Larry Crowne: It's all about the Bootstrap

When the times get tough, the tough look around, see what they can do without, and make changes. The affable Tom Hanks stars in, writes and directs a film about just that: Men and women adapting to the times in which they find themselves and creating a second chance at life. This admirable idea results in “Larry Crowne,” a movie with a lot of promise that, unlike the title character, just doesn’t quite deliver.

Larry (Hanks)works at U-Mart, cheerfully straightening the glassware and earnestly helping people select electronics. He enjoys his job and excels at it, which is why his sudden firing comes as such a shock. Larry spent twenty years in the Navy, as an unglamorous cook, and never got around to college. The U-Mart staff explains this hole in his resume causes his firing. Things are even worse, however. Larry’s divorce settlement has left him owing more on his house than it’s worth.

So what does Larry do? He doesn’t whine. He trades his gas-guzzling SUV in for a thrifty scooter, researches ways to get out of his mortgage, and enrolls at the local community college.

It’s a bootstrap kind of thing.

His teacher for “The Art of Informal Remarks” turns out to be the way too attractive for community college Mercedes Tainoit (Julia Roberts). Ms. Tainoit has also reached the crossroads in her life. Her former-professor husband (Bryan Cranston) has quit to become a blogger, but really sits around all day looking at scandalous pictures on the internet (the ones shown are purely PG-13, as is the film). She supports him through her teaching, but it galls her to watch her husband become a loser. She hasn’t given up on life quite yet. Despite herself, she still cares about molding the young minds in her classroom, cares much more than they do.

When Mr. Crowne enrolls in Ms. Tainoit’s class, you just know both their lives are about to change. First, however, Crowne is befriended by Talia (Gugu Mbatha-Raw and no, I did not make that name up), a free-spirit sprite who inhabits the halls of the dear old school. She makes Larry her special project, untucking his shirt, cutting his hair, rearranging his living room furniture. She wants to realign the Feng Shui of his life. She even inducts him into her scooter gang.

Scooter gang? Really?

The gang encapsulates one of the two fatal flaws of the film: relentless whimsy. Larry lives in a world of witty scooter drivers and quirky neighbors (Cedric the Entertainer and Taraji Henson) who have a perpetual yard sale going. They all inhabit an alternate universe, not at all recognizable to actual humans, but also not all that different. It’s like magical realism without the magic. Call it mundane realism.

The second flaw turns out to be much more common to arsty, character driven flicks: Nothing really happens. See Larry. See Larry attend Econ 101. See Larry meet the dean. See Mercedes complain to a colleague. It’s like a really long story told at the watercooler by a co-worker who could use a little editing.

Sure, the film offers great acting, especially “Star Trek’s” George Takai as the Econ professor. Sure, we get a few wry, knowing laughs here and there. Positively, it shines a light on the current human condition in America. But if you’re bored half the movie, what’s the point?

I was torn, also, about the basic premise of the movie. Larry, despite access to the G.I.Bill and Navy education programs, has managed to leave his military career with no higher education and no special training. Any third grader will tell you that college is the key to success in America, so why did Larry choose not to pursue it? He also has taken out a large loan on a house he can’t afford, a decision made worse by divorce. In other words, Larry’s troubles, like that of America, are his own making. In the mindset of the film, he’s somewhat, but not entirely, a victim.

To his credit, Larry doesn’t sit around complaining but rolls up his sleeves and gets to work fixing his life. Despite some bad choices, he is basically a good person underneath. Also, as the romance between Larry and Mercedes appears to develop, Larry treats her honorably. She recognizes him as a gentleman.

This all just reeks Tom Hanks: Nice guy, decent guy, good actor, but a bit bland. The film doesn’t quite get where it wants to go. There’s no sense of victory, no big emotional ah-ha moment.

Which is a shame because America could really use a pep talk right now. “Larry Crowne” is one of the few movies to directly address where we are and where we’re going with optimism. I just wish it had lived up to its promise.