Movie Review for Lars and the Real Girl

Summary: Lars Lindstrom is a loveable introvert whose emotional baggage has kept him from fully embracing life. After years of what is almost solitude, he invites Bianca, a friend he met on the internet to visit him. He introduces Bianca to his brother Gus and his wife Karen and they are stunned. They don't know what to say to Lars or Bianca--because she is a life-size doll, not a real person and he is treating her as though she is alive. They consult the family doctor Dagmar who explains this is a delusion he's created--for what reason she doesn't yet know but they should all go along with it. What follows is an emotional journey for Lars and the people around him.

                         Reviews of Lars and the Real Girl
By Tim Brayton of Antagony & Ecstasy (7/0)
            The wonderful performances are the crux of the movie, and its primary success; for there are sign...

By Christy Lemire of Associated Press (7/0)
            Through small gestures and bold choices, [Gosling’s] created a character you begin feeling sorry ...

By Marjorie Baumgarten of Austin Chronicle (7/0)
            This movie's premise is high concept and would be easy to dismiss were the film not so flawlessly...

By Wesley Morris of Boston Globe (7/0)
            ...when a movie about a guy who orders a sex doll off the Internet can turn vice into virtue, som...

By Fred Topel of Can Magazine (7/0)
            This movie is either a cautionary tale or my potential future biography. I'm just kidding, I'll n...

By Sean O'Connell of Charlotte Weekly (7/0)
            Even under his own established guidelines, Gillespie pushes his fantasy past the point of possibi...

                         Reviews of Lars and the Real Girl
By Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times (7/0)
            Only after the movie is over do you realize what a balancing act it was, what risks it took, what...

By Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times (7/0)
            Its weapon is absolute sincerity.

By Michael Phillips of Chicago Tribune (7/0)
            You'll pardon me if I feeling like urping just a tiny bit at screenwriter Nancy Oliver's blend of...

By Peter Rainer of Christian Science Monitor (7/0)
            Before you recoil in horror at the apparent grossness of yet another Hollywood high concept, you ...

By Peter T. Chattaway of Christianity Today (7/0)
            The film encourages us to look beyond the surface when we are dealing with people, and it just mi...

By Jules Brenner of Cinema Signals (7/0)
            Happily devoid of humor based on ridicule, it achieves almost excruciating concern and sympathy i...

                         Reviews of Lars and the Real Girl
By Joshua Tyler of CinemaBlend.com (7/0)
            Lars recognizes what few films do, that in the heart of America there remain places where neighbo...

By Roger Tennis of Cinemaclips.com (7/0)
            A delightful and heartwarming cinematic treat.

By Kim Voynar of Cinematical (7/0)
            This film is heart-warming and lovely, but it's also deeply sad and tragic, and somehow Gosling c...

By Edward Douglas of ComingSoon.net (7/0)
            A truly warm and wonderful film that work by using simpler storytelling to explore very deep huma...

By Matt Brunson of Creative Loafing (7/0)
            An often clumsy fable about the sting of loneliness and the welcome balm of selfless intervention...

By Steven D. Greydanus of Decent Films Guide (7/0)
            Manages to be — yes — sweet and sincere without ever tipping over either into sacchar...

                         Reviews of Lars and the Real Girl
By Chris Farnsworth of E! Online (7/0)
            ...pretty touching and kindhearted...for a movie about a guy in love with a sex doll.

By Brian Orndorf of eFilmCritic.com (7/0)
            Gosling is a flannelled laundry pile with a porn star moustache, overdosing on uncut gravitas to ...

By Erik Childress of eFilmCritic.com (7/0)
            The final moment of the film is a shining light of hope that most romantic comedies would kill to...

By Peter Sobczynski of eFilmCritic.com (7/0)
            It may well be the finest, strangest and most emotional romantic comedy-drama to come along since...

By Emanuel Levy of EmanuelLevy.Com (7/0)
            One of the year's pleasant surprises, an offbeat lyrical fable about the coming of age of a painf...

By Vince Koehler of Entertainment Spectrum (7/0)
            Great for a few laughs, but a little to drawn out.

                         Reviews of Lars and the Real Girl
By Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly (7/0)
            ...even (Gosling's) mad skills at embodying misfit masculinity can't sustain the plastic premise.

By Eric D. Snider of EricDSnider.com (7/0)
            There are a million ways this film could go wrong, and it succumbs to none of them.

By Eugene Novikov of Film Blather (7/0)
            What's interesting is the way that what begins as a joke -- the denizens of Lars' sleepy northern...

By Wendy Weinstein of Film Journal International (7/0)
            What could have been cloying or absurd is instead endearing, even if the film is somewhat too lon...

By Jonathan F. Richards of Film.com (7/0)
            ...we're surprised to find that it's possible to feel a real emotional attachment to an anatomica...

By Jason Morgan of filmcritic.com (7/0)
            Perhaps it's the absurdity of the situation, but we are never able to connect with any of the cha...

