{"id":11308,"date":"2011-07-01T00:01:59","date_gmt":"2011-07-01T05:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spitballarmy.com\/?p=11308"},"modified":"2011-07-18T17:30:16","modified_gmt":"2011-07-18T22:30:16","slug":"the-edge-12-new-films-for-712011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spitballarmy.com\/?p=11308","title":{"rendered":"The Edge 12: New Films for 7\/1\/2011"},"content":{"rendered":"

I live in the Crestwood neighborhood of Birmingham. There is a movie theatre down the street from me called The Edge 12. I can walk there from my home, if I so desire. This theatre has twelve screens. They frequently show films of great merit. They also show films for everyone else. We all get to choose.<\/p>\n

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\n(photo: spitballarmy.com)<\/span><\/p>\n

Four\u00a0new films have opened at The Edge 12 this week:<\/p>\n

Larry Crowne<\/strong><\/em> (2011)
\nDirected by Tom Hanks.
\nWritten by Tom Hanks and Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding<\/em>).
\nStarring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts.
\nRated PG-13.<\/p>\n

[The official Universal Pictures blurb for Larry Crowne<\/em>:]<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

[Their first draft:]<\/p>\n

Everyone’s favorite everyman, Tom Hanks, makes a triumphant return to the big screen as the titular Larry Crowne. Saddled, after serving time in the U.S. Navy, with a dead-end job at a corporate megalo-mart, Larry has begun to settle into a life of comfortable mediocrity. Turning away from the harsh reality of a low hourly-wage and no chance for advancement, he drones away at his job, waiting for the occasional pat-on-the-back from management. Then, one day, as it eventually comes to all big-box slaves, a pink slip comes to Larry. Lost, he decides to explore that refuge of the unemployed: school. There, he develops a crush on his Etiquette & Elocution teacher (a fetching Julia Roberts) who is looking to temporarily bed one of her students as a remedy for her lagging marital relationship. Between this bedroom rondel and his new membership in a scooter club, our simple hero, Larry, 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 you’re right.<\/p>\n