Details
Film Title: Lars and the Real Girl
Year: 2007
Directed by: Craig Gillespie
Stars: Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider, Kelli Garner, Patricia Clarkson
Running Time: 106 mins, 1 hr 46 mins
Language: English
Rough Plot Synopsis: A sweet yet socially inept man called Lars develops a romantic relationship with a sex doll named Bianca. His brother and his sister-in law grow to accept Lars' bizarre delusion along with the rest of the town for Lars' sake, unaware how much Bianca would touch their lives.
Thoughts
This is one of those films where just from the premise alone, you know that you want to watch it just to see how it plays out. Lars and the Real Girl just seems so bizarrely ridiculous that it is worth watching just to satisfy that curiosity.
I must admit, I never did think much of Ryan Gosling as an actor, I always felt he was overhyped by adoring fan-girls who simply had a crush on him. Perhaps the only film I've seen of his that I thought was something special was Drive(2011). That is, until I watched Lars and the Real Girl(2007).
In it, Gosling plays a character so unlike the type of roles that we're used to seeing him play, and he does it fantastically. When I first saw him, I could not believe that Lars was Gosling. Lars is shy, reclusive, introverted and completely awkward amongst people. He can barely even look at people when he talks to them and spends most of the film in some awkward position that seems like he is always half-leaving for fear of embarrassment. Gosling's portrayal of Lars is definitely one of the film's strongest points, impressively fresh and yet uncomfortably familiar.
The humour is very well done throughout the film as well, especially between Lars' brother(Paul Schneider) and his sister-in-law(Emily Mortimer). A bizarre situation is easy to come up with, but it takes skillful writing and acting to make it humorous.
Overall, Lars and the Real Girl(2007) is a sweet and funny film with a great message at its heart. I would recommend it to all Gosling fans(to see a side of him that you would rarely get to see) and fans of romantic comedies.
Film Title: Lars and the Real Girl
Year: 2007
Directed by: Craig Gillespie
Stars: Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider, Kelli Garner, Patricia Clarkson
Running Time: 106 mins, 1 hr 46 mins
Language: English
Rough Plot Synopsis: A sweet yet socially inept man called Lars develops a romantic relationship with a sex doll named Bianca. His brother and his sister-in law grow to accept Lars' bizarre delusion along with the rest of the town for Lars' sake, unaware how much Bianca would touch their lives.
Thoughts
This is one of those films where just from the premise alone, you know that you want to watch it just to see how it plays out. Lars and the Real Girl just seems so bizarrely ridiculous that it is worth watching just to satisfy that curiosity.
I must admit, I never did think much of Ryan Gosling as an actor, I always felt he was overhyped by adoring fan-girls who simply had a crush on him. Perhaps the only film I've seen of his that I thought was something special was Drive(2011). That is, until I watched Lars and the Real Girl(2007).
In it, Gosling plays a character so unlike the type of roles that we're used to seeing him play, and he does it fantastically. When I first saw him, I could not believe that Lars was Gosling. Lars is shy, reclusive, introverted and completely awkward amongst people. He can barely even look at people when he talks to them and spends most of the film in some awkward position that seems like he is always half-leaving for fear of embarrassment. Gosling's portrayal of Lars is definitely one of the film's strongest points, impressively fresh and yet uncomfortably familiar.
The humour is very well done throughout the film as well, especially between Lars' brother(Paul Schneider) and his sister-in-law(Emily Mortimer). A bizarre situation is easy to come up with, but it takes skillful writing and acting to make it humorous.
Overall, Lars and the Real Girl(2007) is a sweet and funny film with a great message at its heart. I would recommend it to all Gosling fans(to see a side of him that you would rarely get to see) and fans of romantic comedies.