                         Reviews of Lars and the Real Girl
By MaryAnn Johanson of Flick Filosopher (7/0)
            [A] perfect movie in all ways: it's far more inventive and adventurous than most movies dare, it'...

By Rick Groen of Globe and Mail (7/0)
            A sweet little fable about how a delusional man-child is helped by the loving ministrations of hi...

By John DeFore of Hollywood Reporter (7/0)
            Unexpectedly tender dramedy is far more family-friendly than it sounds.

By Filip Vukcevic of IGN Movies (7/0)
            A sweet film brought to life by excellent performers, Lars and the Real Girl makes for a very soo...

By Jane Stevenson of Jam! Movies (7/0)
            The clever, ultimately moving script overall delicate, sweet tone, and uniformly fine performance...

By Beth Accomando of KPBS.org (7/0)
            The only time the film finds the right tone is in the scenes with Patricia Clarkson. She displays...

                         Reviews of Lars and the Real Girl
By Ella Taylor of L.A. Weekly (7/0)
            How painful to watch Ryan Gosling, one of the most elastic actors of his generation, smirk and ga...

By Andy Klein of Los Angeles CityBeat (7/0)
             ... emotionally richer and more tasteful than one could imagine, given the tawdriness of the con...

By Bob Strauss of Los Angeles Daily News (7/0)
            It's a crazy situation and utterly unbelievable, yet no movie I've seen in ages has inspired me m...

By Kenneth Turan of Los Angeles Times (7/0)
            This is a film whose daring and delicate blend of apparent irreconcilables will sweep you off you...

By Kenneth Turan of Los Angeles Times (7/0)
            ...the sweetest, most innocent, most completely enjoyable film around.

By Mark Dujsik of Mark Reviews Movies (7/0)
            Erupting with compassion and humanity.

                         Reviews of Lars and the Real Girl
By Pete Hammond of Maxim (7/0)
            It's the real deal. A whimsical, funny, moving film. Gosling is no less than astounding in the su...

By Matt Pais of Metromix.com (7/0)
            The cast of Gosling, Schneider, Mortimer and Patricia Clarkson as Lars' doctor is more perfect th...

By Duane Dudek of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (7/0)
            Lars and the Real Girl shares the optimism and sense of community of gems like The Station Agent,...

By Colin Covert of Minneapolis Star Tribune (7/0)
            Every scene that could be played for pathos uncorks great laughs, while those that could turn cra...

By Ken Hanke of Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) (7/0)
            The truth is that it works more often than it doesn't -- thanks in no small part to the central p...

By Michael Dequina of Mr. Brown's Movies (7/0)
            Gosling has deservedly won big buzz for his sensitive and humane portrayal of Lars, never playing...

                         Reviews of Lars and the Real Girl
By Jack Mathews of New York Daily News (7/0)
            Working with a doll can't be easy, but Gosling actually makes it feel emotionally real.

By David Edelstein of New York Magazine (7/0)
            Often howlingly funny, and the actors are a treat.

By Lou Lumenick of New York Post (7/0)
            ...an offbeat comedy that plays as if Preston Sturges came back to life and collaborated with the...

By Manohla Dargis of New York Times (7/0)
            ...part comedy, part tragedy and 100 percent pure calculation...

By Prairie Miller of NewsBlaze (6/1)
            A kind of Invasion Of The Silicone Body Snatchers, this weirdly affecting tall tale is about a lo...

By Jan Stuart of Newsday (7/0)
            What's remarkable about Lars and the Real Girl is the tightrope that [screenwriter Nancy] Oliver ...

                         Reviews of Lars and the Real Girl
By Frank Swietek of One Guy's Opinion (7/0)
            There are so many ways this movie could have gone wrong that it's a minor miracle it never flies ...

By Scott Tobias of Onion AV Club (7/0)
            There's nothing particularly 'real' about Lars And The Real Girl, just a couple layers of quirk s...

By Cole Haddon of Orlando Weekly (7/0)
            Director Craig Gillespie deserves praise for making such a silly premise so endearing, but Goslin...

By Jeanne Aufmuth of Palo Alto Weekly (7/0)
            Tender, thoughtful and distinctive.

By Gary Thompson of Philadelphia Daily News (7/0)
            There are some pretty nice moments here -- it's good to see Gosling take a role that doesn't ask ...

By Steven Rea of Philadelphia Inquirer (7/0)
            The central gimmick of the film remains just that -- a gimmick -- as genuine emotion gives way to...

                         Reviews of Lars and the Real Girl
By Bill Gibron of PopMatters (5/2)
            Avoiding cliche while exploiting the obvious comic possibilities of a man's obsession with a 'ana...

By Cynthia Fuchs of PopMatters (7/0)
            The snowy, bleakish start of Lars and the Real Girl doesn't quite prepare you for the strained wi...

By David Nusair of Reel Film Reviews (7/0)
            ...the viewer can't help but feel sorry for Lars...

By Mark Pfeiffer of Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema (7/0)
            Lars and the Real Girl could have felt overly precious, like a cheap stunt or joke, but the emoti...

