Review of Lars and the Real Girl (2007) by Melvin W — 20 Jan 2013

Lars Lindstrom:  Those are nice, huh? And they're not real, so they'll last forever. .

"The search for true love starts outside the box.".

Lars and the Real Girl may sound, initially, like somewhat of a weird, maybe even disgusting film. Okay, so it is sort of weird, but not anything like what you would think. One thing it isn't though is disgusting. Instead, it's a beautiful piece of filmmaking from Gillespie. It's wonderfully acted by everyone involved, with amazing performances put in by Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider, and Patricia Clarkson. The movie has tremendous heart from beginning to end. .

Lars is a loner who lives in a garage, turned home, across from his brother, Gus, and Gus' wife, Karen. Lars shows up at their front door with extraordinary news one night. He met a girl, Bianca, on the Internet and she's over at his house right now. Gus and Karen couldn't be more excited. That is until Lars and Bianca show up later that night and they realize that Bianca is a sex doll. They soon find out Lars is delusional and truly believes that Bianca is real. When they take him and Bianca to the doctor to get "Bianca" checked out, the doctor tells them it's important for them to play along with Lars' delusion. .

The plot may sound off-putting to some, but I can't stress how important it is to not worry about how weird it sounds going in. Beneath the plot, there's a heartwarmingly, true to life story being told. I won't lie and say that you will no doubt love this film, but if you give it a chance, there's a good chance you will. This is easily one of Gosling's best performances to date. He pulls off a role that you don't really think of him in, and he does it with such effectiveness. He's 100% believable as Lars.

I really ended up falling in love with this movie. It's slow, quiet, and doesn't try to create humor out of the doll, as much as you think it would. Still, it has moments that are extremely funny. It's a dramedy in every sense of the genre, and is one of the more effective ones I've seen in quite a long time at combining drama and comedy. In the end, this is a film I highly recommend. For Gosling fans, it's a must watch.