I should be doing this”! :)
They will be destroyed by the robots this weekend. I just can’t watch Julia.
It was disappointing. I mean, I love Hanks, I love Julia. They’re fine, here. Particularly Julia.
But the script was just so … flat. Moments written for laughs got nothing with my audience (everything with George Takei). I thought he was very funny, but not a peep from the crowd.
It did get better towards the end. And I liked spending time with Hanks/Roberts in romcom mode. But it wasn’t great, that’s for sure. My friend loved it.
My parents saw it last night and loved it. Which probably means I’ll hate it. But I’ll probably get around to seeing it eventually.
I’m not normally one to obnoxiously comment on a film that I haven’t see in a thread that elicits views from movie goers who have seen it. That being said, just from the trailer and getting a better grasp of Julia Roberts via Lainey Gossip (she offers catty, but pretty shrewd assessments of celebrity actors), she seems to have jumped the shark. Just from the clips in the previews, she looks even more self=indulgent and obnoxious than ever before.
I used to be a fan, and still love some of her earlier work like My Best Friend’s Wedding (less self absorbed than in Pretty Woman and Erin Brokovich) and even Steel Magnolias.
I don’t know what studio head green-lighted this (though I could probably figure it out), but, seriously, who thought that Roberts and Hanks’ names would be enough to get this film to turn a dime, especially after the fairly recent Charlie Wilson’s War? Her marquee value is waning. Eat Pray Love, which wasn’t a bad film, was based on a (somewhat annoying) best-seller that did okay, but Robert’s still had the drawing power she once did, should have easily made $120M domestic.
I’ve been tired of comments like BobmcBob’s for a while now. But, in light of how absurd that this movie go the go ahead and makes me really wonder about how far Hollywood’s bent to the left really is. I don’t know about the film, but Roberts is infamous for being anti-conservative. If her pendulum swung the other way, I doubt a 40-something conservative woman with her prime years behind her, who once ruled the box-office would get such a free pass by the industry.
And there’s also the element of the “dying movie star.” Though I don’t quite buy into it, names don’t sell movies as much as they did in the 80’s – 00’s.
Sorry for being off-topic here, but I guess I just had to get this out. There are plenty of other examples of how big studios are wasteful and short-sighted for different reasons, but this Larry Crowne smelled like a bomb from the get-go. I’m just offended that there are people getting paid big money to get material like this on the big screen when their primary job (being a big studio that should be focused on meeting the bottom-line) is being totally ignored.
/rant
Instead of chasing magic numbers like “120 million” you should understand that “Eat Pray Love” did well enough. Larry Crowne was made for only 30 million. I am sure it will turn a dime.
I wonder how much the fact that Julia Roberts is being dissected by the the posts like the ones above have to do with not her being liberal but with her being a woman. In any case, the post above was fairly sickening to read.
“liberal nonsense”
How about just plain old nonsense?
saw it with my parents. they are very conservative and loved it anyway. to quote my mother, “a cute movie is a cute movie.” I didnt really like it myself, even though i’m very libral, but the bottom line is, it’s gonna make money and plenty of it, especially for it’s budget
Bleah.
@Cinesnatch: Eat Pray Love was a terrible, over-long, critically panned film that still made more than $200M world-wide. For an actress over 40 who has been working very rarely the last years this is quite a respectable result — a number that other actresses could only dream of.
I don’t like Julia Roberts, never will, but like Jennifer Aniston, hacks/frauds/and awful woman who know how to exploit the press by manipulating people with a persona of relatibility and likeability…she will always be viewed as a wonderful movie star. However, she does have the potential to give entertaining
and impressive performances occasionally.
This movie was a failure but it was not due to the actors but due to the script, plotline, and it was
just embarrassing to watch.
Also, Lainey is just another media whore who tends to go along with spin based on the feedback she gets. She is catty and I don’t consider her to be shrewd. Though the people who can see through people like Julia Roberts and Jennifer Aniston as well as most overrated celebs do contain some insight that goes against the norm.
The tone of the movie was too saccharine. The
dialogue was just painfully bad. Also, the romance and overall sentiment felt forced & insincere. Eat Pray Love was far superior to this.
I thought Eat Pray Love was on the better side of ‘fine’, myself.
Hi Vera, Thanks for actually addressing my post. I appreciate it. I can kind of see what you’re saying about Lainey. It sounds like you don’t need her to make informed judgments. She just seems more articulate and insightful than myself. I’m a bit dense when it comes to seeing the obvious when it comes to these matters. It took me reading her columns to see just how much of a manipulator Roberts was. I’m a bit dense when it comes to these things. I still buy into Aniston’s B.S. Not sure why I can’t see her for what she is.
I’m sure if I ever watched Larry Crowne my reaction would probably be similar to yours. But, sometimes, it’s nothing like a bad script that showcases an actor’s shortcomings. Perhaps she will be better as the Evil Queen in Snow White, which apparently she was typecast for.
And for the record, Maxim, no, I’m not a misogynist. If you checked out my site, you’d see I’m quite the contrary.
Thanks for assuming the worst about me.
I thought Charlie Wilson’s War was extremely underrated. I felt both Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks did some of their best work in that film. I have not seen this film and upon seeing the trailer I filed it in the renter category. I don’t dislike either one of them, in fact at several points in my life they have been my favorite actors. The problem, I feel is that they both seem to be going through an identity crisis. In watching interviews, it seems as though they are having troubles identifying themselves as actors or movie stars and separating the two. Its not necessarily a bad thing, its just a time of transition…. if anyone can be both its easily these two. This just makes me excited for future work by these two.