Review of Lars and the Real Girl (2007) by Akuto — 24 Jan 2013

All in all, the cast's execution of this thin and tenuous plot was excellent. That is the sole reason I stayed for the whole ride, and the reason I feel a negative score would be unjustified. Far too many scenes were utterly implausible, i.e. the willingness of a paramedic team to play along with a man's self-willed delusion that his plastic ball-and-chain was dying to free him of commitment. Surely, the dispatched EMTs would be furious to find their resources thinned by a case of make-believe illness, but instead they rush the doll to the hospital and provide her with a room.

Through the entire run, there was one passing attempt to go against Lars' delusion, early in the film. It was of no consequence. In the end, an elaborate funeral service packed with attendees and ending in the burial of a plastic girl was somehow deemed plausible, and Lars showed no signs of realization of his delusions. He simply moved on as quickly as possible to develop a relationship with the flesh and blood girl he willed his imaginary girlfriend to death in favor of. Netflix called this film a comedy, but I have to disagree. Though some humor found its way in, especially toward the beginning, the film took it upon itself to venture too far into psychological and heartfelt territory as a means of legitimizing the concept of Lars' mental illness, a means that was less than effective.