You have to feel sorry for Peter Scolari. In the early eighties he starred in a curious sitcom called Bosom Buddies, where he and his buddy had to cross dress in order to stay in the apartment they were renting, as it was for women only. His other bosom buddy was an actor by the name of Tom Hanks. You may have heard of him; chances are that you most certainly haven't heard of Scolari.

Hanks of course, has done pretty well for himself since then, becoming quite possibly the most liked Hollywood actor on planet Earth. Even if the film he's in isn't quite up to scratch, Hank's unending charm makes it nigh on impossible to not find something positive about him in it.

He's appeared in over fifty features now, but has only directed two: 1996's That Thing You do! and this his latest Larry Crowne, which he also co-wrote and stars in. But despite the fifteen year gap, Hanks puts on the kind of show that's difficult not to like.

Being a loyal worker counts for nothing it seems these days. Take Larry Crowne (Hanks); he's given a fair few years to his current employer, working as he does on the shop floor of a large chain store. He's pretty good at it too, as winning 'Employee of the Month' nine times demonstrates.

Unfortunately management don't quite see it the same way. Looking at his CV they notice that he doesn't have a college education, therefore there's only so far he can go within the company. And rather annoyingly for him, he's reached that exact point and is let go.

After a period of time and attempting to find similar work elsewhere, Larry's neighbours – who appear to have an on-going yard sale outside their house – tell him that if he wants to get ahead, he should consider going back to college and getting an education. So that's exactly what he does, deciding to sign up for economics and a class known as Speech 217.

Running Speech 217 is Mrs Tainot (Julia Roberts). Tainot is going through a rough patch in life, finding herself disenchanted with both her marriage and career. Her hubby (Bryan Cranston) is a struggling writer who has an addiction to porn; and her classes very rarely meet the state's minimum student number required for a class to take place, such is the lack of interest in her courses.

She's just about to cancel yet another class, when Larry comes bounding in. It's an encounter that doesn't instantly click, but as the classes continue, Tainot starts to see a potential in Larry, one that takes both of them a little by surprise.

And behind this door I have the original Hooch - stuffed. True story!

The character Larry Crowne is one that Hanks can play with his eyes closed. In fact he's not a million miles away from a certain Forrest Gump, only less 'special'. Although the film touches briefly on the politics of offensive corporate policies, it really is just a bow to wrap around a large serving of whimsy.

Even when Larry gets distracted by free spirit Talia (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) – who gives him the nickname of Lance Corona – she gets him to join her bike gang; although the idea of joining a gang sounds edgy, they're all about as menacing as fruit-filled jelly.

What's odd is the relationship between Larry and Talia actually detracts from the one he has with Julia Roberts' character; the one between Larry and Tainot feels tagged on by comparison, almost like an afterthought. And if you have one of the biggest female actresses on the planet, you'd have thought that Hanks would've got his money's worth from having her in his film.

Regardless of how fleeting their pairing is, the film is all about the Hanks. He conveys that charming, affable everyman quality in every scene that audiences just love to lap up.

Sure the film may have been injected with Helium – it's that light weight – but it shouldn't be dismissed because of it.

Particularly in light of current socio-economic woes around the globe, Larry Crowne is the perfect example of pure Hollywood escapism at its finest.

It also reinforces the notion that Hanks can more than handle himself behind the camera, as well as in front of it; let's just hope we don't have to wait another fifteen years until he sits in the director's chair once again.