One might pass Larry Crowne off as an unimportant romantic comedy made for lonely middle-aged women to fantasize about, but it in all reality, it is a well thought out and put-together film. I think Tom Hanks deserves a gold star for his first time directing a feature film he not only acted and directed in, but also produced and co-wrote. The movie incited a genuine laugh from the audience, not a pitiful "chuckle-laugh"that murmurs through the audience during an especially awkward scene; it's safe to say that Larry Crowne is a laugh out loud film in an appropriate, family-friendly way.
Larry Crowne (Tom Hanks), a middle-age man working and enjoying his steady job at U-Mart, finds out one day that U-Mart's corporates are firing him due to his lack of a college education. Larry is devastated at first, but soon picks himself up and starts his search for a job that would accept him for the education he was not able to have while in the navy. Thanks to his witty, cunning neighbor (played by Cedric the Entertainer), Larry finds himself at his "first day of college ever," surrounded by the young, bustling, nervous life of freshman year. He is convinced by the dean of student services to take the class Speech 217- the study of informal remarks, which would supposedly "change his life." The rest of the movie consists of Larry Crowne making a new circle of young friends and meeting a woman, Mercy Tainot (Julia Roberts), that he falls in love with. The movie documents the funny moments Larry experiences through his first ever college experience, and the results of his mixing with a younger generation. Essentially, Larry's college experiences are almost like a reawakening of the soul, giving him the freedoms he did not have before.
Crowne exudes a charismatic, revitalized personality throughout the film: he dresses well, thanks to one of his college friends, rides around in a light blue scooter (the same one used for the movie poster), and has his house reorganized in an attempt to rearrange his life, and change the monotonous traditional life he led before. Crowne's loss of his steady job was the true eye-opener for him, it was the moment of his life in which he realized that he must find someone to spend the rest of his life with, that he must make the most of his life, in fear of dying a lone man.
In all, Larry Crowne subconsciously appeals to the worry of aging, the desire to preserve youth. Larry Crowne decides to embrace his life and enjoy those things that could help him live his life to the fullest and allow him to "age graciously."
