Click Here For Our Interview with Ryan Gosling

Click Here to Read the Theatrical Review!

Lars and the Real Girl

Review By: Dan Deevy
DanDeevy@TheCinemaSource.com

It’s really rare, but really wonderful when it turns out that I am completely wrong about where a film is going. Normally it’s pretty obvious to me what the emotional stakes are in a film and what the intended emotional destination is for the audience, but I’m very happy to say Lars and the Real Girl was one of those films that I had totally wrong.

For those of you who haven’t seen the film it tells the story of Lars Lindstrom (Ryan Gosling) a quiet young man living in the garage next to his family’s house where his brother and sister-in-law now live. His mother died during child birth and his dad past away several years ago after single handedly raising him. They live in typical small town America where church is a weekly necessity if you’re in the community and helping old ladies cross the street is just what you do. Lars goes to work every day and is a functioning member of society but the idea of getting close to anyone is just too much for him to handle. After a horny coworker exposes him to a mail order company that makes ‘real’ plastic women, he finally finds a way to seek out that human connection that he has always been lacking.

With this kind of set up I was expecting the film to be all about his being shunned by his family and completely ostracized from his community when this plastic sex toy shows up that he later introduces as his girlfriend; but in fact what happens is the exact opposite! The entire town rallies around him and accepts this fake woman as his girlfriend, Bianca and they do everything they can to help him on this very emotional journey of healing his shattered heart.

Often with a raised eyebrow of confusion, his family, friends and co workers all begin to include Bianca in their daily lives. Inviting her to parties, taking her shopping, it eventually gets to the point where Bianca essentially has a life of her own that makes Lars jealous and leaves him lonely once again.

But never once do we have that scene of the uncaring bullies or hecklers who come upon Lars and his doll and curse him for being different or become physically violent against him because of his unique take on things. This is without a doubt the most accepting small town community in the history of America. If I ever had to live in a non-urban area, this is where