This film shouldn’t work. On paper, the idea of asking an audience to watch a serious film about a relatively sane man embarking on a loving relationship with a sex doll and having his whole town go along with the fantasy has ‘FAIL’ written all over it in capitals. However, like the bumblebee, Lars and the Real Girl flies, it’s just difficult to see how.
Ryan Gosling plays Lars, a loner in a small town fond of his privacy. Seemingly on a whim, he purchases a ‘Real Doll’ and introduces her to the town as his new – mute, disabled – girlfriend, a half-Brazilian missionary he met on the internet. The whole town embraces ‘Bianca’ and treats her like a real person as Lars comes to terms with his life and resolves the mental conflicts that got him here in the first place. Key to the magic act is the fact that there is never the hint of anything seedy in Lars’ relationship with Bianca – this is simply another lost soul looking for nothing more than friendship in his inanimate girlfriend.
Gosling is highly impressive, playing Lars with a distant confusion and only ever hinting at the troubles that have driven him to this bizarre juncture. But Kelli Garner as his actual would-be girlfriend is fantastic. Both geeky and endearing in a childlike way, her character mirrors the best elements of Lars throughout the film and does much to inconspicuously endear him to the audience. Similarly, Paul Schneider and Emily Mortimer as Lars’ brother and sister-in-law are well cast in sensible but sensitive roles.
The vision of small-town life and a community banding together is slightly saccharin but touching nonetheless. Indeed, that’s the really remarkable thing about Lars and the Real Girl – it works despite having every reason not to, for which director Craig Gillespie deserves credit for handling the story in a subtle and non-confrontational style.
So it’s impressive, yes, but perhaps the end result is less groundbreaking than hoped for. At its heart, Lars is a romantic comedy about growing up and the value of friendship. But beyond its unique premise, it’s little more than an above average rom-com. Ironically, the one thing lacking is the greater sense of realism that would have elevated the film to the cult status it’s striving for.
I saw the trailer to this film the other day and i’m thinking - if my brother or friend or whatever came home with an inflatable doll who he thought was alive and was his girlfriend, i’d probably take steps to have him committed. Seriously. Yet they all seemed to accept it in the trailer, which is weird.
Looks pretty cool though - might check it out.
Written by Charlie on March 27th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
“The whole town embraces ‘Bianca’ and treats her like a real person”- This is too sweeping a comment. In reality there’s widespread disillusion and suspicion from the outset, and it’s only once people have made the link between Lars mental illness and his innocence in wanting the doll that it becomes accepted. Ryan Gosling is amazing in his portrayal of Lars, both endearing and eerily distant.
I also disagree about this being a romantic comedy. It’s a film about mental illness and how its received, tolerated and treated in a small, semi-religious community. The photography is consistently beautiful and there’s a real clarity in Lars connection to his surroundings, almost Terrence Malick-like in revealing an underlying poetry.
This is a great film. Funny, beautiful and thought provoking.
Written by Berchtold on March 30th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Lars’ romance with Bianca is very real, as are his uncertain feelings for Margo, and the affection between his brother and his wife. There’s romance throughout the film and as much as this is certainly a film about mental illness and people’s reaction to it, I think the film is also about romantic awakening.
You’re spot on with the Malick reference though, something I’d not previously considered but rings true on consideration.
Written by Jonny Boy on March 31st, 2008 at 9:21 am
5 Stars all the way. Ryan Gosling hasn’t put in a bad performance yet.
Written by joe on April 1st, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Is Ryan Gosling the new Ethan Hawke?
Written by Graham on April 3rd, 2008 at 9:41 am
I caught this on the weekend and loved it. Is Ryan the new Ethan Hawke? Not sure about that, but he’s seriously talented. It’s weird that you can see the tattoos on his arms through his sleeves in this movie though - I thought they would’ve made more of an effort to cover that up (unless I was imaging it?).. . . . .
Written by sally on April 7th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
The New Ethan Hawke? Surely that’s a title more fitting for someone a bit more simpering such as McAvoy, no?
Without wanting to go overboard on the Gosling love, there seems a bit more to the guy- perhaps a less nerdy Toby Maguire, or does that just = Leonardo DiCaprio?….either way, not the most heinous of mental conundrums….
Written by Beth on April 15th, 2008 at 8:02 pm