I'll believe that the whole town tolerated Lars.
I'll believe that Lars could get away with calling an ambulance for a plastic doll.
What I WON'T believe is that Margo (Kelli Garner's character) wasn't gettin' any.
Even with the frumpy clothes you could see that she's built like a brick **** house.
Only in the movies are girls like that waiting around for good old Lars to come to his senses.
Are you with me on this one guys?
Yea, an entire town would not react like that, but I liked it and though it worked for the movie. This movie was too cute.
shareNote to that it was filmed in Canada . . . I know it wasn't said in the movie (except for the this far up north comment), but it had a very Canadian small town feel to it. I would have a slightly harder time believing a small US town would react to Lars this way, but more believable if it was a Canadian small town.
Especially since Lars wasn't a Jerk about it and his brother and sister-in-law seemed like well liked people in the town.
And for the Margot thing . . . she even said she broke up with Eric because "he just wasn't interesting." She was obviously looking for someone a bit different, off key.
It may have been filmed in Canada, but it was meant to be a Wisconsin town. The cars had Wisconsin license plates and he had a state map of Wisconsin on his wall as though he worked for a state office or something
shareI think in a small town setting like the one in the movie, very close knit and especially drawn together by...uhg...church, there COULD possibly be that many caring individuals.
It's not like the ENTIRE town is without ridicule for poor Lars, but cynical as even I am of human nature, it shouldn't be doubted that a good number of people can't put aside their prejudices for somebody that they really care about.
So no, I don't think it was truly the most surreal part of the film, and it was also an important part of the plot, and helped the movie be so great.
Many of the people seemed related to each other which would be common in a smmallr town where people grew up and married within the town.
"Sometimes you have to know when to put a cork in it."
~Frasier
I'll believe that the whole town tolerated Lars.
I'll believe that Lars could get away with calling an ambulance for a plastic doll.
What I WON'T believe is that Margo (Kelli Garner's character) wasn't gettin' any.
Even with the frumpy clothes you could see that she's built like a brick **** house.
Only in the movies are girls like that waiting around for good old Lars to come to his senses.
Are you with me on this one guys?
Ah, yes. You know us women. Sooo impatient. We would never harbor long-term crushes on guys, especially not after we discover the seeming improbability of a relationship with whomever we happen to be attracted to. That would be silly. Nope, we just move on to the next one...
But you guys... man, you're so romantic. Always sitting in your rooms, pining away for the girl of your dreams (even if she's a complete nutjob). You'd never glance at another woman ever again.
Yeah. That's way more believable.
Has anyone in this family ever even seen a chicken?
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But you guys... man, you're so romantic. Always sitting in your rooms, pining away for the girl of your dreams (even if she's a complete nutjob). You'd never glance at another woman ever again. Yeah. That's way more believable.
Always sitting in your rooms, pining away for the girl of your dreams (even if she's a complete nutjob).
No... especially if she's a complete nutjob. Because for most of us guys who hang out on the IMDb boards, that's pretty much a prerequisite for a woman to be interested in us. ;)
"Positive Portrayal of a Cockroach" Award Recipient: WALL-E. The cockroach is a noble beast.
haha ri' right on andromeda ^-^...
shareI truly appreciate your sarcasm. I laughed! Cause I agree
shareAs said before: it is a fairy tale! Even if a town would react like that, media would show up in that town, so why bother if it was Canada, Wisconsin, Germany or Timbuktu. That is completely off the topic, and makes me wonder in what delusional world you live in. When I saw the ambulance, my first reaction was also "that's way over the top" but immediately after i thought: Yep! thats the way a the fairy tale has to be told. Just like "Big Fish" this story takes you far out into the great wide open.
To tag it as a comedy is bollocks, although you have to laugh at times, but these laughs are bitter sweet. If you like to be touched by these bitter sweet moments, i recommend "The Art of Negative Thinking".
actually, the "laugh" moments in the show seemed somewhat gut-wrenching to me as well... it's not dark comedy, but extremely wonderfully sweet, in a way that you wish you could experience in your life/family/town but you know better than to expect it... tragic, really.
in a sense, it seemed bittersweet, but more specifically, we the audience feel bitter about the sweetness that the characters are showing each other; rather than the characters having bittersweet moments within the plot. we empathise with the sweetness and even the suffering they feel, but the bitterness (as in, since it seems too good to be true IRL) is all in the audience.
the corollary though, is that while most of us dare not expect such awesome sweetness, it is definitely still possible, and perhaps all it takes is one of us to start the ball rolling. perhaps that is the real bitterness... that we have grown so cold, we can't imagine OURSELVES kickstarting the kind campaign where we live. so on the one hand, the audience feels bitter cos they wanna be treated nice IRL too; but "know better" than to expect it. and on the other hand, the bitterness deepens as we silently realise it is within our grasp to make it happen; yet we are too jaded to even contemplate starting it.
ugh. i think i just depressed myself :(
I take it your comment is meant to be sarcastic. But speaking as a man, I think what you're saying is pretty much straight truth at least for more introspective sorts of guys (which probably would be represented on imdb.com boards in greater proportion than in the general population).
I liked the movie very much, but I suspended my disbelief. It would be nice to think a young woman as cute as Margo would be available for a length of time. Sadly for us nerdy guys, I'd say it's pretty rare.
lol! good one :)
shareWell, I'll take your generalisation of women being "too fickle" as a sign that you have not yet learned that not everybody has absolutely the same taste as you. People are individuals. Everyone has their own idea of what they find attractive in a person. It's not that hard to believe, but seriously. It's true. And no, not all women are fickle. But I know some men who are :)
shareYeah she was too hot for that part. Even in a small town she would have found other guys who were interested in her who would keep her amused.
shareWas I the only one who actually watched the movie...
