Lars and the Real Girl (2007)

For starters, let's say that Craig Gillespie's Lars and the Real Girl is nowhere near as disturbing as its premise might lead you to believe. The relationship between Lars (Ryan Gosling) and his sex doll "girlfriend" Bianca (humorously credited "as Herself") is much more innocent than one might initially predict, and it's a whole heck of a lot funnier.

Lars is your lonely Everyman, bouncing between a nondescript cubicle and the garage behind his brother's house (brother Gus and his wife Karin are played by Paul Schneider and Emily Mortimer, respectfully, obviously). Despite (or perhaps in spite of) an obvious romantic tension with coworker Margo (Kelli Garner, who positively glows), Lars purchases Bianca, around whom he crafts an elaborate relationship. Recognizing this as a legitimate psychological delusion, the town plays along.

This whole sex doll business is, one has to admit, a little beyond the norm of your average film fare. Yet screenwriter Nancy Oliver does a marvelous job of keeping it within the lines of cinematic plausibility, aided in no small part by a completely infatuated performance by Gosling, who really shouldn't be thought of "that guy from The Notebook" anymore. In a lot of ways, Gosling's Lars Lindstrom is like Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain - completely enamored with a lifeless nobody. It's not difficult to see why the townspeople play along with the Bianca facade; Gosling looks at Bianca as though she's real, as though she's the girl of his dreams.

Poor Margo. Kelli Garner is completely adorable as the would-be love interest, the quintessential girl-next-door, if only he knew. With perhaps her biggest exposure since her turn as Faith Domergue in Scorsese's Hughes-biopic The Aviator, Garner is definitely someone I'll have to keep on my radar - similar words about whom I spoke in reference to Emily Mortimer in The Pink Panther, who will break your heart here when Bianca falls ill.

I wasn't expecting to like this movie just as much as I did. It's a sweet film, emotional, guided by a few great performances. My gripe with this film is the unbelievability factor; other than Gus and a few religious figures, no one really shows any problem with accepting Bianca as a member of the community. Does this town love Lars so much that they're willing to elect Bianca to the school board? As Geoffrey Rush said in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, "It does strain credulity, at that."

Otherwise, I'd have to give Lars a "Recommended Viewing" certificate, if only for making sex dolls so gosh darned interesting.