Lars and the Real Girl

****

11/2/07
by Scott Cupper

Lars……………………….Ryan Gosling
Gus………………………..Paul Schneider
Karin……………………...Emily Mortimer
Kelli Garner………………Margo
Dagmar……………………Patricia Clarkson

Directed by Craig Gillespie
Written by Nancy Oliver

Rated PG-13
Runtime: 1 hr. 46 min.


After having seen The Darjeeling Limited, Lars and the Real Girl was a breath of fresh air. Darjeeling is laden with the cynicism that has invaded our culture. It wants to cut through this, but never quite succeeds. Lars circumvents this by being without cynicism. It has no ambivalence about its characters. It loves them unconditionally as do we. It has been criticized for being unrealistic. I’ll admit, cynicism is inescapable in the world we live in, but should that stop us from imagining a world with it?

Lars (Ryan Gosling) is alone. By circumstance, by choice? Both. Lars lives in the garage adjacent to the family house where his brother now lives, but his sister-in-law has to tackle and pin him to get him to come over for dinner. And forget romance. When a woman at church hands him a flower and tells him to give it to a nice girl, he launches it into the woods when the next girl he sees says hi.

His sister-in-law, Karin (Emily Mortimer) thinks he needs help. His brother Gus (Paul Schneider) thinks he doesn’t because Lars says he doesn’t and that’s good enough for him. As it usually turns out, the woman is a bit better judge of this sort.

Lars goes into work one morning and his cubicle partner asks him to check out something on his computer. Lars immediately averts his eyes and asks if it’s porn again. Well, kind of. Anatomically correct dolls. A few days later, Lars gets a call from Karin telling him a large box arrived for him. That night, he invites himself over for dinner to his brother’s house with a guest. Gus and Karin are thrilled until they meet Bianca, one of the dolls from the website. Lars informs them that they met on the internet and she’s returned from Russia where she was doing missions work.

This could be a broad comedy, mining every moment for all the humor there is and isn’t, but that would just turn it into a 1½-hour SNL sketch and we all know the success they have with 5 minutes. Writer Nancy Oliver doesn’t ignore the humor, but it’s clear she’s interested in much more. There’s nothing sexual about Lars’s relationship with Bianca. As the family doctor tells Gus and Karin, Lars needs the doll and will until he doesn’t.

Patricia Clarkson plays Dagmar, the family doctor. She encourages Gus and Karin to go along with the doll. Naturally, they’ll have to get the town do the same. The trepidation with which Lars and the town approach each other is the heart of the movie. Roger Ebert has said something along the lines that it’s not bad things happening to people that moves him, but people doing good. Lars and the Real Girl is full of people doing good. They adopt Bianca as a newcomer to town, even letting her borrow clothes and styling her hair. I particularly like when Lars goes to a party at a coworker’s house. What could be unbearably awkward becomes a time when everyone involved learns of what they are capable of being.

Lars is on a journey of his own. Dagmar begins therapy sessions with him under the pretense of passing time while Bianca receives treatments. Lars is a fly, ready to take flight at the slightest gesture toward him. But watch the way Ms. Clarkson eats her sandwich. It epitomizes her performance. She doesn’t force anything, creating a safe atmosphere that is actually anything but.

Gosling’s performance as Lars is at the crux of the success of this movie. Lars’s mannerisms and costumes are all Gosling’s, but it’s his commitment to the role that really sets it apart. Lars treats this doll as if she is real, arguing with her and even falling in love with her. If we felt Gosling was winking at us at any point, the movie would crumble at the more emotional moments, exactly when we most need to believe, but he doesn’t.

Emily Mortimer and Paul Schneider are both excellent and create a real screen couple. Ms. Mortimer may be familiar from Match Point but my guess is this movie will introduce a lot of people to Paul Schneider. He is equally excellent in a small movie you may have missed called All the Real Girls. If you have missed it, I would suggest you rectify that. Many actors force themselves on us but Mr. Schneider simply exists on screen. It’s his very comfort that makes him compelling. It’s not a showy performance and will probably be ignored come awards season, but watch the scene when Gus confesses what he feels may have been his part in creating Lars’s current condition. This is one of the best performances of the year.

I don’t know if I’ve done Lars and the Real Girl justice. I’ve tried to pull back the quirk just enough to show you what’s underneath. All I can hope is that you’ll go see the movie.