The KingBy John DeSando, WCBE's "It's Movie Time," "Cinema Classics," and "On the Marquee"
Larry Crowne is the king of summer romances, a sweet story about the titular middle-aged nice guy (Tom Hanks), who gets a new life after being let go from a Wal-Mart-like retail store. His renaissance comes in the form of a community college education starting with a speech course taught by the attractive but dour Mercedes Tainot (Julia Roberts).
The romance that ensues between the two stars, pupil and teacher, is not fully realized until they no longer have that academic relationship. Their quiet progress makes this a successful romance: Nothing is hurried, nothing forced, even when Julia Roberts asks him into her home and he turns her down!
Hanks' Larry is just as likeable as the actor, an everyman who just needs an education so he won't be downsized again. Roberts' "Mercy" is an unassuming (except for her looks) teacher who needs students like Larry to remind her that it is possible to change lives even at a little "Vassar in the Valley' college.
The other students make this film pleasant and humorous as well, a congregation of eccentric youths who look as if they just stepped out of the old sitcom, Welcome Back, Kotter. While making Larry hipper than he could ever hope for, they also show their slow but sure transformation into education appreciators when good teachers "care." George Takei of Star Trek fame humorously plays an economics prof, from whom Larry learns about the nuances of business, but with less passion than in Mercy's class.
This film doesn't earn a grade higher than a B because also playing now is Midnight in Paris, a much wittier comic romance written by Woody Allen. Yet Tom Hanks and Nia Vardalos are no slouches in the writing as they infuse their characters with humor and energy while keeping the story right for its two still-luminous stars.
John DeSando co-hosts WCBE 90.5's It's Movie Time, Cinema Classics, and On the Marquee, which can be heard streaming at http://publicbroadcasting.net/wcbe/ppr/index.shtml and on demand at http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wcbe/arts.artsmain Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.RR.com