Larry Crowne

After losing the job he held for years at a big-box store, Larry Crowne, a friendly and dependable middle-aged man, decides to start over by enrolling at a local college. His reasons for the sudden dismissal come down to his lack of a college degree. In the classroom he meets Mercedes Tainot, a public-speaking teacher whose enthusiasm for teaching has faded and whose marriage has stalled. Their connection gives both of them a reason to reconsider where their lives are going, while Larry also falls in with a group of scooter-riding classmates who push him to reinvent his look and outlook.

Tom Hanks directs and stars, working from a screenplay he wrote with Nia Vardalos. It is his second feature as director, arriving fifteen years after That Thing You Do! Julia Roberts plays Mercedes, with Bryan Cranston as her husband, Cedric the Entertainer, Pam Grier and Taraji P. Henson in supporting roles; the credited cast numbers 35. The film was produced by Hanks and Gary Goetzman for Universal, StudioCanal, Summit Entertainment and Vendôme Pictures, on a budget of about 30 million dollars, and took roughly 75 million dollars worldwide.

On IMDb it holds 6.1/10 from around 77,000 votes, and on TMDB 6/10 from about 1,450 votes, while the critics' rating stands lower at 5.1/10 from 195 reviews. The gap suggests audiences were more tolerant of the film's gentle, low-key humor than reviewers were. It runs 98 minutes.