Lars and the Real Girl Reviews

A Delightful Movie ! Very Funny , lovely,and touching
How should I know weird film like this thought us much about love.
If everybody loves each other like in this film, We're in heaven on earth,even the doll can feel life is beautiful.
If we treat someone we find "abnormal" like they treat Lars.
I cried for Love. It's a REAL LOVE FILM.

I watched 'Lars and the Real Girl' for the first time in 2013 or 2014 and didn't think much of it. Something prompted me to watch it again, though, in 2015; I believe it was a review I happened to read that noted that the film portrays Lars's Christian church in a positive manner. Since that's a rare thing in most movies these days -- even though I couldn't remember any church scenes from my first viewing, the comment (and a few other positive elements mentioned in the review) made me think, why not give this one another shot?

So I did. And upon watching a second time, I discovered that -- for having such a STUPID-sounding premise (a man touts around a *sex doll* and calls it his girlfriend? really?!) 'Lars and the Real Girl' turned out to be a fairly interesting and surprisingly gentle film.

Ryan Gosling stars in the movie as Lars -- a shy, socially awkward man in his late 20's who lives in the garage adjacent to his brother and sister-in-law's house in Somewhere, Wisconsin (the movie was actually filmed in Ontario).

One day, after Lars's co-worker shows him a website for "real dolls" (read: blow-up sex dolls), Lars orders one for himself (offscreen). After the doll arrives, Lars happily introduces his new girlfriend "Bianca" to his brother and sister-in-law, Gus and Karen. At first, Gus and Karen are excited to hear that Lars "met somebody"; but naturally, (though they don't mention it to Lars) Gus and Karen are horrified to see that "Bianca" is really just some sex doll. They're even more horrified to hear Lars speaking sincerely of Bianca -- and TO Bianca -- as though she's an actual, living and breathing person.

Nevertheless, Gus and Karen awkwardly play along with the scenario. Under the guise of giving Bianca a "check-up", they take Lars and Bianca to see Dagmar (Patricia Clarkson), their family doctor who just happens to also be a psychologist. At the doctor's office, Dagmar privately encourages Gus and Karen to KEEP treating Bianca as though she's a real person -- explaining this to them as some sort of therapy for Lars. Dagmar then instructs Lars to bring Bianca in to her office a few times each week for treatment for her "low blood pressure"; Dagmar plans to use Bianca's "treatment" time to talk with Lars and try to figure out the underlying cause of his delusion.

Gus, Karen, Lars, and "Bianca" agree to all of this -- though Gus in particular shows some reservation. Still, Gus and Karen quietly fill some of the residents of their (one-horse) town in on the situation; and before long, seemingly the entire town has welcomed Bianca with open arms! Including Margo -- the real (human) girl who works with Lars, and who eventually plays an important role in his (and Bianca's) outcome.

The movie still sounds really stupid described in detail, I know. However, strangely enough... it kind of works. There's nothing mean-spirited about the story; and (other than the fact that Bianca's for whatever reason a blow-up doll) nothing else crude or cheap-humored in the script (there are hardly even any references to sex, aside from a few very mild jokes). The film doesn't make fun of Lars, nor (for the most part) does he come across as a saintly "Gary Stu".

As for portraying Lars's church in a positive manner -- indeed, there are several scenes where Lars, Gus, Karen, Margo, and even "Bianca" attend a Lutheran church (and one scene where the pastor and some church members visit Gus and Karen at home). Most of these scenes are pretty brief (which is probably why they didn't stick with me after the first time I watched the film); but, yes, Lars's pastor and fellow church members come across as likable and support Lars 100% just like the other folks in his town (and, yes, it's a nice change of pace to see a church in an otherwise secular movie depicted as just a positive part of the characters' day-to-day lives, rather than filled with "foolish" or "evil" religious stereotypes).

So, why did I give 'Lars and the Real Girl' only 3 stars? Although I did like it a lot better the second time that I watched it, my main problem with the movie is that it simply requires too much suspension of disbelief. Some viewers might not mind this; and even I was willing to suspend my disbelief to an extent.