By Pam Grady of Reel.com (7/0)
             Comic and moving (without being overly sentimental) and completely unique, Lars and the Real Gir...

By Robin Clifford of Reeling Reviews (7/0)
            Lars and the Real Girl is a true original. It has drama, marvelous humor and its characters show ...

                         Reviews of Lars and the Real Girl
By James Berardinelli of ReelViews (7/0)
            ...an example of how even the most ridiculous premise can be used to construct a smart, touching ...

By Jim Lane of Sacramento News & Review (7/0)
            ...director Craig Gillespie (Mr. Woodcock) bobbles it...

By Sean Means of Salt Lake Tribune (7/0)
            One of the strangest, funniest and most romantic movies you're likely to see.

By Mick LaSalle of San Francisco Chronicle (7/0)
            ...a gentle comedy, offbeat but never cute...

By Sean Axmaker of Seattle Post-Intelligencer (7/0)
            All the warmth and acceptance of the concerned community helps distract from the rather creaky ps...

By Moira MacDonald of Seattle Times (7/0)
            Almost impossibly sweet, a tale of love and kindness that's funny without being snarky.

                         Reviews of Lars and the Real Girl
By Nick Schager of Slant Magazine (7/0)
            Lars and the Real Girl is an SNL sketch reconfigured as quirky-corny Sundance pap.

By Dana Stevens of Slate (7/0)
            The movie is convinced that its man-loves-mannequin premise is uplifting, when actually it's just...

By David Fear of Time Out New York (5/2)
            Even [Gosling] can’t guide us to the pulse within this pat material, and you have to keep remin...

By Tony Medley of Tolucan Times (7/0)
            ...bilious, ludicrous, and irresponsible.

By Maitland McDonagh of TV Guide's Movie Guide (7/0)
            ...There's something fundamentally hollow about a film whose main character is entirely defined b...

By Claudia Puig of USA Today (7/0)
            ...an original, amusing and heartfelt tale...

                         Reviews of Lars and the Real Girl
By Alissa Simon of Variety (7/0)
            Tenderly depicting his characters' human foibles with low-key visual humor, Gillespie never conde...

By Daniel M. Kimmel of Worcester Telegram & Gazette (7/0)
            ...a one-joke idea that quickly wears out its welcome...

By Susan Granger of www.susangranger.com (7/0)
            Who would think that the story of a reclusive man and his mail-order sex doll would make a remark...

By Bill Goodykoontz of Arizona Republic (3/4) No reference
            Sweet, moving and heartfelt aren't necessarily the first words that come to mind when describing ...

By Shlomo Schwartzberg of Boxoffice Magazine (3/4) No reference
            A timely reminder that love stories don’t have to be crass or contrived to succeed, even if one o...

By Rob Thomas of Capital Times (Madison, WI) (3/4) No reference
            The most bizarre thing about "Lars and the Real Girl" is how it takes such an outlandish premise ...

                         Reviews of Lars and the Real Girl
By Jeff Vice of Deseret News, Salt Lake City (3/4) No reference
            Director Gillespie and screenwriter Nancy Oliver keep the tone pretty light for about the first t...

By Richard Roeper of Ebert & Roeper (3/4) No reference
            I didn’t connect with it.

By Josh Bell of Las Vegas Weekly (3/4) No reference
            While occasional moments are as sweet as they're meant to be, most of the movie is as fake and aw...

By Rene Rodriguez of Miami Herald (3/4) No reference
            Initially sounds perverted but ends up being just the opposite.

By David Poland of Movie City News (3/4) No reference
            It goes from really quite amusing to a film that starts moving towards a simple grace that touche...

By Eric Kohn of New York Press (3/4) No reference
            Gillespie’s sophomore outing seems destined to be perceived as his true emergence as an artist.

                         Reviews of Lars and the Real Girl
By Manohla Dargis of New York Times (3/4) No reference
            Lars and the Real Girl is part comedy, part tragedy and 100 percent pure calculation.

By Stephen Whitty of Newark Star-Ledger (3/4) No reference
            Lars is played by the endlessly fascinating Ryan Gosling, who perhaps has too much of a taste for...

By David Ansen of Newsweek (3/4) No reference
            Directed with patient, low-key sensitivity, it never goes for a cheap laugh at its protagonist’s ...

By Mike Russell of Oregonian (3/4) No reference
            Surprisingly touching and humane, thanks to its restrained direction and strong performances and ...

By Jon Popick of Planet Sick-Boy (3/4) No reference
            Gosling once again shows his range and ability to pick quality projects in this sweet little scri...

By Prairie Miller of WBAI Web Radio (3/4) No reference
            A kind of Invasion Of The Silicone Body Snatchers, this weirdly affecting tall tale is about a lo...

                         Reviews of Lars and the Real Girl
By Harvey S. Karten of Compuserve (3/4) Not Reachable
            The idea is original, the story is sweet, but repetition sets in making it difficult to bond with...

By Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone of TheMovieChicks.com (6/1) Not Reachable
            What an original idea - and what a direction to take it. The movie captures the feeling of a smal...

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