DVD: LARS AND THE REAL GIRL (2007) PG-13
I LOVED this movie. Loved. The trailer angles it as a comedy more than I consider it, but that’s part of what’s so good about this film. It balances the fine line between hilarious and heartbreaking.
Lars (Ryan Gosling) is a twenty-something man who decides to order a sex doll off the internet for companionship in the most non-sexual way. Karin (Emily Mortimer), Lars’ sister-in-law, is concerned about how much time he spends alone, and rightly so, while Lars’ brother Gus (Paul Schneider) freaks out that his brother is crazy.
What unfolds is truly heartwarming. As the small-town community welcomes Lars’ “girlfriend” Bianca with open arms, albeit initial, hesitant open arms, all who are involved are changed for the better.
In some of the extras, Nancy Oliver, the writer, explains how she wanted to consider how the world might be different if people went along with mentally ill people’s delusions. What comes of her vision is something quite ideal, but magical all on its own.