For example, on the one hand, I could easily buy that the townsfolk felt compassionate toward Lars (no disbelief there); I also accepted that they wouldn't feel bothered by Lars carting Bianca around town everywhere he went (it was a bit more of a stretch to believe that so many of Lars's neighbors would be so eager to *also* tote her around -- or "take her out" to "volunteer" or whatever they claimed to be doing. But the townspeople all seemed to like Gus, Karen, and Lars -- and it WAS a small town, and perhaps they welcomed the change in routine -- so this eagerness to "help" with Bianca wasn't outright impossible to swallow.)

On the other hand -- the "hospital" scene and the location of the final scene just felt like a bit TOO much. Um, those places would cost a lot of money (as would the appointments with Dagmar -- though Dagmar at least used her appointments with "Bianca" as a cover for providing therapy for Lars). Were Gus and Karen secretly millionaires? And what about the real people who might actually *need* the services that were provided for Bianca?

Aside from the "suspension of disbelief" issue, there are a handful of moments in 'Lars' that are borderline cutesy/overly sentimental -- particularly the scenes with Margo (I didn't mind her character per se, but she WAS kind of cutesy at times). Karen's pregnancy also felt a bit contrived (though, for all I know, Emily Mortimer was pregnant in real life. But since the character's obvious pregnancy is barely touched on, I was prepared for some cringe-worthy "wacky pregnant lady" scenes -- or for some speech about how the new baby symbolized the miracle of life. Fortunately, these moments never came.) Still, despite the occasional giggly moment from Margo -- or crooning serenade from Lars -- the movie at least manages to avoid total schmaltz overload.

Regarding the cast: no offense to Ryan Gosling, but I wouldn't have minded if somebody else had played Lars; that said, he does a fine job with the role. I wasn't familiar with most of the other actors -- however, they all give respectable performances, including Mortimer (although she sounded like she needed a lozenge in the outdoor scene where Karen argues with Lars) and the always-reliable Clarkson.

One actor I WAS familiar with prior to watching 'Lars' (and pleasantly surprised to see pop up in a minor-yet-significant role as a co-worker who briefly dates Margo) is Billy Parrott; those who watched "Degrassi Junior High" might remember him as "Shane McKay" on that classic Canadian show.

Ultimately, even with its flaws, 'Lars and the Real Girl' is still worth a watch for anybody who prefers quirky, character-driven stories about small town-life to movies filled with nothing but crude bathroom humor or nonstop action. (6/10)

Even though it sounded like a rather weird movie, since I kept hearing good things about it, I really wanted to check it out. You can easily imagine that someone like Adam Sandler or the Farrelly brothers would have made another offensive and lame comedy from this subject but, fortunately, the makers chose here a different approach and the end-result was rather subtle and really interesting. Of course, the success of this movie is most of all thanks to Ryan Gosling. Indeed, he took a huge risk with this part but he completely nailed it and I was sold within the first 5 minutes. Such a sensitive, heartbreaking and really convincing performance. Surprisingly, even though I thought the main character was really compelling to watch, I had some major issues with the other characters. Which one? All of them!!! I mean, to make us believe that his brother and his sister-in-law would play along, that was fair enough, that his doctor would participate in his fantasy, that made sense as well but the whole freaking town?!? Seriously, I was slapping my face in disbelief during the whole thing. Eventually, half way through, his sister-in-law would give a nice speech explaining that they all did it because they loved him and that was actually a good explanation but the fact that that you didn’t get to know Lars and his community before the doll made it really hard to swallow. Even so, it was hard to believe that no one, really no one would tell him anything or joke about it at any moment. Eventually, there was one single scene during which his brother actually tells him the truth and that was it. Maybe I’m too cynical but I found it really frustrating and rather annoying to see all this people pretending they had an actual relationship with this doll. Still, I liked this flick, Ryan Gosling was just really good, carrying the whole thing on his shoulders and even though I don’t think the whole thing was completely successful, it is still a really intriguing indie feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Despite superb acting by Ryan Gosling, and a unique, somewhat compelling premise, I had trouble fully enjoying this film. The audience is immersed in a believable, non-descript small town of the north, of some recent, non-specific time. Computer monitors are still huge in this town, and everyone knows everyone else. The characters, though, prevented my full immerssion in this film. A tug-at-your-heartstring, yet unbelievable, crush, and unlikely support of Lars throughout the community is fun, but unrealistic. Mostly though, I struggled with reconciling attempts at humor surrounding mental illness with the attempts at genuine support by the characters of a mentally ill man.

''Sometimes I get so lonely I forget what day it is, and how to spell my name.''

