Rita Wilson

Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts Seek to Repurpose ‘Larry Crowne’

PatrickMcD — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 07:13:03 -0400

Rating: 3.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Movie stars need certain types of films to keep their star power safe and audiences expect certain things from them, with limitations, to create summer movie comfort. Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts fill the bill in “Larry Crowne.”

Tom Hanks wrote (with Nia Vardalos) and directed this film, which on the surface purports to create a ripped-from-the-headlines story about a middle age man who loses his job and faces foreclosure. What it really accomplishes is just another showcase for the charm of the Tom Hanks “character” and the hope that can be enough to counter the questionable situations and weak script.

Hanks is the title character Larry Crowne, an ex-Navy cook who currently works as a floor representative at a Wal-mart type megastore. Although he has won eight employee-of-the-month awards, he is unceremoniously fired for apparently not having a university degree. Faced with a house worth less than what is owed on it and no prospects, Larry decides to register at his local community college.

Trading in his SUV for a gas sipping scooter, Larry fits in almost immediately by meeting Talia (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), who invites him into a scooter “gang” at the school. Larry also signs up for a Public Speaking class, run by the burned-out Mercedes Tainot (Julia Roberts), and a first level economics class run by Dr. Matsutani (George Takei).

To Her With Love: Julia Roberts (Mrs. Tainot) and Tom Hanks as the Title Character ‘Larry Crowne’
Photo credit: Universal Pictures

It becomes obvious that Larry is taking a shine to the lovely Mrs. Tainot, who is on her last days with husband Dean (Bryan Cranston). He is also helped out by his neighbor Lamar (Cedric the Entertainer) and new group of college friends, even reliving his Navy days by becoming a part-time cook at a popular diner. It’s a new life and a new way for Larry Crowne.

Right off the bat the problem is that no retail outlet in there right mind would fire the clearly popular and wonderful Larry. The film opens with the montage of Hanks doing his Hanks thing, laughing with his co-workers, doing wacky things with the retail duties and obviously relishing customer service. Yeah, that’s the first guy you want to can in these freaked-out times. The excuse of no college was a screenplay device, and a lame one.

But it gets Hanks to the school itself, and that is where the second most unlikely scenario occurs. The clearly fifty-something Larry is embraced by a “gang” of scooter riders, led by Talia, a comely co-ed who eventually quits college to open a boutique because of the miraculous Larry’s advice. This gives Hanks his device, the scooter, to represent Larry and makes him cool in school, but in real-life he’d be ignored and a scooter gang would be a one way ticket to Nerdsville.

The story also suffers because the two people who wrote it, Tom Hanks and Nia “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” Vardalos have no idea what it’s really like to be middle class with an underwater mortgage. There is no nuance or even sadness in Larry’s sunny character, it would have been much more interesting (but a different movie) had he been a depressive sadsack. He’s also divorced, where is the dark side to that? And really, there are no retail jobs in CaliforniaTown for an experienced floor rep? He didn’t want to cook after the Navy, but he becomes the best fry cook in town? Three cheers for Larry!

Julia Roberts is a bit disingenuous as the borderline alcoholic professor, because her hair, skin, looks and weight have nothing to do with such a portrayal. But when paired with Hanks the two old pros project the chemistry and appeal that have kept them both going for several decades. The romance is approached cautiously and without a lot of fanfare, which is the only subtle part of the story. It’s Tom being Tom and Julia (after a little prodding) being Julia, damn the improbabilities and pass the popcorn.

Warped Drive: Tom Hanks and George Takei (Dr. Matsutani) in ‘Larry Crowne’
Photo credit: Universal Pictures

It’s to his credit that Bryan Cranston (”Breaking Bad”) took his crass ex-husband role and made it better than written. Cedric the Entertainer was the magical neighbor who never seemed to offer Larry anything but stuff from his ongoing yard sale. And George Takei (the original Mr. Sulu from “Star Trek”) makes a case for late career revival with his daffy econ professor. Oh my!

There is nothing wrong with Larry Crowne, especially if you like the two lead stars, but then again it’s the type of story that could have been more redemptive or even more real as Americans face the same problems as Larry. If the film is designed to allow us to forget our troubles, how to relate to Larry Tom? He’s the guy who gets and has everything, as a real life movie star and a character who is too big to fail.

