Lars And The Real Girl review (gua.com.my)

by Max Koh
28 April 2008

Ratings:
7/10

Title:
Lars And The Real Girl

Cast:
Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider, Kelli Garner, Patricia Clarkson, Nancy Beatty and R.D. Reid

Genre:
Drama, Comedy

Review:
‘Lars and the Real Girl’ is an eccentric comedy that is sure to tug at your heartstrings.

What would you do if a family member brought a sex doll to dinner and introduced her to the family as a real person? Would you play along or send him to the mental institution?

When faced with such a conundrum, Gus (played by Schneider who bears a striking resemblance to Adam Levine) and wife Karin (Mortimer) chose the former. And they managed to convince the town folks to play along too, treating the wheel-chair bound sex doll as a real person – taking her out on outings, talking to her, washing her and even cutting her hair.

All this is done out of love for Lars (Gosling), an extremely introverted young man who is the darling of the town.

Lars likes to keep to himself, and since the death of his father often stays alone in the family garage. Still, he seems really normal until the day he brings home a life-sized sex doll for dinner to Gus and Karin’s home.

He treats her like a real person and thinks he has a deep and meaningful relationship with her. He introduces her as Bianca, a missionary from Europe, who is wheel-chair bound.

At first the family is taken aback but upon the advice of the family doctor who say that Gus is working out through some personal issue, they soon play along.

The word eventually spreads, and Lars slowly turns from the ‘wierdo’ to the ‘guy everyone cares about’ thanks to the support of key individual people in the town. People fall in love with Bianca and have no qualms over playing along. In fact, the town soon begins to enjoy this new activity, a break from the monotony of everyday affairs and begin to make Bianca the star attraction of the town much to Lars’ distress. This of course, causes some problems in Lars’ relationship with Bianca.

Although the sex doll (which is anatomically correct, by the way) comes across as creepy at first, it slowly becomes an endearing figure to both the townsfolk and the audience. You can’t help but be drawn to the enigmatic presence of Bianca.

However, the film’s main focus is on Lars who manages to invoke a sense of empathy with the audience. Ryan Gosling’s portrayal of Lars is so powerful and lyrical in its subtleties and nuances, drawing you to him but never letting you too much into his inner psyche. This makes him an enigmatic character of loneliness and familiarity.

For that, Gosling was rightly nominated for Best Actor in the Golden Globe awards last year. He lost it to Daniel-Day Lewis (no arguments about that) but deservingly won the Satellite award for it.

Not overshadowed is the wonderful supporting cast in the film. Schneider evokes a familiarity and closeness as the stiff-necked brother while Mortimer is the endearing sister-in-law who cares too much.

The underrated Kelli Garner plays Margo, the office colleague who is secretly in love with Lars.

The cinematography is sparse and simple in its execution and supports the storyline beautifully; no unnecessary embellishments and aesthetics. The small town is indeed a character of its own in the film.

And just like the passing seasons that are being juxtaposed with Lars’ inner turmoil, the film spans out very nicely, drawing us to his soul and heart.

‘Lars And The Real Girl’ proves three things: Gosling is a talented actor that deserves more recognition, a film does not need a big budget or special effects to carry a story, and that a little love goes a long way. And it takes a sex doll to teach us that.


Did you know?

The film was awarded an Academy Award for Best Screenplay. The film received a standing ovation when it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and showed again twice at the Boston Film Festival, where the director took questions from the sold-out audience after the first screening.