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Movie Review:
Lars and the Real Girl, with Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, and Paul Schneider
LARS & THE REAL GIRL
Directed by: Craig Gillespie
Writer: Nancy Olliver
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider, Kelli Garner, Patricia Clarkson, Bianca the doll
Distributor: MGM
Runtime: 106 minutes
[I know I’m about three hundred years late with this film review, but like with all things in life, I always seem to be about five steps behind. Also, because I’m a big blabbermouth, there are mild spoilers ahead.]
I don’t normally like to review movies that I actually enjoy because it’s always hard to come up with a sufficient amount of synonyms for “good,” but after watching Lars and the Real Girl, an off-beat film about an introverted man who thinks his mail-order blow up doll is real, it’s hard to not talk about it.
Lars gained critical acclaim when it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and went into limited release, which might be why it wasn’t one of those films that you heard about on Monday morning as you stood around the water cooler, casually dodging the pile of paperwork on your desk. Plus, the unconventional idea of a blow up doll as a companion might elicit horrified glances (no, it’s not one of those films) or nervous giggles (no, it’s not one of those films). In fact, going into Lars is like going to watch a Maple Leafs game – is it a comedy, a tragedy, or a little of both?
The answer isn’t clear, because Lars transcends most conventional movie genres. Sure, there are a few laughs, a tense second or two, a tear-jerking moment, long, drawn out silences. But there are so many emotions felt when watching Lars that it’s hard to pick just one. And that’s precisely why this film deserves a second life in theatre ticket and DVD sales.
There isn’t much to say about director Craig Gillespie that isn’t apparent when watching Lars unravel on the screen. But it might be worth noting that Gillespie is a long-time commercial director who went on to helm Mr. Woodcock. If this keeps up, his feature film directorial debut with Lars might be written off as a fluke. But everyone deserves second chances, and Gillespie earns several more lives with the performances that he elicits from his superb cast.
Teaming up with writer Nancy Oliver (a frequent “Six Feet Under” scribe), Gillespie has a deft hand in creating atmosphere, and he does the isolation thing better than most. Everything about the titular Lars screams loneliness, from the cold, secluded garage where he lives, to the wooded childhood haunt that he frequents with his blow-up doll. (The movie was shot in the small town of Elora, Ontario and, if you've ever been there, you'll understand how well it encapsulates the idea of the film.) If there’s something to be said about setting in this film, it’s that the backdrop is Gillespie’s muse.
From the moment we meet Lars Lindstrom (Ryan Gosling), it’s clear that there’s a certain sense of helpless sadness about him. Lars isn’t set up as a crazy hermit, but there are obviously issues that prevent him from opening up to the world. His brother, Gus (Paul Schneider), is content to let Lars be, but his wife and Lars’ sister-in-law, Karin (Emily Mortimer), becomes fixatedly concerned. Her repeated attempts to invite Lars to dinner (Lars lives in the family garage) go unanswered until she finally resorts to tackling him on the driveway. It’s during this awkward dinner that we finally start to see the motivation for Lars’ reclusiveness.
His co-worker Margo (Kelli Garner), a sweet young woman who also frequents Lars’ church, takes an instant liking to the oblivious Lars, who politely evades her in favour of avoiding small talk. But when Lars’ overly horny co-worker shows Lars a website that sells blow-up dolls, Lars is intrigued.
When Lars tells Gus and Karin that he’s met someone online, Karin couldn’t be happier. Of course, if you’ve heard anything about this film, you’d know that this special someone is a blow-up doll that Lars names Bianca. Over dinner, Lars drops tidbits about Bianca’s life that mirrors his own: she lost her parents as a child, she’s highly religious, she likes helping others as best she can. Because of his religious sensibilities, Lars requests that Bianca sleep in the house while he retires to the garage. Gus protests, but Karin, obviously the more sensitive of the two, relents.
That’s when Lars gets really interesting. As the film progresses, Lars starts to believe, more and more, that Bianca is real and that she’s the only one for him (in an especially touching moment in the film, he reveals to his doctor that to him, hugs feel like a “burn” except when they come from Bianca). But this isn’t just a study of human isolation and the need for love and acceptance; it’s also a commentary on the power of friendship and understanding, especially in the way the townsfolk rally in support of Lars in strange and unexpected ways. Sure, Lars more often than not seems to have lost it, but his desperate need for Bianca to be real practically leaps of the screen and shakes us until we believe it too.
The film goes through ups and downs – and there are a lot of downs – but its course is clear: through Bianca, Lars is finally coming to grips with his issues, and forces those around him to do so as well. When Lars starts to evolve and change, so does Bianca. In fact, by the end of the film, Bianca looks nothing like the sex doll she once was.
The performances, led by Ryan Gosling, are exceptional. As Lars, Gosling puts in a gentle and studied performance that belies his years. Considering that I’ve come to know him from “Breaker High,” The Notebook, and Murder By Numbers, it’s good to see that he’s picking roles that challenge his talent. Likewise, the women in Lars’ life are worth mentioning. Emily Mortimer simply shines as the sympathetic Karin. As a supporting character, Karin isn’t developed very much, but through her interactions with Lars, we start to see that she’s not so two-dimensional after all. It's nice to see that Kelli Garner can play cute and likeable since she's usually cast as the promiscuous, psychotic teen, while Patricia Clarkson, Lars’ compassionate doctor, is always a pleasure to watch. With her soothing voice and graceful demeanor, Clarkson commands every line that she utters.
It would be impossible to say that Lars is infallible, because it’s not. There are certain elements to the film that seem clumsy, like the fifteen minute lesson the film delivers on clinical terms for “delusion.” Similarly, the anvils that drop now and again from the sky to tell us what everyone is thinking can be off-putting, like when Lars tells Bianca that fake flowers are better than the real thing because fake flowers last forever. Watching this scene, I half-expected lights to start flashing onscreen to let me know that I should be paying attention. And as Lars’ alarmed brother, Paul Schneider puts in a rather subdued performance, which does a disservice to every scene that he shares with Gosling, although he does manage to squeeze out a very awkward but touching moment with Lars when the latter clumsily asks him about sex.
Lars was completely shut out of the Oscars this season, save for a nod to screenplay, and it’s a shame. It’s certainly not precious like the indie darling Juno (you’ll be hard-pressed to find characters who utter “kick this old school” and “Moses and the reeds” in the same breath, but you can always pretend that Bianca is saying those things when no one’s listening), and it may not serve as the ideal water cooler material, but it’s absolutely worth the price of admission. ¤ C.Ho.
LARS AND THE REAL GIRL:
(out of 5)