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'Larry Crowne' reviews: Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks, not the dream team you might imagine
As Hollywood icons go, Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks are two of the biggest, alive and working today. So one would think that if they were to collaborate on a project, it would be worth seeing. Well, the critics have spoken, and the general consensus seems to be that duo missed the mark with "Larry Crowne." The Hanks-directed romantic comedy only has a 41 (out of 100) and 37% on review aggregates Metacritic and RottenTomatoes, respectively, the morning of the release.
So what's wrong with the film? Here's a look at some of the least-flattering assessments:
"Movie stars may be less valued than they used to be, but it's still puzzling to see Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts stuck in a romantic comedy as flat-footed and tone deaf as Larry Crowne." -- Justin Chang, Variety
"Larry Crowne is a painful and embarrassing experiment in light-hearted comedy. This ridiculous disaster tries so hard to be funny and falls so violently flat to the floor that you almost want to give it a hug as the credits roll."
-- Daniel Walber, indieWIRE/Spout
"Hanks directs with assurance. Perhaps if he had teamed with a more agile writer, less given to cheesy yuck-fests, Larry Crowne would be the nuanced adult love story it aims to be."
-- Claudia Puig, USA Today
"The screenplay carries blandness to a point beyond tedium."
-- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
"Larry Crowne is an inside-out movie, acceptable around the edges but hollow and shockingly unconvincing at its core. When that core is two of the biggest movie stars around -- Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts -- it's an especially dispiriting situation."
-- Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
Dissuaded by bad press -- or will you still be spending your 4th of July weekend with Larry?
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Photo/Video credit: Universal
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They're both old geezers that dye their hair....and wear diapers.
I'm so glad that this movie is getting the bad reviews it so richly deserves. I was afraid it might get a pass because of the stars.
It sickening how many vanity projects (written by celebrities) get made when there are so many good screenplays (written by real writers) that don't get made.
Maybe the level of disgust over this movie will finally cause the movie studios to realize that audiences have (finally) grown up and will no longer eat whatever crap a celebrity dumps.
Jeez, what is everyone's problem with this film? It promotes it self as a light-hearted look at a man re-inventing himself. Doesn't seem to be that much of a comedy or a romance. That is what it is. And as a romantic-comedy it is also light on the romance. Which works just fine. We've all seen 4 billion romcoms -- we all know the formula. Mr Hanks just focused on some of the quirkiness of life and of people. If this exact movie had been in french, with sub-titles, those same critics would be raving about the subtlety of this fantastic existentialist slice-of-life drama.
I got exactly what I expected from the film -- an enjoyable, adult, simply told story.