Go backOur reviews service now comes with an RSS feed so click the icon and syndicate. 
Talote staff recommend lovefilm.com. So click and be happy!
|
1/10/2008
|
Lars and the Real Girl (2007)
|
In this comedy drama from director Craig Gillespie, Ryan Gosling plays Lars Lindstrom, a painfully shy 27-year-old who finally learns to connect with people after experiencing a relationship with Bianca, a sex doll he orders from the internet. In less capable hands Lars and the Real Girl could have been tasteless and crass, but Nancy Oliver’s restrained script and heartfelt performances from the entire cast ensure that this is a sensitively handled and genuinely touching film.
Any icky ideas about what Lars wants with Bianca are dismissed right away; in his mind she is a missionary from South America who is shy and speaks little English, and whose religious principles mean that Lars must ask his brother Gus and his wife Karin to let her stay with them. Of course, when Lars turns up on their doorstep to beg this favour, they do not realise quite what they are letting themselves in for.
Shy doesn’t even begin to describe Lars, who lives in the converted garage next door to his brother’s house, and is so reclusive that his only outings are to church and work. He shies away from any social interaction and even tries to avoid invitations to dinner at Gus and Karin’s. So when Lars tells them that he has a visitor to introduce them to, they are delighted that he’s actually been interacting with someone. They’re in for quite a shock…
Local GP (and qualified psychologist) Dagmar insists that Gus and Karin go along with Lars’s delusion because he needs to work through whatever issues he has, and he won’t be convinced that she’s not real. Eventually the entire town is in on the plan, playing along with Lars and making Bianca feel welcome. Soon she’s volunteering at the hospital reading to children (with the help of a cassette player) and as a shop mannequin (no help needed with that one).
Eventually Lars is able to socialise in a way that he was never able to before; Bianca’s shyness forces him to talk to people, and they attend social events at her request. He is even able to communicate with Margo, a sweet girl from his office who clearly fancies him. It’s such a joy to witness Lars’s emotional journey, which is by turns comic and tragic, and this is due largely to Gosling’s heartfelt and deeply committed performance. The supporting cast understand the fairy-tale nature of the film and act accordingly, Emily Mortimer’s relentlessly cheerful Karin and Patricia Clarkson’s unflappable Dagmar being standouts in a film full of pitch-perfect performances.
The direction never draws attention to itself or steals attention from the story, and the script is delicately balanced, never condescending or settling for cheap laughs or emotional notes. Lars and the Real Girl is unusual but extremely likeable. By treating its characters and subject matter with sympathy and warmth, it encourages the audience to do the same, creating a unique and touching film that stays in the memory.
Review by Catherine Leopold
|
|
Our Rating:
|
There are no votes for this films yet.
Please login to rate this film.
|
|
