"Jerry & Marge Go Large" is a charmer. It's a low-key, fact-based caper movie that overcomes some broad comedy leanings to settle into the sweet stuff in the soft center. It's bolstered by a funny script and dependably sharp performances by Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening.
Jerry (Cranston) and Marge Selbee (Bening) live quietly in one of those Michigan factory towns so small, everybody knows each other. It's an appealing vibe, à la a Midwestern "Doc Hollywood." Jerry is closing out a respected but unremarkable career to join Marge in retirement. They have friends, their family loves them. But Jerry is restless. He's no good at this retirement thing, and Marge feels it: "I've waited 40 years for it to be just us," she says, "and we kind of suck at it."
He has a mathematical gift that has rarely gained expression beyond making his work as efficient as it could be. His idea of a fun activity when his son was younger was searching through rolls of coins to find rare ones (his calculations of the odds were right; they made some money, but the boy was bored). Now, there's little for his active mind to do — until he peruses an odds chart for a local lottery game and discovers a flaw that can be exploited for reliable winnings.