”Larry Crowne” opens everywhere on July 1st. Featuring Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Cedric the Entertainer, Rita Wilson, Pam Grier, Bryan Cranston, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and George Takei. Screenplay by Tom Hanks and Nia Vardalos, directed by Tom Hanks. Rated “PG-13”

By PATRICK McDONALD
Senior Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

‘The Art of Getting By’ Explores a Teenage Wasteland

PatrickMcD — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 12:50:52 -0400

Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – The angst ridden, doom-and-gloom adolescent has been fodder for the movies ever since teenagers were invented. From James Dean to “Heathers,” the juvenile anti-hero trying to figure out life has lit up the screen. Freddie Highmore takes his turn in “The Art of Getting By.”

This is Holden Caulfield (”Catcher in the Rye”) territory, because the setting is New York City among the upper middle class, private school types. While the character of George Zinavoy (Highmore) can never reach the rarified fatalism of Mr. Caulfield, his questioning of existence does have a mordant perversion. And although the film makes some bad “happy ending” decisions, for the most part it exposes the subject matter in an interesting manner.

George Zinavoy is in his senior year at a college prep New York City academy. He barely can tolerate school, and sits in his classes moodily drawing unique images in a sketchbook. For some reason the school tolerates this, and George even has an ally in Principal Martinson (Blair Underwood). George’s rejection of conventional wisdom seeps into his family life, where his stepfather Jack (Sam Robards) is constantly prodding him to do better, and his mother Vivian (Rita Wilson) can’t seem to get through to him.

Life for George takes an unexpected turn when Sally (Emma Roberts), one of his classmates, takes an interest in his dark creationism. They become friends, but George’s natural hormonal instinct wants more. Around the same time George meets a Brooklyn artist named Dustin (Michael Angarano), who takes an interest in both mentoring the George’s art and perhaps hooking up with Sally. That situation will eventually create a conflict

Finding Common Ground: George (Freddie Highmore), and Sally (Emma Roberts) in ‘The Art of Getting By’
Photo credit: © 2011 Twentieth Century Fox Films

There are a number of events that starts George on a downhill road. He and Sally need to part because their relationship doesn’t go further, his kinship with the school principal goes into crisis mode and his family life contains a secret that will eventually change everything. This is all about transition, including George’s awkward and instinctive boy-to-man progression.

Writer/director Gavin Wiesen paints George as a desperate but very interesting character and that is the glue that keeps the film together. Freddie Highmore nails the persona, and even though the actor is teen idol cute, his attitude and bearing does make him unattractive to a larger high school society. In what is obviously an autobiographical film for Wiesen, Highmore is able to handle the shifts in mood and consequence for George and keep him somewhat real. It was difficult and schizophrenic material, but Highmore was up for it.

The casting of the supporting players was also notable. Rita Wilson plays the role of conflicted wife and mother aptly, there were no false moves. Sam Robards, playing George’s stepfather in a secretive mode, handled the sorrow of his situation with a wounded pride that was palpable. The faculty of the school include 1980s and ‘90s stalwarts Blair Underwood (”L.A. Law”) and Alicia Silverstone (”Clueless”), which was fun, and they seemed to be having a good time doing something different.

The younger cast also performed admirably. Emma Roberts (”Nancy Drew”) finds a nice place for her beautiful-girl-understanding-complicated-guy character, and she has a natural screen presence that the camera loves. Michael Angarano, as the artist mentor Dustin, seems a bit muted for a supposed wild man painter, but steps on the gas towards the end when George and he face off. Even Sasha Spielberg gets into the act, showing off some skills that separate her from the family crest.

Unfortunately where the film breaks down is toward the end. The reason that George comes around in not a bad one, there was just the feeling that the “Theme from Rocky” was going to start at any minute, given the way the story was happily tied up. One of George’s final assignments was to create a piece of art that would capture his high school teacher’s emotional center. Successful or not, it was a mistake to see the finished work. In the context of the film we relate to George, we cheer for George, but too much tidy happiness causes a bit of a disconnection.

He Has Principles: Blair Underwood as Principal Martinson in ‘The Art of Getting By’
Photo credit: © 2011 Twentieth Century Fox Films

If anybody has had the heartache of bad timing or lost loves, George represents acutely what those early years mean in that context. One of the great lines has to do with angst regarding the friendship with Sally versus the need to jump her bones. “I’m allergic to my own hormones,” George intones, and who among us haven’t felt that? We become victims of our biological needs and that is where the film really sings.

