PEOPLE TALKING AND SINGING: November 8, 2007

LARS AND THE REAL GIRL (2007)

Film Opinion

Written by Nancy Oliver
Directed by Craig Gillespie
CAST: Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider, Kelli Garner, Patricia Clarkson

Seeing this film was the most pleasantly surprising film-going experience I have had in years. The story follows Lars Lindstrom (Gosling), a painfully shy man who cannot seem to get people to leave him alone. Tipped off by a co-worker, Lars finds a solution to his loneliness: a mail order love-doll named Bianca. In just one of many surprises in this film, Lars decides to fully integrate Bianca into his life, including family dinners, church, and friends' parties. Though the center of the story is Lars, presented in yet another devastating performance by Ryan Gosling, it is the way Lars's family (Emily Mortimer and Paul Schneider), coworkers, friends and neighbors respond to him and Bianca that makes this story so moving. Love is at the center of this town, and of this film, and it is love that gives this unlikely but totally convincing story its emotional power.

Ryan Gosling completely draws you into Lars' world, making you care for someone who is completely delusional and perplexing at first. Gosling is matched by the pitch-perfect Patricia Clarkson as a town family doctor/psychologist ("This far north, you sort of have to be both.") who sees the doll Bianca for what she really is to Lars. Emily Mortimer is strong as the sister-in-law, and her argument with Lars is an emotional highlight of the film. I was less impressed with Paul Schneider's performance as the brother; he was a hammy actor bobbing in a sea of subtle actors. But the supporting characters, most notably Kelli Garner as a co-worker and friend, are fleshed out and colorful, and offer subtle counterpoints to the stereotype of small town individuals.

This is a touching story with a queer sensibility. After all, an unconventional romance is at the center of the story. Bianca seems to bring out the best in the people that encounter her, even though she is a love doll, and her presence in the town and her romance with Lars brings people together once they get passed their initial bewilderment. I remain a firm believer in the notion of unconditional love, and Lars and the Real Girl captures its power in ways that films rarely do. I strongly recommend it.

GRADE: A

SWEENEY TODD ...

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