Lars And The Real Girl

TheCentralScrutinizer · 12 Dec 07 :: 05:23

You gotta see this movie...

LARS AND THE REAL GIRL
A repressed bachelor played by Ryan Gosling and a rubber love doll star in the sweetest romance of the season.
Last update: October 25, 2007 - 2:49 PM
3½ out of 4 stars
The setup: A repressed Midwestern bachelor (Ryan Gosling) surprises his relatives and friends by introducing them to his "girlfriend," a life-size latex doll.
What works: Gosling's interaction with the immobile mannequin makes her more a flesh-and-blood character than a lot of actresses you could name.
What doesn't: Lars' work life is sort of a mystery.
Great scene: Lars giving CPR to his office admirer's stuffed bunny, to her unabashed delight.
As somebody once said, "The heart wants what it wants." Lars Lindstrom's wants a lady friend of lifelike latex ordered off the Internet. Don't get the wrong idea. Lars is a chaste, gentle, pathologically bashful fellow, and his devotion to his doll baby is entirely platonic. He loves her rubber soul. Thus does "Lars and the Real Girl" sidestep easy jokes to become the sweetest romance of the season.
Lars, a Wisconsin bachelor, avoids eye contact like poison ivy. He lives in the garage behind his late parents' place, having yielded the main house to his gruff brother Gus and pregnant sister-in-law Karin. Despite her repeated invitations to family meals, Lars shyly shrugs off her hospitality. He's just as much a cipher at the office and at church, but his Nordic-Midwestern emotional constipation isn't considered cause for concern. Then he comes to dinner with his new girlfriend, Bianca, a life-sized Bratz doll, and his relatives and the townfolk question whether Lars has crossed the line from colorful character to crackpot.
Delightfully enough, they rally round Lars and his unconventional relationship. Karin, whose pregnancy seems to have tapped deep wellsprings of sensitivity, is instinctively protective of Lars. She pulls grumpy Gus along, because she wants the father of her child to learn how to be tender. One by one, the rest of the community comes to deal with Lars' fantasy on his own terms while gently opening paths for him to outgrow it.
Dagmar, the town doctor/psychologist ("you have to be both, this far north") declares that "Bianca's in town for a reason." She schedules the newcomer for regular checkups because "her blood pressure is low." Those visits are actually low-key therapy sessions for Lars, who is working through feelings of abandonment that have plagued him since his mother died giving birth to him. Lars' workmates invite him to bring his date to their house parties. The pretty girl in the church choir recognizes that Lars is a little different, but never loses sight of his sincere, kindly heart.
Ryan Gosling is marvelous and utterly sincere as the jittery Lars. His unaffected interplay with his immobile love object makes her a flesh-and-blood presence. The film follows him through the stages of first love -- infatuation, jealousy, tears -- and Gosling never winks at the character. He sings Bianca a warbling falsetto version of Nat King Cole's "L-O-V-E" that is a pure expression of unselfconscious happiness. Later, Lars shouts at her angrily and when the eavesdropping Karin gasps, "They never argue!" her round-eyed shock is entirely understandable.
Emily Mortimer makes Karin the story's stealth heroine, operating behind the scenes to help Lars work through his issues to an appropriately hopeful conclusion. Patricia Clarkson brings calm wisdom to the role of the town doctor, Kelli Garner is note-perfect as the cute girl with a crush on Lars, and Paul Schneider makes Gus' journey from frustration and embarrassment to acceptance of his oddball brother funny and touching. Nancy Oliver, a longtime writer for "Six Feet Under," has given the film a splendid script combining the whimsy of "Harvey" and the warmhearted Americana of Frank Capra. Every scene that could be played for pathos uncorks great laughs, while those that could turn crass or silly are compassionate. On every level, this is a labor of love.
Colin Covert

BiggestChrisMarquetteFan · 12 Dec 07 :: 05:45

Sounds like a good movie.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 12 Dec 07 :: 05:47

Yep. I can't stop smiling about it.

domesticelefant · 12 Dec 07 :: 19:13

I'll see if I can catch it when it comes to Germany ... if at all. I so lost track of the movies around here. LOL

TeeJay · 12 Dec 07 :: 19:19

Probably February, Anne.

