LARS AND THE REAL GIRL
Director: Craig Gillespie Stars: Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Patricia Clarkson, Paul Schneider, Kelli Garner
Reviewed by GREG KING
Ryan Gosling is known for the intensity of his impressive performances in dramas like Half Nelson, The Notebook, etc, which have established him as one of the best screen actors of his generation. He is not known for showing a lighter side in comedies, but then again Lars And The Real Girl is not your usual laugh-out-loud comedy full of slapstick humour and witty one liners. Rather, this subtly scripted and delicately balanced low key film is more of an off beat, observational comedy and unusual love story. It takes a bizarre premise and explores it with surprising empathy and compassion, and has quite a devastating emotional impact by the end.
Lars (Gosling) is a rather shy, socially awkward and psychologically troubled young man who, since the death of his father, has lived a quiet life, dislocated from the rest of his small town. He works in a fairly dull office by day and at night prefers his own company in the woodshed at the back of his sister’s house. Following the urging of his concerned sister Karin (Emily Mortimer) and her husband Gus (Paul Schneider) to get on with his life, Lars takes some drastic action. After being introduced to a web site for mail order sex dolls, Lars sends off for a girlfriend, a rubber doll that becomes his companion. He names the doll Bianca and she becomes a part of his life, eventually helping him emerge from his self-imposed shell. Jaws drop in disbelief on the first meeting of Lars’ new girlfriend. But even the townsfolk rally around Lars and welcome Bianca into their tight knit community.
The sharp, perceptive and beautifully nuanced script comes from Nancy Oliver (best know for writing Six Feet Under) and she never aims for cheap laughs, sensationalism or condescension. It’s easy to understand why Lars And The Real Girl was nominated for an Oscar in the same category as the excellent Juno.
The ensemble cast is uniformly terrific in bringing the characters to life. Cast against type, Gosling delivers a quiet, introspective performance in an emotionally challenging and vulnerable character. Indie movie favourite Patricia Clarkson registers strongly as a sympathetic doctor who helps Lars navigate this psychologically difficult terrain.
Australian born director Craig Gillespie, a 16-year veteran of tv commercials, handles the unusual material with great sensitivity and skill and maintains a delicate balance. He makes it easy for audiences to suspend disbelief, and the film’s treatment of Lars’ detachment and isolation at times recalls classics of the calibre of Being There or Harvey. Despite the unusual nature of the material though, Lars And The Real Girl is likely to strike a more positive response with audiences than Gillespie’s last comedy Mr Woodcock, which came and went from local cinemas in the blink of an eye.
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