Larry Crowne doesn’t give public speaking the royal treatment

This new romantic comedy movie doesn’t have public speaking at its center, like The King’s Speech did. Thankfully it doesn’t try to be The King’s Speech II. I saw it over the weekend.

Larry Crowne has Julia Roberts teaching Speech 217, with Tom Hanks in the title role as her student. Both are slightly befuddled as they react to how their lives have unraveled.

Kenneth Turan’s review in the LA Times should have said it was like a frosted donut rather than grandly calling it:

“...an inside-out movie, acceptable around the edges but hollow and shockingly unconvincing at its core.”

Another review by Rene Rodriguez was closer to the mark. Also, I enjoyed seeing George Takei as an economics professor who laughs inappropriately during his lectures, as you can see at the thirty-second mark in another trailer.