I spent my 4th of July weekend watching fireworks, having a BBQ, and completing some do it yourself projects around my house. Or as most American men would say, a typical holiday weekend. Fortunately I was able to get away with my wife to check out Larry Crowne, the latest movie featuring two of the most famous Americans of the last 30 years; Tom Hanks, and Julia Roberts.

Between these two mega stars, they have 8 Academy Award nominations, and 3 wins for Best Actor or Actress in a leading role. Their films have grossed nearly Eleventy Katrillion dollars, and I would literally fall out of my chair if more than 3 people with a driver's license didn't know who they were.

AKA, they are big stars.

My biggest fear when going into a theater to watch a movie with a cast that features such big stars, is that they are only going to be there to collect a check, and make sure that the general public doesn't forget about them. (Sorry about that Harrison Ford, but I saw Morning Glory.) The good news for movie goers is that these two did not disappoint.

Hanks plays the part of Larry Crowne (with an 'E'), an uneducated retail sales rep who gets fired from his job at the local big box store. Wanting to change his life around he decides to enroll at the local community college where he is advised to take a Speech 217 class taught by Mercedes Tainot (Roberts). Along the way Mr. Crowne finds out as much about himself from his classmates (including a couple of great supporting roles by Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Rami Malek, and yes even Wilmer Valderrama) as he does his professors.

This movie is not going to bend your mind like Inception, and it isn't going to make you ooh and awwww over the writing like The Social Network did, but it is a great feel good story that was a perfect fit for the holiday weekend.

And if you ask me, that's Spectackalar.


Larry Crowne
Directed by: Tom Hanks
Written by: Tom Hanks, and Nia Vardalos
Starring: Tom Hanks, and Julia Roberts
My Rating: 4 out of 5
Would Gene Pick it?: Yes