Double Feature

October 2011 - It's the economy, stupid. Or, maybe it's the stupid economy. However you say it, it seems Hollywood is always there to give us its take (or takes) on the current climate. Here are a couple of examples.

Clive Owen bets he can break a bank in a 2009 R-rated thriller titled The International. The international cast includes Naomi Watts, Brian O'Byrne and Armin Mueller-Stahl.

Owen plays Louis Salinger, an Interpol agent obsessed with bringing down the Luxembourg-based International Bank of Business and Credit. Watts is Eleanor Whitman, a prosecutor with the DA's office in New York City. Whitman and Salinger suspect that IBBC is funneling arms to terrorists, but proving it proves to be difficult and dangerous.

Overall review: Ehhh, it was OK. Worth a look, I think, especially in light of the recent worldwide financial crisis involving banks deemed "too big to fail." Not that these banks are brokering arms deals (at least not that I know of), but the plot rings true in terms of how difficult it is to reform these giant institutions.

The film clocks in at a little more than two hours. It includes one extensive and bloody gun battle in the Guggenheim and three or four chases in various cities around the world. The fact that the chases involve varying foot speeds instead of speeding vehicles is an interesting and refreshing departure from formula.

In this year's Larry Crowne, Tom Hanks gets laid off, goes back to school, joins a scooter gang and gets hot for teacher. Hanks directed the PG-13 film and co-wrote it with Nia (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) Vardalos.

Hanks plays Larry Crowne, a divorced man who's retired from the Navy and now works at some K-Mart like store in California. One day, he's called to a meeting with the managers. Larry suspects he'll be named Employee of the Month – again. Instead, he gets laid off.

As Larry pounds the pavement looking for work, he realizes that his lack of a college education is severely limiting his opportunities. So, he heads to the local community college where an administrator advises him to sign up for a business class and a public speaking class. They'll change your life, he says.

Julia Roberts plays Mercedes Tainot, the instructor of said public speaking class. She's beaten down by a lazy, porn-surfing husband and by uninterested students. She shows a flicker of excitement when it appears the class will be cancelled due to low enrollment, but Larry comes in at the last minute, so the class – and the movie – go on.

Overall review: Ehh, it was OK. Not a terrible movie, but it seems to be missing the "something" to push it above average. My favorite scenes involved Gugu Mbatha-Raw. She plays Talia, a young woman who takes Larry under her wing and draws him into her tight-knit gang of scooter enthusiasts. Maybe if the movie were about her, it would have been more interesting.