2007, USA
Drama, Romance
REPRINTED FROM THE DESERT SUN:
Love is often considered an illusion of the heart, so who can argue with a delusion of the mind that helps achieve that? However, when a life-sized sex doll assists in the bending of reality folks become concerned.
Despite the odd premise, the heart of the film is a matter of psychological distress. Who would have guessed that the director of the poorly received Mr. Woodcock would have the ability to delicately balance such a sweet and thoughtful story? Craig Gillespie allows Lars and the Real Girl to unfold gently, with few grand gestures outside of the leap of faith that produces the film's comedy.
Lars Lindstrom is a painfully withdrawn man who opts for the comforts of the garage rather than share the family house with his brother and pregnant sister-in-law. Though brother Gus dismisses his lack of social interaction, Gus' wife Karin (a charming Emily Mortimer) becomes concerned for Lars' well-being and forces communication. At the point of lost hope, Lars announces that he has met someone over the internet and she has come to visit. What he fails to acknowledge is that she arrived in a box.
When Gus and Karin present the new couple to the small town doctor/psychologist, Dr. Dagmar (a patiently subdued Patricia Clarkson), she suggests that they play out the delusion until it has unearthed the root of Lars' troubles. This effect requires the cooperation of the entire town, and in their concern for the quiet, harmless man, they join the charade without pity.
Jokes sneak into each scene as Bianca, Lars' likeness of love, becomes more active in the community. The laughs are good-humored and never hurtful, and the townspeople treat Lars with the respect he unknowingly seeks. The more Bianca is invited to participate, the more Lars becomes involved in situations from which he would have recently shied away.
When Lars' history is divulged and Gus confesses his role in their damaged home life, Lars' crumbling mental state is plausible. Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson) emerges once again as a restrained hurricane, fully embodying his character. As Lars grapples with reality, he squeezes his eyes in frustration as an internal conversation is conveyed through the singular action. A security blanket adorns him constantly, and yet it never feels phony but rather is a part of his emotional armor.
It would be easy to overplay this disturbed man, but instead Gosling infuses him with a sympathetic quest for understanding. As Lars remarks that fake flowers will last forever, it becomes apparent that he seeks the same quality in Bianca's unconditional love.
The small and beautiful film never escapes to expected corners. The story has many opportunities to become an overwrought drama or a low-brow comedy, but it flows softly and evenly in subtle progression. Gillespie and his talented cast build life from used parts, and rarely has a sex doll been put to such a lovely purpose.