In my review of the marketing for Larry Crowne I wrote:
The movie appears to be kind of an oddball with its genial attitude and kind hearted spirit since it’s obviously not “big” enough to play long-ball with the movies this summer but it’s not “deep” enough to be released in the fall/winter season along with the serious Oscar contenders.
But in and of itself the campaign works well enough. It’s true to what appears to be the movie’s general spirit and is certainly buoyed by Hanks and his charm. So while the odds of it attracting anyone under 40 are extremely slim it may wind up providing somewhat of an alternative to those folks who are looking to not have their ears blown out and who don’t want to have to decide between a 3D or 2D presentation this weekend.
Let’s hone in on the last sentence of that first graf since that’s exactly how I felt about the movie as a whole. It’s not some big, loud comedy or anything that is going to guarantee pratfalls and one-liners aplenty. But it’s also not a deep enough character study to be an “important” movie.
In that respect the marketing pretty accurately sold the movie to audiences. Everything here is a generally frothy concoction that breezes by on charm and little moments that allow us to simply enjoy a decently constructed story being told by a group of talented professionals. It’s entirely pleasant and not forgettable like some of these cream puffs, but it’s also never going to be the subject of serious dissection as to the elements of story or anything else. It’s a solid stand-up double off the wall that brings in a run.
But it’s worth noting that it doesn’t aspire to anything more than that and the campaign didn’t sell it as anything but that. So it’s not over-reaching and it wasn’t sold unfairly to the audience. That’s saying something, especially when you have stars like Hanks and Roberts involved.
