'What?' 'I said it's called Lars And The Real Girl. It's about an introvert who finds love with a sex doll. What do you think?' 'Er...no.' ...is something like the conversation me and my partner had some weeks ago as we were contemplating our next film choice, with me as the monosyllabic Doubting Thomas. I calmly and condescendingly explained how it would undoubtedly be rubbish, entirely lacking as it was in pyrotechnics or revenge-related death scenes. We chose Taken instead (which ticked my particular boxes), and promptly forgot this Lars film existed. Fast forward two weeks and I see that one of our trusty Dooyoo members ...  Read the complete review

Lars Lindstrom is an introvert, and is very uncomfortable around people including his own family. Instead of living with his older brother Gus (Paul Schneider) and sister-in Law Karin (Emily Mortimer) , Lars lives in the run down shed to the side of the house. Understandably when Lars announces the arrival of internet friend Bianca, his family are shocked, but relived that he finally seems to be embracing life. Lars informs them that Bianca was a missionary from Brazil, who's now on a sabbatical so she can experience the world. Oh by the way, Bianca is a life size anatomically corrected life-size doll. Believing him to be nuts, his family turn to their ...  Read the complete review

Somewhere in the realms of small town America a quiet, shy man by the name of Lars lives. His home is in the garage of the family home, owned 50/50 with his brother, who lives in the main house with his pregnant wife. Lars is a friendly, helpful guy and he is well liked both at work and by the inhabitants of the town. There is a young girl he works with who seems to quite like Lars but he cannot talk to her at all, ending up acting like a 12 year old around her. He likes that she talks to him but seems to have no idea of how to respond, so he ignores her or just plain runs away. Lars is normal in most way, or he seems to be. He might be a little ...  Read the complete review

Lars (Ryan Gosling) keeps himself to himself, since his father's death he has turned into a social recluse and even moved out of the family that he shares with his brother Gus (Paul Schneider) and his wife Karin (Emily Mortimer) into the garage. One day whilst at work he gets a call from Karin telling him that a large delivery has been made and she has left it in the garage for him. On returning he knocks on his brother's door and tells him and Karin that he has met someone and that they would like to have dinner with them. Obviously they are excited for him as they have been worried about him and the fact that they don't see very much of him. But ...  Read the complete review

Many people find one of the main appeals of independent cinema is its tendency to make them say "What the f***?" in response to its method of tackling a number of serious issues. Lars And The Real Girl is a perfect example of the quirky, indie approach to emphasizing isolation and loneliness within human nature. Get this: The film chooses to outline such issues by having its lead character Lars (Ryan Gosling), a shy and sensitive guy who lives in the garage apartment behind his brother, purchase a blow-up doll from the Internet and then go around announcing to people in the local community that "she" is his girlfriend. This may seem like an ...  Read the complete review