-TeeJay

irina · 15 Feb 08 :: 06:01

i actually saw this movie.
i don't remember this happening to me for a while with a movie. at the end i did not know if i liked it or not. i can not tell if it was rubbish or not.
i mean if i take the movie literally i can find a 100 flaws and a 100 ways things could not have happened like that. but if i just think about it like more of a fantasy idea about acceptance , love, coping with disorders it was quite emotionally done. what i think made me watch until the end was the director and the play writer did not try to over do it. all was in a low key. and ryan gosling is wonderful in it.
so in the end i think i liked it

Last edited by irina (15 Feb 08 :: 06:01)

TheCentralScrutinizer · 15 Feb 08 :: 06:39

It's OK to like it. And it is a modern day tale of whimsy about tolerance. It's just so sweet and touching you can't help loving it if you give yourself to the experience.

irina · 18 Feb 08 :: 02:56

deb, it's so sweet of you. somehow, it touched me the way you told me " it's ok to like it ". can't explain it properly but i think it was the right thing i needed to hear.

TeeJay · 16 Mar 08 :: 15:33

Just came back from seeing it. And I more than just liked it. It was just a really sweet, down-to-earth story. I cried a lot, but that was to be expected. Ryan did a fantastic job (as did all the other actors--especially the one who played Bianca ). What I loved most about it is that to me it felt very real. These were all real people with real problems, not some fake shit with all these über-beautiful people. I could actually see this happen in some small town in the middle of nowhere, Ontario.

I just wish they'd do a lot more smart films like this instead of all this super fake blockbuster action crap. Don't get me wrong, I like the occasional mindless action movie every now and then, but it's just wrong to see shit like Meet The Spartans being advertised everywhere and a little gem of a movie like this totally flying under the radar. At least over here. Hollywood is a twisted parallel universe that operates by its own rules, I guess. Don't we know it?

-TeeJay

domesticelefant · 16 Mar 08 :: 18:02

Okay, I am going to try to catch this movie too. I'm still working on I'm Not There. Rike and I just can't find a day we both have time.
And I already missed Into The Wild and 27 dresses. But well, I'm going to rent them once they're out on DVD.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 16 Mar 08 :: 19:29

Glad you liked it TeeJay. I had a feeling you would. I know I have kinda weird taste sometimes, but it's wonderful to know that this incredible gem of a movie is appealing to so many other people too. I absolutely agree with you that we need more movies like this and less exploitative garbage.

OK, so you've now seen my second favorite movie of 2007. All that's left is the best movie of the year, Juno. I'm really excited for you to see that one. Lars is a nice warm-up because I honestly thought it was was going to be my pick for best movie until Juno came along. I didn't think anything could beat Lars, Juno did. But only by a nose.

TeeJay · 16 Mar 08 :: 20:04

Juno is coming on next week. Definitely Maybe the week after. I'll have my hands full with visits to the theater this month.

-TeeJay

domesticelefant · 16 Mar 08 :: 20:23

Yeah, there were commericals for Juno all over the TV these days. I was like "Oh, that's the movie the Americans were talking about on the forums." LOL I am going to try to catch it too.

BiggestChrisMarquetteFan · 17 Mar 08 :: 03:32

TeeJay wrote:

Juno is coming on next week. Definitely Maybe the week after. I'll have my hands full with visits to the theater this month.
-TeeJay

Juno and Definitely, Maybe are amazing movies!! I really think you'll like them.

Chris Marquette Message Board

#1 12 Dec 07 :: 05:23

Lars And The Real Girl

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#3 12 Dec 07 :: 05:47

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