Lars and the Real Girl

I often take chances by adding films to my Blockbuster online queue, even before viewing a trailer or knowing more than a skeletal plot. The ease of hitting the “Add to Queue” button, combined with the zero risk investment of watching movies at home for free, makes these experiments simple to swallow. I peruse several movie review websites and enjoy discovering various opinions on a wide spectrum of movies. It is from these opinions and recommendations that I cling to the hope of finding those rare gems that didn’t necessarily make truck loads of bank at the big theatres.

Lars and the Real Girl is an example of when those experiments and risks pay off. It’s basically a simple story about a small town man and his struggle to expand beyond his comfort zone, beyond his relationship reservations and fears. We watch as these reservations lead him to acquire and adopt a lifesize doll as his girlfriend, and how this forces his family and community to fight their own reservations and question what it means to love.

I was drawn to the story for two reasons. First, I’m a big Ryan Gosling (Remember the Titans, The Notebook, & Fracture) fan. He always seems to immerse himself into his roles. A good gage of an actor for me is shown in how I discuss his character when I talk about the movie with someone. If I’m referring to the character by their movie name more than I’m referring to the character by the actor’s name, then the actor did their job well. Think about it this way… when you watch Forrest Gump, do you talk about Forrest, or do you talk about Tom Hanks? I talk about Forrest. How about Braveheart… William Wallace… or Mel Gibson? In this film, I’m watching Lars on screen, I’m not watching Ryan Gosling act as Lars. Subtle, but a big distinction for me.

Second, I read many reviews that said that this movie portrayed real relationships. Gritty, lovely, dirty and true. Far too often, movies make the mistake of sugarcoating their script and slapping CG bandaids on their characters. L&TRG gives us life as we might witness it across the street or at the grocery store. There is a key moment in the film where Lars is angry with his family for not supporting him enough. We find him alone outside cutting firewood, when his sister-in-law tries to explain how much everyone has been doing for him and why. The discussion heats up as they go back and forth in the argument. Voices raise. Tears fall. The audience is left standing with Lars in silence, contemplating the depth of what was just exchanged. L&TRG delivers real relationships.

So, there you have it. It’s not going to win any awards, it’s not going to jump into anyone’s top ten, but a good, clean, solid movie that is well worth a watch.