Originally published October 19, 2007 at 12:00 AM | Page modified October 19, 2007 at 2:01 AM
Movie review
"Lars and the Real Girl" | His girlfriend is a doll — for real
Prepared to be shocked by "Lars and the Real Girl," simply because it isn't shocking at all. Instead, Craig Gillespie's comedy, written...
Seattle Times movie critic
Movie review 
Prepared to be shocked by "Lars and the Real Girl," simply because it isn't shocking at all. Instead, Craig Gillespie's comedy, written by Nancy Oliver (TV's "Six Feet Under"), is almost impossibly sweet, a tale of love and kindness that's funny without being snarky. And when's the last time you said that about a movie that depicts a relationship between a man and a life-size doll?
Lars (Ryan Gosling, complete with a sad little mustache) is an emotionally shutdown young man in a small Midwestern town, living in the garage apartment behind the house formerly owned by his late parents.
His brother Gus (Paul Schneider) and pregnant sister-in-law Karin (Emily Mortimer), who live in the house, perpetually worry about his isolation and loneliness, so they're thrilled when he announces that a woman friend is coming to visit. She is Bianca — tall, slender, vaguely resembling a waxworks Angelina Jolie and entirely inanimate. Gus and Karin, being polite Midwesterners, greet her with a stunned courtesy, and Karin even makes uncomfortable small talk with her when the two of them are left alone. It seems, to this loving sister-in-law, the right thing to do.
Bring on the "Knocked Up"- and "Superbad"-style dirty jokes, right? Wrong. What unfolds is the town's surprised but warmhearted acceptance of Bianca: Lars is loved, and so she will be loved, too, however odd the situation may seem. "These things happen," says a sensible neighbor. "Lars is a good boy." When Gus and Karin take Lars to a doctor (Patricia Clarkson, wonderfully dry), no particular alarm bells are rung. "He appears to have a delusion," says the doctor, advising them all to go along with it.
And so Bianca becomes part of the fabric of the town, and starts having her own life — a job, shopping trips, a makeover at the local salon. She goes with Lars to church and to parties, where the two of them slow dance (he holds, he sways). You keep waiting for the movie to turn smart-ass and cynical, and to Gillespie and Oliver's great credit, it never does.
There's a gentleness to the performances that's irresistible: Gosling, who seems to almost imperceptibly relax when he's near Bianca, makes us understand in few words the town's affection for Lars. And Mortimer, with her sad little chirp of a voice, is sweetness personified as Karin, whose love for her brother-in-law overcomes all doubt. Asked about potential trouble between Lars and Bianca, Karin shakes her head decisively. "They never fight," she says, having long ago banished any ideas that Bianca is anything less than real.
And we've gone there with her, completely won over. Movies can make what's not real seem real, and "Lars and the Real Girl" takes that magic a step further — not through trickery or technology, but through the love in a young man's eyes.
Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company
'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
Director John Woo's 'Red Cliff' is an epic whose time has come
An epic revival for 'Gone With the Wind'
At a Theater Near You: Polish, Italian festivals lead weekend's films
Movie review: Bella + Edward + Jacob = a pale 'New Moon'

Real Salt Lake wins MLS Cup
Real Salt Lake defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy with penalty kicks after 120 minutes of play at Qwest Field in Seattle.
nwautos
Local riders say they've seen a surge in scooter interest in recent years, mostly from people wanting another commuting option. Seattle now ranks as o...
Post a comment
nwjobs
Post a comment
Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
Do you suffer from "sitting disease"?
Post a comment
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Tugboat sinks at Seattle waterfront pier
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
- Craigslist adoption ad: A plea by young mother-to-be? A scam?
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Woman stabbed by stranger in North Seattle
- Snow piles up on Cascade slopes
- Denny Triangle gains skyline, but tenants slow to come
- Illegal workers quietly let go
308 - Climate change speeds up since 1997 Kyoto accord
182 - Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
170 - Metro won't cut bus service after all
127 - Historic health care bill clears Senate hurdle
93 - Tattoos at Mill Creek Church pierce skin, soul
73 - Jerry Brewer: Seahawks can't lean on the Hutch Crutch now
67 - UW, WSU once again meet to see who's worse
62 - New Husky recruit: Enes Kanter
60 - Ranking the Pac
53
- Sprouts, raw fish on attorney's 'do not eat' list
- Tattoos at Mill Creek church pierce skin, soul
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Food-safety lawyer's wish: Put me out of business
- Rediscovering Moab, 'the most beautiful place on Earth'
- It's possible to recover a life lost to hoarding
- Architects, chefs find 'kid' within to build Gingerbread Village
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Taste | The Great Pie Bake-off pits friends and fruit








