REVIEW: Lars and the Real Girl

Mar 7th, 2008 | By Editorial Team | Category: Features

Lars

Cast - Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer

In a cold North American town, Lars Lindstrom (Ryan Gosling) leads a
hermetic life, going from his garage-cum- home to work to church
avoiding as many people as possible on his way.

He is likeable and innocent but his chronic shyness means he lives a
half-life, lonely and devoid of human contact. All this changes when a
box arrives, containing his new “girl” friend, a delusion he invents to
get over a dysfunctional family history.

This is a brilliantly sweet story, full of humour and charm with
some teary moments written by Nancy Oliver (Six Feet Under). Gosling
delivers another great performance following last year’s Half Nelson,
picking up the weirdness of Lars without over doing it.   

The supporting cast (Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider, Patricia
Clarkson) really provide the film with the little rich moments that a
film like this is made of, and help the film to steer clear of being
pegged into the “quirky” category.

- Marc Gallagher

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