'Larry Crowne' is a tepid romance

Fifteen or even 10 years ago, "Larry Crowne," a romance starring the lovable and highly bankable Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, would have stopped the presses. Since the days of blockbusters like "You've Got Mail" and "Pretty Woman," however, the stars have settled into comfort zones. Hanks, 54, has been strolling through the "Da Vinci Code" movies while Roberts, 43, has played to type in high-estrogen fare like "Valentine's Day" and "Eat Pray Love."

"Larry Crowne" not only occupies a comfort zone, it pops out the leg-rest on the Barcalounger and takes a nap. Directed by Hanks, who co-wrote with Nia Vardalos ("My Big Fat Greek Wedding"), it is free of passion, drama or anything that might boost a heart-rate.

That seems intentional. Hanks plays the title role, a career retail-worker fired for not having a college degree. After that, though, everything goes swimmingly. Larry enrolls in community college and takes a public-speaking course from the grouchy but beautiful Mercedes Tainot (Roberts). He becomes an economics whiz, gets a new job and acquires an enormous social circle thanks to a sexy young hipster named Talia (Gugu Mbatha-Raw). Talia gives Larry an unconvincing Los Angeles makeover -- vintage duds, wallet on a chain -- and also serves as an unnecessary romantic red herring.

Larry and Mercedes are obviously destined to smooch, but it's never clear why. Hanks is dependably affable, while Roberts is funny enough to make you wish she'd starred in "Bad Teacher," but neither has ever been known for crackling sexuality; here they make a dead circuit. There are few things less exciting than watching two people falling in like.

Back story: Bad economy enhanced Hanks plot

"I understand the concept of optimism," Tom Hanks says. "But I think with me what you get is a lack of cynicism." That personal credo is something Hanks has never been shy about bringing to his movies. Whether it is Forrest Gump's naive faith in people or Chuck Noland's dogged determination to survive and be rescued in "Cast Away," Hanks identifies with characters he describes as "one of the faithful."

"As long as you as an individual . . . can convince yourself that in order to move forward as best you can you have to be optimistic, you can be described as 'one of the faithful,' one of those people who can say, 'Well, look, something's going to happen! Let's just keep trying. Let's not give up. . . .'

"I tend to think that way. And I think that sort of optimism is worth making a movie about."

His new film, "Larry Crowne" gives that optimism a test torn straight from the American zeitgeist. Hanks didn't see the Great Recession coming. It unfolded as the film went into production. "Larry Crowne" was "going to be about the American propensity for starting over from scratch," he says. "The economy sort of caught up with it."

-- Orlando Sentinel