Lars and the Real Girl | 
 enlarge | Director: Craig Gillespie
Actors: Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider, Kelli Garner, Patricia Clarkson
Studio: MGM
Category: Movie
This item is no longer available
Rating:  118 reviews
Sales Rank: 3236
Genre: Comedy
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: Video On Demand
Running Time: 107 Minutes
ASIN: B001954D80
Release Date: October 14, 2008
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| Synopsis:
Sometimes you find love where you'd least expect it. Just ask Lars (Gosling), a sweet but quirky guy who thinks he's found the girl of his dreams in a life-sized doll named Bianca. Lars is completely content with his artificial girlfriend, but when he develops feelings for Margo, an attractive co-worker, Lars finds himself lost in a hilariously unique love triangle, hoping to somehow discover the real meaning of true love. Offbeat and endearing, this romantic comedy takes a fresh look at dating and relationships and dares to ask the question: What's so wrong with being happy? |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 113 more reviews...
 A Modern Day "Harvey" November 15, 2008
White Countess (New York City)
A perfect little gem.
From the outside it looks like the story of a man and a sex doll. WRONG! It is a touching story of a young man's crisis and the fantastical efforts a small town goes to in order to help him.
It is simple and beautiful.
If Frank Capra directed a movie about a love doll November 13, 2008
J. SHARP (Alabama - United States)
This is my other favorite film of 2007 (alongside Juno). Knowing that, when I tell you this film's premise you will think I've officially gone off the deep end.
Lars is about a man who buys a "love doll" online and actually believes that she's a real woman. Got your attention? Good. Because even though that's the one-sentence description of the movie, it doesn't even begin to cover all that this movie is really about.
Lars (Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling doing a terrific job) is a nice guy and is extremely shy. He also has severe emotional problems. He finds it physically painful to be touched by others and ignores both their repeated hints that he find a girl and the subtle advances of a gangly coworker (Kelli Garner). Although he works at his anonymous computer job each day and faithfully attends church, no one is aware of just how serious his condition has become in the past few months. His pregnant sister-in-law, Karin (Emily Mortimer, who actually drives the film), has suspicions, however, and since Lars lives in the converted garage behind their house, keeps unsuccessfully inviting him to have dinner with her and his brother, Gus (Paul Schneider). In desperation, she finally tackles him in the driveway one night and insists he eat the salmon she's made. Later, Gus shrugs his brother's quirks off as "fine."
**POSSIBLE SPOILERS** (Although most is in the trailers)
A shipping crate arrives one day while Lars is at work and Karin casually calls Lars at work notify him. Lars speeds home to open it and that evening announces that he has a lady friend he's met online and that he'd like to bring her to dinner that night. Ecstatic that he's not only reaching out to them but has found romance, Karin and Gus spruce the house up and anxiously await the arrival of Lars' friend. Their hopes are dashed, however, when they meet Bianca - a life-sized, fully-articulated, silicone pleasure doll. Lars explains that Bianca can't walk because she is paraplegic and can't speak English because she's a Brazilian missionary. Since Lars and Bianca are devout Christians and they don't want to give the impression of impropriety, he asks Gus and Karin if Bianca can stay in their house while she's in America.
Terrified that Lars is psychotic, Karin and Gus devise a ruse to get Lars help. They suggest a routine examination for Bianca by their small town's lone physician - who doubles as psychologist. After interacting with Lars while she "diagnoses" Bianca, the doctor (Oscar nominee Patricia Clarkson in a pitch-perfect performance) suggests to the couple that Lars has not had a complete break. He is delusional, however, and there must be some reason why his mind created the delusion to protect him. She recommends strongly that they humor him until she can find out why. Although Gus has to be strong-armed at first, they eventually play along and soon the entire community follows suit in an effort to help Lars get better.
**END SPOILERS**
What follows is a thoughtful, charming, moving, and frequently understated Capraesque comedy that seldom goes for the cheap laugh. It gently reminds us not only of the lengths any of us may go to when we're hurting enough but also of what a family, a church, and a community can do for someone else in pain. There are a few scenes that stretch credulity even for a tale this fanciful but, generally speaking, if you're willing to buy into the premise, it can take you to a pretty nice place.
Lars! October 27, 2008
A. Smythe
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
There are so many movies I won't see. We need a lot more like this.
It's not mean-spirited, a huge plus. I'm not necessarily big on "feel-good" movies (and don't care about happy endings), but I want movies that, vis-a-vis their own reality, treat their characters with dignity.
The movie plays in a real and natural way. People aren't tossing off unrealistic "one-liners" and trying so hard to be memorable and cool, as if the scriptwriter(s) were striving for quotes to make some list for posterity. The people act real and natural; the situations are not real and natural but the cast makes them believable.
And I finally got to see Ryan Gosling in a movie, and now I see why "everyone's raving." I liked this entire cast, and hate to single anyone out, but I do love Patricia Clarkson's presence in films; I sometimes think she needs to be in every film!, even if she just pops in at the credits and waves to the audience so they know she is still around. :D
I got a sense of the actors here, all the cast, that -- if you met them in person, in reality -- they would be *real, kind people* who might not necessarily want to deal with crowds and autographs, but who would respond with class. The actors themselves seem like real and good people, and it makes their characters seem real.
This movie was fun! Lots of scenes that make it feel undecided whether you should laugh or cry. And as one reviewer pointed out, this movie works REALLY well on the "meta-level," if you take it in an allegorical way.
Comedy/Tragedy October 24, 2008
cheri (El Cajon, CA United States)
Loved this movie. Cried and laughed at the same time. Such a ridiculous premise, but it worked. Not just a girl-movie; guys will like this too.
So funny....
 I'm Impressed October 24, 2008
Michael LaRocca (Chiang Mai, Thailand)
The premise sounds a bit out there, but it's well written and well acted, making an enjoyable and eminently watchable movie. I enjoy originality in movies, and there isn't enough of it. This is quite original.
Why only three stars? About halfway through the movie, or perhaps a little further, the focus drifted a little bit from the humor and into the "touching drama" which, quite honestly, didn't work for me so well. Not "bad," but maybe a little boring. Then it finished strong, which is how it started, but well, I'm a jerk.
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