New Comedy Film Takes a Look at the "Lighter Side Of Unemployment"

Where "Company Men" found stark drama, even tragedy, in losing a job, Tom Hanks, ever the optimist, sees an opportunity for laughs and romance. The title character in "Larry Crowne" has his life go suddenly out of balance -- and the film experiences a similar problem. Sure, the film is a romantic comedy starring Hanks and Julia Roberts, but every scene is on the prowl for laughs at the expense of the inherent drama in the lives of its colorful characters.

Hanks' crew does a fine if undistinguished job on various locations in the Los Angeles area. The junior-college campus and classrooms, the homes, streets, coffee shop and offices all seem very pleasant, which, again, somewhat undermines the grim reality of joblessness in America.