Lars and the Real Girl Movie Review - Loving The Inanimate

Cast - Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider, Kelli Garner, Patricia Clarkson

Directed By - Craig Gillespie

Genre - Romance, Comedy, Drama

Lars (Ryan Gosling) is a type of person who usually maintains a distance from other people and doesn't like to socialise. It's not that he can't, but it's because he chooses not to get into conversations or even gatherings. Even his older brother's pregnant wife Karin (Emily Mortimer) is barely able to get him to come over for dinner and even when he does come over, he usually talks less and keeps his head down.

One day his co-worker tells him about a website which offers customisable dolls for pleasures, and a few weeks later, we see a big box being delivered to Lars house. An excited Lars knocks on his brother's door and informs him and his wife about a "guest" who has come over to his house and requests them to keep her in their house as "she" would feel more comfortable there. Of course, they get excited about hearing about a friend of Lars but soon get disappointed when they see a doll. But instead of taking it on him, they all support him and treat it as a living thing.

Director Craig Gillespie has created a world where everybody has a big heart and does all good to each other. Your liking towards this film may depend on your belief about the real world whether you see it with a positive mind or think of it as a hell place. The way the supporting characters treat Lars and his "real" girl is nothing short of a fantasy as it is very hard to witness something like this in the real world. You may see characters like Lars in parties standing in the corner with a drink trying to avoid having a conversation with others, but people like the characters of this town are hard to seek nowadays. Lars is socially awkward and uses someone who doesn't even speak to overcome this problem subconsciously. An inanimate, non-living thing brings out emotions in him.

Mostly shot on a wide angle and steady shot, this is a calm and meditative film which makes you see good in everything. Cinema provides escapism from our daily lives, and this movie gives a perfect getaway to a place where everything is fine and sad song is made better.

With his cheeky big smiling face, Ryan Gosling steals your heart and makes you fall in love with those gentle eyes and combed hair. Watch out for his expressions during a counselling session with Dr Dagmar Berman (Patricia Clarkson). Gosling restricts himself and discloses his emotions layer by layer just like the character demands. No one could have done it better than him. He is equally supported by this fabulous ensemble cast who perform exceptionally in the film.

For once, I would like to believe in this world and would want to dive myself into optimism that one day, the world around us would be as good as this movie portrays. If looking for inspiration or love, try checking it out and submerge under this fantastical world and characters. By the way, the website in this film from which Lars orders his doll actually exists.