Review of Lars and the Real Girl (2007) by Pablo C — 24 Mar 2013

Review from Oct 2007.

You'd never expect a movie about a guy who falls in love with an unflatable doll to be so sweet and good natured. "Lars..." takes place in a world where everyone places their judgments aside and comes together to help out the quiet outsider; certainly not our world. It's quite touching to see everyone come together for Lars; only one person tries to tell him how crazy he's being, and that's the person who knows him best (although that isn't saying much...) Lars situation is both comical and tragic, and the film does a great job of balancing both sides. Of course, this could have something to do with Ryan Gosling's heart-breaking and heart-warming performance as Lars. He's undoubtedly one of the best actors of his generation, and he adds another fantastic performance onto his resume with "Lars..." The other performances in the film are really endearing. I honestly can't decide who deserves a Best Supporting Actress nomination more, Emily Mortimer as Lars sister-in-law or Kelli Garner as his "other love interest". Paul Schneider also does a great job as Lars' big brother Gus. If you can get past the weird premise, it's a funny, sad and moving gem of a movie.