A delusional young guy strikes up an unconventional relationship with a doll he finds on the Internet.

Ryan Gosling: Lars Lindstrom

Well where to start with Lars and the Real Girl is that what may start of as a comedy created for laughs to begin with, slowly evolves into a more serious and thought provoking study.
The study being in this case, of a man called Lars Lindstrom, subjecting himself to an isolated way of life by choice. Reasons for this choice are slowly explained as the movie takes it's time to play through the motions. Which are first making the majority of us laugh and secretly ridicule him like the townspeople do behind his back, then they all collaborate to help him and play along with his belief. That being said everyone begins to play a part with Lars and his newly acquired ''girlfriend''.



Whats clever about Lars is that it never feels rushed or over done. The characters all seem to be believable in their set performances of the material given. Craig Gillespie utilizes all this to give this town and it's people a breath of life. As the film progresses Lars slowly begins to decrease, with the town people's help, his activity and time with Bianca the Doll. His appointments with the doctor help us grasp gradually what Lars mindset is while Margo, a co-worker, provides a real alternative to the Bianca relationship Lars has and he slowly subconsciously begins to realize this.

Ryan Gosling's performance as Lars is really what this film is about. He not only changes his appearance but his mannerisms and disposition, his set ways and belief that consumes eventually the whole town to play along inside his delusional world, really has to be marveled.
Also his headaches and spiraling evolution towards removing Bianca from his life without admitting she isn't real is moving. For Bianca may be seen to audiences as being not a real person to us, to Lars he believes that without question that she is real to him, and that I believe, Ryan Gosling as Lars succeeds in making me believe.

Other performances I should mention are Patricia Clarkson as Dr Dagmar, who plays a psychiatrist accurately by showing that she has her share of problems also, everyone does. Emily Mortimer as Karin,Paul Schneider as Gus and Kelli Garner as Margo really all did very fine believable acting to flesh out their said characters with immense believability.
Even Bianca seems to emit a performance herself becoming a character among the cast and a part of the Town and it's people.

Lars and the Real Girl isn't one of those films which has fancy effects and non-stop action. It's not that kind of film, and even then, they are not required. What we get is something that transcends emotion and belief and breathes life into a genre that needs original and vibrant films such as Lars.

A masterpiece that is as close to perfect as heaven doth allow, Ryan Gosling's transformation and performance acts as the breath of life responsible for this miracle.

This film has all of the makings for a laugh-out-loud comedy -- but it's just not that kind of film. It's a lot smarter and deeper than what it appears to be.

Not everyone is going to get this film. Some folks are going to go in with the wrong idea of what it's all about.

"Lars and the Real Girl" is about a lonely man who orders a sex doll as his girlfriend -- not for sex -- but for companionship. While shocking at first, Bianca is really a tool for Lars to introduce himself to the world that he has mostly been withdrawn from.

Yes, this film is funny at times -- especially right after Bianca arrives onto the seen (via UPS). The strangeness and uncomfortability of it all is quite humorous. While most of the humor is due to Bianca herself, the silliness begins to wear off as the film digs deeper into the reasons behind Bianca's arrival.

Lars' relationship with Bianca is bizarre, but exists because he struggles with some emotional issues. The one thing that actually came along with Bianca was normality in Lars. He became social, confident, and started to simply feel for the first time in a long time. Bianca was like his security blanket more than anything else. He needed her so he could be more normal. Everyone (sans his brother's wife) failed to notice that Lars was not exactly 'normal' before Bianca came out of her box.

The reaction from the town is what really makes this movie. If how they treated the situation were actually plausable in the real world, it certainly could only happen in a small, close-knit down like the one Lars lived in. The way Bianca became part of the community was quite funny, but more heartwarming than anything else.

Personally, I think this particular aspect of the film is what will make it or break it for people. If you allow yourself to buy into the fact that the town is there to embrace Lars and his situation, you're likely going to enjoy this film. If you can't, you'll probably find it to be silly and unrealistic. However, no one ever claimed it to a docudrama.

"Lars and the Real Girl" is the kind of film you feel inspired to go and tell other people about because it's likely that they've never heard of it. It's just so different than anything else. I feel that it's pretty hard to walk out of this movie not feeling good about it all (as long as you walked into it not expecting a Farley Brothers film).

In short, this is just a really good movie.