Lars and the Real Girl
This is the story of Lars Lindstrom. He lives in the garage, on the property he inherited with his brother. His brother, Gus and his sister in law, Karen live in the house. Lars functions in life, he takes care of himself, goes to work every day but as the shell of a man. He's painfully shy with everyone including his family and his co-workers. They all though, continue to reach out to him. Karen is constantly trying to ambush him in the drive way to get him to come to breakfast or dinner. His co-workers try to engage him in conversation, no matter how lame or sometimes perverted. He even has a girl at work that has a major crush on him.
Lars has too much of a problem connecting with people, so he buys an atomically correct female doll on line and begins introducing her around town as his girlfriend, Bianca. Lars is finally able to come out of his shell as long as he has this doll by side. She is very real to him. And with her, his family and the entire town rallying behind him, Lars is able to confront his fears and grow into a whole human being.
This movie turned out to be the sweetest movie I've seen in a long time. Ryan Gosling gives a heart breaking performance as Lars. Emily Mortimer plays his sister in law Karen who it seems will never give up trying to bring Lars out of his shell. The film doesn't delve to far into Lars past but it gives you enough of a clue as to why he is the way he is. I felt this was ok because it kept the tone of the film a little lighter, a little warmer perhaps. And when it tugs at your heart strings, it's humor pulls you back quickly enough that you don't dwell in it too long.
I don't want to give too much away about this movie, but I think it's a definite must see. I'd give it 3 stars.
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