| Director | Tom Hanks |
|---|---|
| Budget | $30 million |
| Box office | $72.1 million |
Larry Crowne, a middle-aged Navy veteran, is fired from his job at a big-box store due to a lack of college education, despite his seniority and exemplary work. Divorced and living alone, he cannot find a job and could lose his house. His neighbor Lamar suggests he enroll at East Valley Community College and get an education.
Subsisting on unemployment benefits and unable to afford to drive his SUV, Larry buys a scooter from Lamar. At the college, he becomes part of a colorful community trying to find a better future, and is nicknamed "Lance Corona" by classmate Talia. Two of the classes he takes are speech, taught by Mercedes Tainot, and economics, taught by Dr. Ed Matsutani.
Larry initially struggles in his speech class, stumbling through his first speech about making restaurant quality French toast. Before his recently lost retail job, he had spent 20 years as a cook in the navy. However, Larry does very well in economics, as he appears to be the only student who knows the answers from the assigned reading.
Mercedes drinks at home after school because she is unhappily married to Dean, a former professor-turned-writer-turned-blogger. In reality, Dean spends his days watching internet porn, and she tells him she knows that.
Talia invites Larry to join a club of scooter riders led by her boyfriend Dell Gordo. She also updates Larry's home decor, hair style, and wardrobe. His friend Frank, who runs a diner, offers him a job to help make ends meet, due to Larry's experience with the Navy.
A night out with Dean goes horribly wrong, with the two of them arguing in the car; Mercedes demands he stops to let her out. She is waiting at a bus stop, when Larry and his scooter gang notice her. He offers her a ride home, which she reluctantly accepts. On their way home they witness Dean getting arrested for drunk driving.
At her front door, Mercedes invites Larry to kiss her and they hug, before she passionately starts kissing him. She wants to have sex as well, but Larry declines, not wanting to take advantage of her inebriated state. When Dean arrives home the following morning he finds all of his possessions on the front lawn.
Realizing there is no way he will not lose his house, Larry uses the knowledge he gained in his Economics class to begin a strategic foreclosure. Mercedes, meanwhile, asks Larry not to disclose the events of the previous night, and remains under the false impression that he is romantically involved with the much-younger Talia. It disappoints Larry, who had been excited about Mercedes' interest in him. He goes back to concentrating on his studies and his new job instead.
Mercedes runs into Talia, who is telling Frances, her English teacher, that she will be dropping out of college to start a thrift store. There, she finds out that Talia and Larry are just friends. Later, Frances comes over to Mercedes' to provide emotional and practical support in relation to her impending divorce.
Finals arrive, and Larry is scheduled last. His speech is about his travels around the world while in the Navy, and also manages to include all of his classmates' topics within his own. He is given a big round of applause by his classmates and an A+ grade from Mercedes, who is now happier in her life, and has rediscovered her passion for teaching.
A short while later, Mercedes and Frances show up at Larry's diner. She lets him know that he was an excellent student, to which he replies that she was an excellent teacher. When the next term begins, some of the students from Mercedes' speech course register for her Shakespeare class, but Larry is not with them. He is seen taking Dr. Matsutani's second-term Economics class.
Mercedes walks to her office and sees a note from Larry on the door. It is an invitation for French toast, with the address to his new apartment. She drives there, finding it is above Talia's thrift store. She walks upstairs, Larry comes out of his apartment, they talk briefly and then kiss.