Lars And The Real Girl (2007)

There are some creative minds in the independent filmmaking world that Hollywood has missed the ball on and some that get it. Ryan Gosling (Only God Forgives) has had a knack in his career for giving himself roles that not too many would take which includes today's film Lars And The Real Girl. The film was released in 2007 and it was directed by Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya) and in the film Gosling plays Lars, a very awkward, shy, and disconnected young man who has had a tough time with what life has thrown at him. After hearing about sex dolls at work, he decides to buy one, but something very strange happens. Lars believes that his doll Bianca is a real person and soon the whole entire town goes with it because they know how special Lars really is. The film also stars  Emily Mortimer (Mary Poppins Returns) as Karin, Paul Schneider (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) as Gus, Kelli Garner (Godzilla: King Of The Monsters) as Margo,  Nancy Beatty (Sea Of Love) as Mrs. Gruner, Patricia Clarkson (Maze Runner: The Death Cure) as Dagmar, Nicky Guadagni (Ready Or Not) as Mrs. Petersen, and Karen Robinson (Bad As I Wanna Be: The Dennis Rodman Story) as Cindy.

I honestly did not know what to expect when I first decided to watch this for free on on the VUDU app, but I have to say that I was pleased with the film overall. The film has this ability to show how caring the world can be no matter how weird the situation is. I mean this had to be a hard situation for anyone to get used to, but they did it because of how special of a person Lars is. I love the contrast too because here you have this brother (Gus) who feels that he is a failure because his brother is in love with a sex doll while his wife (Karin) understands what is happening and she goes with it. Lars has dealt with a lot in his life from the death of his mother and the weird behavior of his father so in order to move on he manifests all of his emotions into this doll as sort of a healing process. By the end, the town is shaken up by the events that it seems like everything will be OK and it's beautiful. This truly is a touching movie about how we should treat those with emotional detachments or struggles. It's so easy to treat someone like they are an outcast or a weirdo instead of taking the time to care for them and get them the help they need. Ryan Gosling puts on a masterful performance in this film proving why he was one of the best young actors in Hollywood in 2007 and why I enjoy his works today. This is definitely a film to check out with all of the amazing performances from everyone in the film. The movie is not completely sad, there is a happy ending of sorts, but you should check this one out if you love Ryan Gosling. I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade.