It seems unnecessary to name Larry Crowne after the movie’s main character, our hero in this Recession Era fairy tale who loses his Walmart-ish job only to find himself. Just call it Starring Tom Hanks as Tom Hanks as Directed by Tom Hanks and be done with it.

Because that’s exactly why people will see this movie. Who doesn’t like Tom Hanks, for managing to become an Elderstatesman of Hollywood while still staying a Nice Guy? And apparently, who doesn’t want to work with Tom Hanks? Big-time Hanks gal pal Julia Roberts plays Mercedes Tainot, a jaded community college professor-cum-love interest who teaches the speech class Crowne enrolls in as he makes over his life. (Roberts actually does a good job of playing against type and is admirably, aggressively unlikeable for most of the film.) Pam Grier and George Takei play other professors; Bryan Cranston is a caricature of a bad husband (the next season of Breaking Bad debuts July 17); Cedric the Entertainer, Rob Riggle, and Taraji P. Henson all have small parts; and hey look, someone gave Wilmer Valderrama a job.

There are a few oddly provincial touches, as when characters rail against Facebook, Twitter, and smartphones, and the one scene in which post-makeover Tom Hanks donned a wallet chain made me CRINGE. Still, the film stays summer-light and fancy-free, and is definitely recommended for Your Mom.

Meanwhile, what else can be said about The Tree of Life that hasn’t been said already? Malick’s fifth feature in thirty-eight years, his first since 2005’s The New World, debuted at this year’s Cannes to a fiercely divided audience and still ran away with the fest’s Palme D’Or. Having actually seen the film, I can confirm: yes, it’s very Malicky. Which is to say it’s ruminative and slow, lovely to look at and heavy in timbre, portentous and pretentious, the kind of film that easily garners a description as a “tone poem.”

Ostensibly, it’s about a family in Texas in the ’50s with Mother (Jessica Chastain), Father (Brad Pitt), and three sons (one of whom grows up to be a scowly Sean Penn), but it ends up being about nothing less than life, death, the creation of the universe, and God as the ultimate Stern Daddy. Yes, there is a scene with CGI dinosaurs; yes, everyone you have ever known and loved will die, and then you will too. If you like Malick’s tenor and style, you will appreciate The Tree of Life for what it is, but if you just want to see that new Brad Pitt and Sean Penn movie, you may ask for your money back.

Tree of Life is still playing at the Egyptian. Larry Crowne opens today at the Meridian, the Metro, Majestic Bay, Thornton Place, and Lincoln Square.