Larry Crowne (Tom Hanks), a middle-aged Navy veteran, is fired from his job at a big-box store, despite his seniority and satisfactory work, because the company has decided that his lack of a college education impedes any chance of advancement. Larry, who is divorced and lives alone, cannot find a job and could lose his house. Larry's neighbor, Lamar (Cedric the Entertainer), advises him to enroll in the local community college and get an education in order to get better opportunities in the future.Subsisting on unemployment benefits and unable to afford to drive his full-size truck, Larry decides to buy a scooter from Lamar. After visiting the college and getting advice from the school Dean, he enrolls in Economics, Speech, and a Writing course. On the first day of school, Larry meets Talia (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), a free spirit who also drives a scooter. They form a friendship right away. The jaded Mercedes Tainot (Julia Roberts) walks into the Speech class that she teaches and notices only nine students in attendance. Since the state requires at least ten, the class is canceled, much to her delight. Suddenly, Larry appears, so Mercedes reluctantly begins teaching class.Larry and Talia share an Economics class taught by Dr. Ed Matsutani (George Takei), who mixes sarcasm with seriousness in his teachings. He confiscates Larry's cell phone due to his texting habits with Talia. Mercedes is unhappily married. Her slacker husband Dean (Bryan Cranston), a former professor turned writer turned blogger, looks at pornography on his computer, removing web pages before Mercedes can catch him in the act. He fancies himself an internet blogger and tells her that he works hard all-day writing. When Mercedes informs him, she knows he is really looking at porn, Dean's defense is that he's just "a guy, who's a guy, being a guy". Unhappy in her marriage, she drinks at home after school so she can stand to be around him.Talia invites Larry to join a club of scooter riders led by her boyfriend Dell Gordo (Wilmer Valderrama), who is somewhat jealous of all the attention Talia gives Larry. Talia, with the help of her scooter gang friends, uses feng shui to reorganize Larry's house and give him a more stylish haircut and wardrobe. When a night with Dean goes horribly wrong, a drunken Mercedes demands to be let out of the car. Larry and gang notice Mercedes waiting alone at a bus stop, so Larry offers a ride home. Mercedes believes that Larry is involved with the much-younger Talia and reluctantly accepts a ride, but her attitude changes when they see Dean getting arrested for drunk driving. At her front door, Mercedes asks if Larry would care for a kiss, so they do. She wants to have sex as well, but Larry declines, not wanting to take advantage of her since she has been drinking.Dean comes home by cab to find all his stuff on the front lawn. Mercedes is unhappy and hungover and tells Larry not to brag to anyone about what happened the night before. Now that Larry cannot afford to live in his house any longer, he uses the knowledge he gained in his Economics class to legally turn over his house and keys to the bank, with a 30-day notice that he will be gone. Larry ends up hosting a yard sale and pizza party at Lamar's house, and upon paying for the pizzas, he's surprised to see that the delivery man is Jack (Rob Riggle), a snide executive who helped fire Larry. Larry is also now working at a diner run by his friend, Frank (Ian Gomez).Mercedes runs into Talia, who is telling Frances, her English teacher (Pam Grier), that she will be dropping out of college to start a thrift store. Mercedes assumes that Larry must know about her actions due to their supposed relationship, but Talia assures her that they are just friends. Mercedes appears to be happier now that she knows the truth. Larry, however, does not know about Talia dropping out, since he was surprised that he didn't see her in Economics class that day. He visits Talia, and appears to be slightly disappointed about her actions, but also wishes her luck in her future endeavors. In the interim, Frances comes over to Mercedes' apartment to provide emotional support, as Mercedes will be divorcing Dean, prompting them to clean out Dean's office and have dinner together.Finals now come, and right before the Speech final, Larry and Mercedes meet outside class, with her telling Larry that she scheduled him last with his "geography" speech. After everyone has finished their speech before him, Larry stands up in class and talks about his travels around the world while in the Navy, and makes references to the other students' speeches, who all appear to be inspired by his. Larry then looks at Mercedes as he mentions that he could never have told about his life with great passion and enthusiasm if he had not taken her Speech class. Larry is given a big round of applause by his classmates, as well as Mercedes, who is happier in her life without Dean and has developed a passion for teaching again.While working at the diner, Larry sees Mercedes with Frances, and approaches the table. Mercedes tells Larry that she gave him an "A+" in her class, which makes him very happy about going to school and finding more meaning in his life. When the next term begins, some of the students from Mercedes' Speech class register for her Shakespeare class but are sad to see that Larry isn't registered for that class as well. Larry is seen taking Dr. Matsutani's second-term Economics class.Mercedes walks to her office and sees a note from Larry on the door, which is an invitation to have her over for a French toast dinner, with the address to his new apartment. She drives over to his apartment, and he greets her, they kiss and enter the apartment, closing the door behind them.