Day one of the American Film Market and we’re already swimming under a number of casting details and announcements, so we’ll try and keep ’em short and to the point.
The latest first look centers on the upcoming “Larry Crowne” written, directed and starring Tom Hanks and co-starring Julia Roberts. Not much about the film has been known until now except that it’s about a man who is forced to find a new career and reinvent himself as he enters the second half of his life. The picture boasts a tremendous ensemble including Peter Scolari, Bryan Cranston, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Wilmer Valderrama, Jon Seda, Cedric the Entertainer, Taraji P. Henson, Rami Malek, Malcolm Barrett, Maria Canals Barrera, George Takei, Holmes Osborne, Pam Grier, Grace Gummer, Rita Wilson, Dale Dye and Bob Stephenson.
Well, here is your first look at Hanks and Roberts presumably charming the hell out of each other in the film, and you can check out the official synopsis — given to us by UNI and different from the Collider version.
Oscar® winners Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts reunite for a dramatic comedy about how the hard knocks from today’s recession inspire one everyday guy to undergo a personal reinvention: Larry Crowne.
Until he was downsized, affable, amiable Larry Crowne (Hanks) was a superstar team leader at the big-box company where he’s worked since his time in the Navy. Underwater on his mortgage and unclear on what to do with his suddenly free days, Larry heads to his local college to start over. There he becomes part of a colorful community of outcasts, also-rans and the overlooked all trying to find a better future for themselves…often moving around town in a herd of scooters. In his public- speaking class, Larry develops an unexpected crush on his teacher Mercedes Tainot (Roberts), who has lost as much passion for teaching as she has for her husband.
The simple guy who has every reason to think his life has stalled will come to learn an unexpected lesson: when you think everything worth having has passed you by, you just might discover your reason to live.
“Larry Crowne” will hit theaters on July 1, 2011. [Collider]