LARS AND THE REAL GIRL directed by Craig Gillespie (USA/Canada, 2007)
Cover of Lars and the Real Girl
What an odd and creepy movie this is.
it is billed as a comedy-drama, yet this quirky look at mental illness has no gags and practically no dramatic tension.
In the lead role as Lars Lindstorm, Ryan Gosling remains straight-faced throughout and believable as a painfully shy individual whose isolation is heightened by the fact that he cannot bear to be touched.
The consensus is that he needs the love of a good woman to bring him out of his shell. One equally gawky woman who works in the same office has a crush on him but he goes out of his way to avoid her.
Another work colleague, who spends a good part of the day looking for porn sites, inadvertently finds an alternative solution, He tells Lars about a Real Doll site and, although he feigns disinterest, we soon see Lars taking delivery of a wooden crate with his very own life-size silicone doll. Continue reading
