You can tell a lot about a person from whom he or she dates. For instance, if your best friend introduces you to her new boyfriend, and the boyfriend has a big ol' beard and chops down trees for a living, then you would probably determine your friend has a thing for lumberjacks, or maybe hates trees. That's a simple deduction. It gets complex when, for instance, your brother introduces you to his new girlfriend, and his new girlfriend is really just a plastic, life-size doll that he shuffles around in a wheelchair. Then you would probably deduce that your brother is a maniac of sorts.
This is a challenge Lars Lindstrom (Ryan Gosling) inadvertently presents to his brother, Gus (Paul Schneider), and eventually, to the town in which he lives.
Lars was a challenge enough to his brother and to especially his brother's wife, Karin (Emily Mortimer). Karin, an ever-endearing sweetheart of a woman, does everything she can to involve her husband's shut-in of a brother, Lars, and tries to expose him to the life he is missing out on. Her husband's response to Lars's incessant sequestering is typical of an older brother regarding his weirdo sibling, along the lines of "that's just how he is, he's fine, stop worrying." Both Gus and Karin are elated when Lars announces that he has a new girlfriend. The excitement shows in Lars's face, almost as much as it does in the faces of Gus and Karin. Things go downhill quickly when Lars introduces Bianca to Gus and Karin, Bianca being an anatomically-correct, life-size, plastic mannequin. It's as weird as it sounds. (By the way, the doll is a real thing. They're called "Real Dolls," and if you want to see the actual website, first, you should check and make sure you aren't at work, or around anyone who will be offended by creepy mannequin nudity. Then, go to www.realdolls.com, and experience creepy mannequin nudity.)
So why the doll? That's the question tugging at Gus and Karin, who eventually go to the town's wise physician, Dagmar (Patricia Clarkson). After evaluating the situation a bit, she proposes that Gus, Karin and, ideally, the rest of the town play along with Lars's delusion in hopes that he eventually no longer needs the doll. Everybody should treat Bianca as a living, breathing citizen of the town. The town's responses and reactions to Bianca comprise the bulk of the movie: How does Gus respond to his brother Lars's apparent psychosis, and how does he eventually react? How do the townsfolk respond to Lars and Bianca when Lars brings her in to church, and how do they eventually react? And how do these responses and reactions affect Lars? The townfolk love Lars. And why not? Lars is a nice guy, albeit a nice guy with a reputation of being abnormally shy and sort of a shut-in. There's even a girl, (a human one), Margo (Kelli Garner), who apparently adores Lars romantically, who does all a humble girl can do to get a guy's attention. Lars has a steady job and a home in his big brother Gus's garage, (it's renovated to be livable but you get the point). Lars appears to have all he ever needs to experience a simple, small-town life of bliss with few problems.
But the ever-nagging question still looms: why the doll? This hits home hardest for Gus, who feels like its his own fault for his brother's lack of ability to socialize. This lends itself to some good scenes, as Lars's predicament presents an opportunity for Gus not only to revisit errors of his past with Lars, but also provides a way for he and his wife Karin to tackle a new problem together.
Ryan Gosling pulls off a great performance, as he seems only capable of doing. It could not have been an easy job to depict a person who is as off-key and socially inept as Lars, yet remain a likable character that you wouldn't feel much discomfort having a conversation with. A character going as far as getting romantically involved with a plastic mannequin could easily be depicted with the creepiness on par with a serial killer, but Ryan Gosling makes us want Lars to overcome his hardships by the end.
The movie does run a few scenes too long. You might catch yourself yawning after the 90-minute mark. And, interestingly, the movie chooses to skim some of the deep-seated, emotional issues Lars likely faced growing up that caused his present condition. However, the story does touch upon it through his brother Gus's lamentations about how he may have performed as an older brother growing up. The audience learns bit-by-bit Lars's past, but not enough of it seems to paint a picture of a guy who is as recluse as Lars. But---maybe that's not the point. The point the movie drives home, and does so with flying colors, is that human contact is something everyone craves to some degree, even those of us who seem incapable of demonstrating it. It's an original story, told expertly well by director Craig Gillespie, and full of real, genuine characters. Except of course for Lars's plastic girlfriend, Bianca.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
There's a trailer, one very short deleted scene between Lars and Bianca, and a good behind-the-scenes bit with interviews with the cast and crew, and goes over the film from the script to production. There's a short, very tongue-in-cheek collection of interviews with the cast and crew about Bianca, the doll, with all the cast and crew acting as if she is a real person. The joking gets old really fast but you do get to see some of the serious attention the doll actually got backstage.
"Lars and the Real Girl" is on sale April 5, 2011 and is rated PG13. Drama. Directed by Craig Gillespie. Written by Nancy Oliver. Starring Emily Mortimer, Patricia Clarkson, Paul Schneider, Ryan Gosling.
