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Jan Wahl Movie Review: 'Larry Crowne'

(KCBS) - KCBS Entertainment Editor Jan Wahl reviews the new film directed by Tom Hanks and starring Hanks and Julia Roberts. Plus, 'Page One: Inside the New York Times.'

LARRY CROWNE (PG-13)

Directed and starring Tom Hanks, this is the story of a guy you root for who finds himself in the mess many Americans are facing: loss of home, downsized out of a job, broke. He goes back to school and meets up with a bitter, alcoholic teacher (Julia Roberts, in a very good performance.) Their chemistry is almost exactly what Kate Hepburn said about Astaire Rogers: he gives us compassion, she gives him sex appeal. We root for them, too. Unfortunately, there is a plot device that feels phony and contrived: a group of young motorcyclists randomly have Hanks ride with them. But that and other this-couldn't-happen moments are worth slogging through because it's a romance and Hanks is today's Jack Lemmon, who was yesterday's Jimmy Stewart. But there's still reason to see this movie, one of the few out there right now that leave you a bit uplifted.

PAGE ONE: INSIDE THE NEW YORK TIMES (R)

Documentaries are rarely given an R rating, but we wouldn't want the young people who need to see this film actually sitting through it, right? Score one for the stupid, corrupt rating system. David Carr grounds this look at the rise and fall of print journalism with wit and reality. He is a former drug addict who reminds us of what a reporter is supposed to be... and so rarely is anymore. Daily newspapers are going out of business in this country, the Internet is King... and this movie explains what we are all losing.

SEE RIGHT NOW: MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS, BUCK, BILLY ELLIOT (ORPHEUM THEATRE), TALES OF THE CITY (A.C.T)

4TH OF JULY MOVIES TO RENT OR BUY: MISS FIRECRACKER, BORN ON THE 4TH OF JULY, AVALON, YANKEE DOODLE DANDY

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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