Lars and the Real Girl

Regardless of the title, “Lars and the Real Girl” is a gentle movie with an important message: The important things in life come when one is ready for them to happen; they can’t be forced. Lars (Ryan Gosling) is 29 and socially awkward; he spends his days huddled in his cubicle and his nights huddled in his garage-converted apartment. He has trouble talking to his sister-in-law Karin (Emily Mortimer) let alone any of the people at work or in his small home town. Gus (Paul Schneider), Lars’s older brother, isn’t really worried until Lars introduces him to Lars’s new girlfriend, Bianca, an anatomically correct sex doll. Dr. Dagmar (Patricia Clarkson), the local doctor/psychiatrist, thinks the best plan of action is to go along with Lars. Soon the whole town has accepted Bianca as a real person, even Margo, a young woman who has her eye on Lars. There’s a lot of sadness in Lars, who considers a hug not comforting but painful. But as Lars resides in his make-believe world, we begin to see that, with the support of family and friends, he is making progress in the real world as well and we root for his break-through. Ryan Gosling is excellent as are Mortimer, Schneider and Clarkson. Director Craig Gillespie walks a fine line between over-the-top comedy and pathos in this quirky, independent film and it has enough going for it that mainstream audiences will find it enjoyable. (12/2/07)