Ryan Gosling is shy and lonely, and he pretends a sex
doll is his girlfriend.
Yes, you read correctly.
In “Lars and the Real Girl,” Gosling plays Lars Lindstrom,
a sweet but painfully shy and detached young
man. Lars lives quietly, working, attending church and
keeping to himself. This worries Karin, Lars’ sister-in-law,
played by Emily Mortimer. Karin and her husband, Gus,
repeatedly invite Lars over to dinner. Lars declines until
one day, to their surprise and delight, he announces he
has a visitor.
Enter Bianca, the sex doll.
To Lars, however, Bianca is not a doll. She is, essentially,
a real girl, a missionary from Brazil who is half Brazilian
and half Danish. Bianca also has lost the use of her legs
and must be transported carefully in a wheelchair. Lars
constructs and shares Bianca’s life story with Karin and
Gus before introducing her to his psychologist, Dr. Dagmar
Berman, played by Patricia Clarkson.
The rest of the movie shows what happens as Karin,
Gus and the townspeople follow Dagmar’s advice to
pacify Lars and go along with his delusion, since he isn’t
hurting anybody. The film also examines the relationship
between Lars and Gus, and the events in Lars’ life that
made him who he is.
The question of whether Lars has a sexual relationship
with Bianca is never directly addressed. However, there is
no doubt Lars loves her, whether he is dropping Bianca
off at “work” (she is a clothing model) or even pulling
her wheelchair up his coworker’s front porch steps.
The movie’s plot could easily belong to a typical mainstream
Ben Stiller sex comedy, but thankfully, “Lars” isn’t
that kind of comedy. It’s not as if director Craig Gillespie
isn’t familiar with that genre – he also
directed “Mr. Woodcock,” starring Billy
Bob Thornton – but Gillespie proves he
can be serious, as well.
The movie maintains a believable tone
thanks to the strength of Nancy Oliver’s
script and the heartfelt performances of
the cast. In fact, there are rumors that
Gosling might receive an Oscar nomination
for his turn as Lars.
“Lars” runs for one hour and 46
minutes, but its pace and tone are just
right. It’s amusing and absurd when it
needs to be, and serious at the right times.
Its only downside is you’ll be emotionally
drained when it ends – I just wanted to
give Gosling a really big hug.
Grade: A