Lars Lindstrom (Ryan Gosling) is an awkward and shy young man.  Although he has issues with women, he has finally found the girl of his dreams. The only problem is that she isn’t real - she's a sex doll.

CRITIQUE

Hearing the premise of Lars and the Real Girl, one could easily see this as something the Farrelly Brothers would do.  It sounds as though it should be an extremely raunchy sex comedy. Thankfully it isn’t.  Lars manages to take the premise of a man and his sex doll, and turns it into a sweet natured and pure story about love and hope.

Lars is a guy who has troubles dealing with people (women especially.)  He lives in the garage of his own home (while his brother and his wife live in the home itself,) leaving only to go to work or to church.  When an obnoxious co-worker turns him onto the Real Doll website, Lars orders himself a female companion, something that the town finds weird at first.  However, the longer the doll (called Bianca) stays in town, the more the residents begin to warm up to her.  Soon Bianca begins to find a place in the social lives of everyone in the town.

What makes the film work is the films sincerity in the belief that the entire town is able to accept Bianca as a “real” person for the sake of Lars and the fact that the filmmakers never treat Bianca as though she were anything but another person.  The moment that the audience remember that Bianca is an object meant for pleasure, not companionship, the illusion is broken.  And this never happens.  Sure, we know what the doll is meant for, but the film never truly sees her as such.

And while both screenwriter Nancy Oliver and director Craig Gillespie do an amazing job walking the fine line between drama and humour and never falling on either side, the entire cast (and especially Ryan Gosling) deserves most of the credit for making this film work.  Gosling’s take on Lars is so straightforward and real, that the audience is able to buy his infatuation with Bianca and how his feelings for her evolve over the course of the film. Without this believability, the entire film sinks.

THE VIDEO

Lars and the Real Girl looks fantastic.  The colors are vibrant and well balanced. There is no detectable grain or any other digital flaws at all.

THE AUDIO

While Lars is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, the mix doesn’t have much to do.  The mix is fine, the dialogue is clear and the music never interferes, but there is nothing special about the mix at all.

THE EXTRAS

The Real Story of Lars and the Real Girl: A nice little making of featurette about the film and how the cast and crew had to learn to act with Bianca and keep the film grounded in reality.

A Real Leading Lady: A look at Bianca and how she interacted with the crew.

Deleted Scene: A quick scene that no one will ever miss.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Lars and the Real Girl is a wonderfully sweet film. With it out on DVD, people now have an opportunity to check out one of last year’s most completely underrated flick.