Larry Crowne (2011)

Directed by Tom Hanks. Starring Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Bryan Cranston, Cedric the Entertainer, George Takei, Wilmer Valderrama, Rami Malek, Pam Grier, Taraji P. Henson. [PG-13]

After abruptly losing his job, middle-aged Larry Crowne (Hanks) enrolls at a community college to get an education and ends up in a romance with one of his married teachers (Roberts). Bland as bland can be, this aimless rom-com has no firm grasp whatsoever on what makes its characters worth caring about (be it the leads or the tiresomely “colorful” supporting players); Hanks is a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a receding hairline, and Roberts does the “teacher who couldn’t give two figs” routine even more anemically than Cameron Diaz in Bad Teacher. Hanks and Nia Vardalos are credited as the scribes, but it’s difficult to believe that the screenplay was written by anything other than a computer program. Don’t skip class for this one. Lone bright spot: Takei as an econ professor. Hanks’ wife, Rita Wilson, pops up as a platinum blonde in a bit part.

32/100