Friday, January 25, 2013

Lars and the Real Girl (2007)



Number Rolled: 61
Movie Name/Year: Lars and the Real Girl (2007)
Genre: Comedy
Length: 106 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Director: Craig Gillespie
Writer: Nancy Oliver
Actors: Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider, R.D. Reid, Kelli Garner, Nancy Beatty, Doug Lennox, Joe Bostick, Liz Gordon, Nicky Guadagni, Patricia Clarkson

A lot of recipe movies have been hijacking my dice lately. I mean, I know it’s random, and that’s going to happen now and again because recipe movies are really common, but it put me in the wrong frame of mind for this movie. In fact, a half hour in, it caught me so off guard I had to pause it, get up and walk around for a minute or two before I continued. There’s no recipe for this movie, in fact, I don’t think the director himself could duplicate it. It was a completely original script that blew my mind.

The movie is about a loner introvert, Lars (played by Ryan Gosling), that finds it increasingly difficult to be around people and to maintain relationships of any sort. After a co-worker brings to his attention the existence of life-like sex dolls, he orders one. However, he doesn’t see the doll as a sex toy. In fact, he begins to see it more as a girlfriend, taking her wherever he goes and basically doing date-related activities. At the suggestion of a psychologist, his family plays along with his delusion in the hopes of aiding him.

Whoever labeled the genre of this movie was either drunk or just deciding from a two sentence blurb about the movie, what it might possibly be like. I sat down, all prepared to watch a recipe movie with a few laughs, and got a completely original movie that made me stare at the screen with my chin hanging low and my chest hurting. Don’t get me wrong, I’m really not complaining; but do yourself a favor and don’t believe anyone who tells you differently, this movie was undoubtedly a drama. There were comedic moments, but it was a drama.

Ryan Gosling was amazing in his part. You would never believe the suave, sexy guy from “Crazy, Stupid, Love” was the same guy playing this twitchy, introverted, delusional guy. I absolutely believed in the character he portrayed. I believed in all the characters. Hell, I even managed to get attached to the sex-doll’s existence in this movie.

I would highly recommend this movie. Very highly. Honestly, it’d probably be a perfect five if I hadn’t expected a comedy. It’s like taking a drink and expecting it to be iced tea when it turns out to be iced coffee. The iced coffee might be good, but it makes for very bad tea.

Overall Opinion – 4.5/5

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