Academy Award winners Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts come together for a romantic and optimistic comedy about how the hard knocks from today’s recession inspire one everyday guy to undergo a personal reinvention and find an unexpected second act in his life: Larry Crowne.
Until he was downsized, affable, amiable Larry Crowne (Hanks) was a superstar team leader at the big-box company where he’s worked since his time in the navy. Underwater on his mortgage and unclear on what to do with his suddenly free days, Larry heeds the advice of his good friends and neighbors—Lamar (Cedric The Entertainer) and B’Ella (Taraji P. Henson)—and heads to his local college to start over.
At East Valley Community College, Larry becomes part of a colorful group of fellow scooter-riding students—including the charming Talia (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) and her boyfriend, Dell (Wilmer Valderrama) – all trying to find a better future for themselves.
Much to his surprise, he develops a crush on his public-speaking teacher, Mercedes Tainot (Roberts), who has lost as much passion for teaching as she has for her deadbeat husband, Dean (Bryan Cranston). Mercedes can’t deny the changes in Larry are inspiring, nor can she deny her budding attraction to this middle-aged student, who is undergoing a fascinating transformation.
The simple guy who has every reason to think his life has stalled will come to learn an unexpected lesson: When you think everything worth having has passed you by, you just might discover your reason to live.
Hanks directs Larry Crowne from a script he wrote with Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Connie and Carla) and produces the romantic comedy with his longtime partner at Playtone, Gary Goetzman (Mamma Mia!, Where the Wild Things Are). Their production team includes Academy Award-winning cinematographer Philippe Rousselot (A River Runs Through It, Sherlock Holmes), editor Alan Cody (TV’s The Pacific, Big Love), production designer Victor Kempster (Charlie Wilson’s War, Natural Born Killers), two-time Oscar-winning costume designer Albert Wolsky (Bugsy, All That Jazz) and composer James Newton Howard (The Dark Knight, My Best Friend’s Wedding).
Larry Crowne’s executive producers are Philippe Rousselet (Source Code), Steven Shareshian (My Big Fat Greek Wedding), Jeb Brody (Little Miss Sunshine), Fabrice Gianfermi (Source Code) and David Coatsworth (Underworld: Evolution).
Classification 12
Mic Macs - Complex scheme for revenge
Avid movie-watcher and video store clerk Bazil has had his life all but ruined by weapons of war. His father was killed by a landmine in Morocco and one fateful night a stray bullet from a nearby shootout embeds itself in his skull, leaving him on the verge of instantaneous death.
Losing his job and his home, Bazil wanders the streets until he meets Slammer, a pardoned convict who introduces him to a band of eccentric junkyard dealers including Calculator, a math expert and statistician, Buster, a record-holder in human cannonball feats, Tiny Pete, an artistic craftsman of automatons, and Elastic Girl, a sassy contortionist.
When chance reveals to Bazil the two weapons manufacturers responsible for building the instruments of his destruction, he constructs a complex scheme for revenge that his newfound family is all too happy to help set in motion.
Directed by: Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Starring: Dany Boon, Andre Dussollier.
Classification 14
Zookeeper - Rules of courtship
In Zookeeper, the animals at the Franklin Park Zoo love their kindhearted caretaker, Griffin Keyes (Kevin James). Finding himself more comfortable with a lion than a lady, Griffin decides the only way to get a girl in his life is to leave the zoo and find a more glamorous job. The animals, in a panic, decide to break their time-honored code of silence and reveal their biggest secret: they can talk! To keep Griffin from leaving, they decide to teach him the rules of courtship – animal style. The film also stars Rosario Dawson and Leslie Bibb and features the voices of Cher, Nick Nolte, Adam Sandler, and Sylvester Stallone.
Columbia Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures present a Broken Road/Hey Eddie/Happy Madison production, Zookeeper. The film stars Kevin James, Rosario Dawson, and Leslie Bibb.
Directed by Frank Coraci. Screenplay by Nick Bakay & Rock Reuben & Kevin James and Jay Scherick & David Ronn. Story by Jay Scherick & David Ronn. Produced by Todd Garner, Kevin James, Adam Sandler, Jack Giarraputo, and Walt Becker. Executive Producers are Barry Bernardi, Jeff Sussman, Charles Newirth, and Jennifer Eatz.
Director of Photography is Michael Barrett. Production Designer is Kirk M. Petruccelli. Film Editor is Scott Hill. Costume Designer is Mona May. Music by Rupert Gregson-Williams. Music Supervisor is Michael Dilbeck. Visual Effects Supervisor is Peter G. Travers. Special Visual Effects by Sony Pictures Imageworks Inc.
Classification U