George Zinavoy is not as angry as Holden Caulfield but he certainly is as confused with the sorrows of adolescence. The truth is that this is only the beginning, even though in the landscape of the teenage wasteland it feels like the end.

”The Art of Getting By” had a limited release, including Chicago, on June 17th. See local listings for theaters and show times. Featuring Freddie Highmore, Emma Roberts, Sasha Spielberg, Blair Underwood, Alicia Silverstone, Michael Angarano, Sam Robards and Rita Wilson. Written and directed by Gavin Wiesen. Rated “PG-13”

By PATRICK McDONALD
Senior Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin Shine in ‘It’s Complicated’

PatrickMcD — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 08:26:47 -0500

Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Referring to her new film, “It’s Complicated,” Meryl Steep recently said, “It’s incredible, I’m playing the romantic lead in romantic comedies. Bette Davis is rolling over in her grave.” Tell Kate Hepburn the news.

Streep, our acknowledged greatest American actress, knocks it out of the part with this comedy, a farce as much about the strangeness of our social structure than as a vehicle for the hot middle age warriors of Streep, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin.

Streep portrays Jane, a bakery entrepreneur who has been divorced for 10 years from Jake (Alec Baldwin), who cheated on her with a younger woman who eventually became his second wife. When her son graduates from college, the family gathers together, but Jake isn’t with his new wife and child. A drunken reunion between the two ex-spouses leads into a bedroom liason, and suddenly this separation has sprung a leak.

Lust, Caution: Alec Baldwin as Jake and Meryl Streep as Jane in ‘It’s Complicated’
Photo credit: Copywright © Universal Pictures

Enter Adam (Steve Martin), an eager architect who is also getting over a painful divorce. When he is assigned to create an addition for Jane’s home, his interest piques more in the direction of the fetching Ms. Jane than the blueprints. His deliberation in approaching her swirls around Jake’s renewed interest in her as well, and within the phrase of the title circumstances get “complicated.”

A nod must go out immediately to John Krasinski – Jim from “The Office” – who applies his everyman good looks and ah-shucks American boy persona to high comic effect. Since Meryl has already thrown down on old film star comparisons, how about John K. as Jimmy Stewart, with the same image that can be molded to drama or comedy. His timing and deftness was impressive.

The film is part French-slamming-door misunderstandings and part an exposure on how difficult it is to make decisions once love has entered the picture. How cupid’s arrow effects the three main characters is how the laughs are generated. Streep provides the balance, but cannot hold on herself, which allows a scene where pot smoking after many years dissolves into broad burlesque.

Alec Baldwin is at the top of his game. His “character” now – that of the confident, handsome middle age player – is thrown into the spin cycle as he practically dances in his new love for his ex-wife. The rule of comedy that he is following is simply to play the truth, and let the dominoes fall from there. His comic performance was rich, nuanced and in the exposure department, brave.

A Mild & Cautious Guy: Meryl Streep and Steve Martin as Adam in ‘It’s Complicated’
Photo credit: Copywright © Universal Pictures

Amid these two titans, it is Steve Martin that distinguishes himself as well. The ‘Wild and Crazy Guy’ sticks closer to what may be assumed to be his true self – a shy, confused and slightly smitten upper middle class working stiff. Think “The Spanish Prisoner” meets “Father of the Bride.” It was fun to watch Martin work his way through actual emotions, acting like the only adult in the scenario.

There were a couple very slight problems. We need better casting agents because again the children of Jane and Jake were miscast, so much so that they were remotely distracting (I said the same for “The Blind Side” recently). And the über American Dream success of all the characters – a trademark in writer/director Nancy Meyer’s filmography – is getting boring in this age of uncertainty.

But it is glorious to unwrap this Christmas present of a film. It is both a throwback reminder to manners comedies like “The Philadelphia Story” and a modern situational commentary on the fractured variations of family created through divorce and remarriage (how are things going at your house?). Stir in the high level performances of Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin, add the welcome spice of Steve Martin, and it becomes the perfect holiday movie brew…I mean view.

”It’s Complicated” opens December 25th everywhere. Featuring Meryl Streep, Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin, John Krasinski, Mary Kay Place and Rita Wilson, directed by Nancy Meyers. Rated “R”

By PATRICK McDONALD
Senior Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com