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" Tom Hanks goes back to school in this romantic comedy and takes instruction from Julia Roberts on the art of speechmaking. He gets extra credit for using his tongue in other more creative ways (if only we were joking...), but otherwise there is no real point of connection between the two stars. It&amp;#039;s not so much a matter of chemistry as a lack of substance in the script, which was penned by Hanks and his prot\u00C3\u00A9g\u00C3\u00A9 Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding). Being producer and director too, Hanks seems keen to boost his reputation as Hollywood&amp;#039;s Everyman and spreads himself too thinl. From the opening shot, Hanks plays up to his Nice Guy image as Larry Crowne, a devoted supermarket worker who stoops to picking up litter in the car park just because &amp;quot;it&amp;#039;s the right thing to do&amp;quot;. He&amp;#039;s so smiley and so genuinely happy to help, it&amp;#039;s downright creepy. In an offhand moment, he makes a wry joke of this, counting up his awards for Employee of the Month. It&amp;#039;s a hint that somewhere beneath this Nice Guy exterior there bubbles a well of cheeky sarcasm. Sadly, it doesn&amp;#039;t rise to the surface very often. When he is called to the common room for a chat about &amp;quot;restructuring&amp;quot;, it finally wipes the smile from his face. But not for long enough. Crowne is told that his lack of education precludes him from a career at U-Mart, so he sells his possessions and goes to community college, making his way on a moped to save on fuel costs. That affords us the vaguely amusing spectacle of a middle-aged man puttering along the LA highway on two wheels, but it&amp;#039;s also the farthest extent of the indignity foisted upon Larry despite constant references to the global economic crisis. He just doesn&amp;#039;t suffer enough. Julia Roberts, on the other hand, echoes Cameron Diaz in Bad Teacher as Ms Tainot, staggering into the classroom bleary-eyed after endless nights drowning the sorrows of an unhappy marriage. Alas, the more you learn about Tainot, the less interesting she becomes. We&amp;#039;re subjected to tedious marital spats revolving around her husband&amp;#039;s (Bryan Cranston) penchant for internet porn and marked disinterest in getting a job - scenes that might&amp;#039;ve been based on transcripts from The Jeremy Kyle Show. Meanwhile, Crowne is inducted into a biker gang (scooters, that is) by a pretty classmate (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) and her paranoid boyfriend (Wilmer Valderrama). Hanks makes a running joke out of the compromising positions he finds them in, but Tainot&amp;#039;s sudden attack of jealousy is even less credible. The two simply don&amp;#039;t spend enough time together. Crowne and Tainot coast along different tracks, trying to make sense of their lives with little to show for it. A romance featuring older characters shaped by bitter experience is rare, making it all the more frustrating that Hanks opts for juvenile gags about boobs and bums, and the occasional pratfall. Running jokes also run out of steam, like Cedric the Entertainer being less than neighbourly as the guy across the street who charges Crowne for every little favour. George Takei is funniest in a small role as Crowne&amp;#039;s honey-toned economics lecturer. When Crowne is finally alone with Tainot, they settle for a clumsy snog followed by moony looks across the cafeteria. We&amp;#039;re to assume this is love, but two highly-qualified actors should know better. What do you think of the movie? Share your views "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/review/a326620/larry-crowne/>