Review: Lars and the Real Girl
Penguin March 21st, 2008
Rating: 2/4 stars
Lars and the Real Girl is about Lars (Ryan Gosling) who is so emotionally detached, he starts dating a Real Doll. In order to get the premise to work, they have the whole town to go along with his delusions for Lars’ sake.The premise is really interesting. They could’ve been sophomoric about the way they approach the material, but they choose to take it seriously. This is not to say there isn’t any humor in it, there is, they just downplay that aspect. Which is a good thing, because that would’ve been way too easy. Instead, they make Lars’ emotional problems real. By not laughing about them, it gives it a sort of gravity and seriousness which is effective.
Even at 90 minutes, the film does feel long. It almost gets boring, but not quite. It’s just that not much happens. There are some touching moments, like a scene where Lars gives CPR to a teddy bear (he’s being playful), but there just aren’t enough of them.
- Penguin
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You make good points. I hadn't thought about the small-town aspect.
-Penguin