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It Takes A Village…
By bukkhead | November 8, 2007
FILM REVIEW: ‘LARS AND THE REAL GIRL’
Written by Nancy Oliver
Directed by Craig Gillespie
Rated PG-13
106 mins.
If a man wants to be alone so he can fantasize about being in love, can we call that man a hermit? Lars is the quintessential loner (one suspects Asperger’s, but that would be too easy). He lives in a converted garage while his brother Gus and pregnant sister-in-law Karin live in the house, rebuffing their repeated requests to join them for breakfast, or dinner. It’s the same at work, where he’s got the eye of the new girl, a pretty blonde, answering her conversational attempts with just a shy grin and the occasional blink.
Or so he would have us believe, until one evening he excitedly reports to his brother and sister in law that he has a guest. She doesn’t speak English very well, and she can’t walk, and all of her clothes were stolen. Much to his brother’s chagrin, Lars introduces his new girlfriend, Bianca, a Real Doll.
The Real Doll is to blow-up sex toys what a Mercedes-Benz is to remote controlled toy cars. And for Lars, this is a real human being, an outward extension of his longing to be with someone without being with anyone. The irony, and the main motivation for the movie, is that through Bianca, Lars is able to come out of his shell and actually interact with his home town.
At first, of course, the town looks down their nose at this pervert and his rude toy. But soon they see that this is their friend, after all, and they embrace Lars’ delusion with enthusiasm and ardor. Bianca goes to the mall to get her hair done, goes to Church, even joins the PTA. Soon Lars is forced to deal with not just the joys of love, but the frustrations of sharing his girlfriend with a town willing to love her as much as they love him.
At times poignant, at times touching, this is a feel-good movie if ever there was one. Ryan Gosling, as Lars, is so entirely convincing, the actor is invisible in the role, a real talent too rare once an actor has done even more than one independent film. Emily Mortimer is his sister-in-law Karin, and Patricia Clarkson rounds out the list of actors you’ve heard of, as the doctor who helps Lars work through just why he’d rather find comfort in the arms of a fake person. First time director Craig Gillespie could give lessons on pacing; with each scene, you are drawn in like an other townsmember, a part of drama, without just waiting for what’s going to happen next.
And yet, you can’t help but laugh out loud often in the movie. The situation Lars is in is not silly, or even pitiable, but sad, and it’s the necessary irony within a sad situation that laughter can only help to cure. However, this is not a “comedy;” but it’s not a tragedy either, for though Lars is fundamentally flawed, his flaw allows him, and the entire town, to triumph over his sadness.
(An edited version of this review was printed in the Newport Mercury.)
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