Live Life Team
Forget trying to explain the premise of “Lars and the Real Girl”. A one-sentence description doesn’t do this film justice. “A lonely guy falls in love with a sex doll.” It sounds ridiculous. Yet the film is heart-warming.
The film opens with Lars (Ryan Gosling), a quiet, introverted guy who lives next door to his brother and his wife. He goes to work where he avoids his co-workers. Then he comes home and avoids his sister-in-law who constantly pesters him. Then one day, he buys a sex doll, names her Bianca, and is immediately transformed. While his brother and sister-in-law are appalled, Lars is unashamed, oblivious that she is a doll. He treats her like a girlfriend. He’s a gentleman and tells her she is pretty. To him, she is real. And to the small town where he lives, she becomes real. They embrace her because they know Lars is emotionally scarred and are thrilled that he is happy.
This film is well executed on every level – great writing, directing, and most noticeably acting. Even the minor roles come to life because they’ve been given so much depth. Each character seems to be brimming with emotion. At times, I found myself waiting for them to just say what I knew they were feeling. Then I realized, they don’t need to say it – I know exactly what they’re thinking because their emotions are just as real as Bianca.
Released in 2007, the film opened to mixed reviews but has developed a following through its DVD release.
