I just loved it.
It was so pure, and touching.
I just wanted to give Lars a big hug throughout the whole movie.
Ryans performance was amazing. I'm shocked this movie didnt receive more attention and praise. I had never even heard of it before and, I admit, only found it while looking through the movies of ryan gosling list...
Very pleasantly surprised
It surely is.
The theme is summed up nicely and served to the viewer in the first church scene. The preacher giving the sermon notes that there really is only one law: love one another. That's what the movie is about.
The hard part in persuading someone to watch this really nice movie with you is getting them to get over the premise. The doll is just a MacGuffin; it's a story-telling device, and nothing more. The story is about a whole town coming together and expressing their love for one of their emotionally damaged sons by going along with his delusion in order to help him heal. Of course, initially the viewer has to get over the "sex doll" notion and see that the movie isn't about sophomoric sex jokes or even about sex at all.
It's not a farce. It's a really sweet movie about familial and communal love. Yes, it's even about a budding romance between Lars and Margo too. The title is a play on words, as she's the "real" girl.
I think anyone who can get over the premise and actually watch the film can't help but feel really good and warm inside when it's over.
I could watch Lars' and Margo's bowling date scene over and over. It's one of the sweetest date scenes in a movie I've seen. It ends perfectly too, with Margo's hand lingering in Lars' hand in the parking lot after their goodnight handshake.
Very well said. Such a warming film.
shareBefore I comment on the film, let me just speak about the initial confusions I had about the film. Firstly I swear to god I thought I remembered seeing the film reviewed during its release as European film (most likely Swedish). Maybe I was just confused by the Lars name in the title, but the whole idea of the story just seemed so European and a bit too risky or out there to be an American idea for a movie. So you can imagine my surprise when I finally saw it on TV the other day and I thought it must have been an American remake of the European movie. But no, there was no European version. This was the critically acclaimed version. As I was trying to come to terms with this, I was then shocked that the movie was only rated PG (Australian rating). I really thought the mere subject of a movie involving a guy living with a sex doll as his girlfriend would most likely give it an MA rating (this may be equivalent to U.S NC17).
As it turned out though, 'Lars and the Real Girl' was an astonishing piece of film making if for no other reason than it manages to take this potentially sordid plot and somehow made it into a thought provoking, whimsical and almost a feel good movie that amazingly manages to be accessible to even those who would typically seek family viewing. A truly amazing achievement and yes like others I was surprised at how sad I was at events that took place towards the end of this extraordinary film.