Margot was pursued by other men, and eventually ended up dating one, Eric. She didn't wait around for Lars, but once Lars started to "become a man" and let Bianca go it just worked out that she was single. Her character was not the most normal of people either, so I don't have a problem believing her crush on Lars.
I Really enjoyed the movie though. In fact, I enjoy anything Gosling does. He is a very under-appreciated actor. The supporting cast was spectacular as well and Kelli Garner really is stunning. Check this picture --> http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e89/ngbbpc/kelli-garner-03.jpg
I'm very glad to be able to comment - four years later - that Ryan Gosling has completely overcome being an under-appreciated actor.
shareBut she did find another guy, they just broke up...
shareLoved the movie, but I have to agree. Even with the fairy tale nature of this film, it was hard to buy that any girl would be romanticly interested in Lars, let alone wait around months for him to snap out of his funk. I'd maybe buy the opposite happening; a guy waiting with baited breath for a 'crazy' girl to come around, but women are too fickle to have that kind of patience.
Funny, I thought it was just the opposite. Men are much quicker to jump on someone new, literally and figuratively!
Me in an earlier post:
Loved the movie, but I have to agree. Even with the fairy tale nature of this film, it was hard to buy that any girl would be romanticly interested in Lars, let alone wait around months for him to snap out of his funk. I'd maybe buy the opposite happening; a guy waiting with baited breath for a 'crazy' girl to come around, but women are too fickle to have that kind of patience.
Funny, I thought it was just the opposite. Men are much quicker to jump on someone new, literally and figuratively!
sadly, this is true.. I used to chat for months over the internet with a girl I thought was perfect for me, and altough she kept refusing to meet because she was too nervous, sad or depressed etc. I still hoped she would change her mind eventually.. in the end, it turns out she went out with a guy she knew for a couple of weeks.. so you can imagine I got quite pissed.. and I learned my lesson..
keep in mind it's a small town with very few bachelors. I'm sure she thought it was worth the wait.
shareIf I was Margo, I would've given up on Lars when she was talking to him (i think it was when we first saw her at work) and he just stood up and walked past her to get coffee without saying anything, knowing full well she was talking to him. I had a crush on a guy and he did the same thing to me so that was the last time I talked to him. No matter what kind of mental issues you have, that's just rude.
share". . . it was hard to buy that any girl would be romanticly interested in Lars, let alone wait around months for him to snap out of his funk. I'd maybe buy the opposite happening; a guy waiting with baited breath for a 'crazy' girl to come around, but women are too fickle to have that kind of patience."
Maybe in your world, but not in everyones.
I had a crush on the same guy for 3 YEARS in high school - and the most I ever got from him was exactly ONE slow dance and he touched my back ONCE during a band trip. But I would have waited forever for that boy if life hadn't come knocking on all our doors after high school.
I also pined away for an entire year before I had the nerve to show interest in my first adult love - and then we had a largely long-distance relationship due to both of us getting stationed at different bases (we were both in the USMC at the time.)
So don't talk to ME about women being "too fickle to have that kind of patience." The women you know just aren't interested in YOU, that's all. Maybe you should take a good look at yourself before you write all women off as being "impatient" or "fickle."
I am not a guy, but I don't understand how you draw the conclusion that she wasn't getting any. She had that boyfriend that she ended up breaking up with, she may very well have been getting something from him. Further, I am not sure she was interested in Lars UNTIL Bianca came to the picture. Isn't that always the case, attached men/women get more action? I think she saw the goodness, and kindness in Lars, that the entire city saw, and then the reality of how he treated Bianca, and she may have gotten a little smitten with him. I admit, he had me when he gave the bear CPR.
This movie reminded me of the notion "it takes a village to raise a child." If more towns would come to the aid as this did, what kind of country would we live in, much better I would bet. I think it was a reminder of a time we are losing. I recall as a child watching on the news as people drove from hundreds of miles away, bringing food, water, and sandbags, and working long hours, standing in feet of drudge, to try and build up the levies along the Mississippi when it was flooding so badly. You saw some sign of this during Katrina, but I don't think to the same magnitude. I think this movie serves as a reminder of what the community can do to help out one of its own.
If you watch the beginning of the movie when Lars first goes to church you will see she is attracted to him there. And then at work there is that arkwardness that the director wants you see.
This was all before Bianca.
There was almost TOO much suspension of disbelief needed in this movie. It wasn't that Margot was too pretty to wait around on Lars, it's that she seemed to have no problem becoming immediately involved with an obviously mentally unstable and delusional man. That just topped it off for me. Gosling's a great actor, but if he keeps displaying his talent in movies like this and Half Nelson it's going to be wasted.
shareI so agree with everything but your last sentence. I am ambivalent about the last sentence.
But to your first point, Lars didn't just have a blow up doll in the bedroom (not that there's anything wrong with that). He walked around town pushing his doll in a wheelchair and pretended to have conversations with her. That is just above and beyond. So the unrealistic part for me was not that Margo was willing to wait for a man, but that she would consider getting with Lars.
Wanna go for a walk? Are you kidding me? No, I want to go find some other people to be around us before we pass by a lake or something and you have an episode because a tree told you to do it.
It's funny to come back four years later and say this: The Academy didn't feel Gosling was wasting his talent in Half Nelson. I'm glad... he's amazing.
shareFor me, Kelli Garner was the only negative about this movie. She is plain UGLY.
shareSee I thought that Lars, Margot, and Bianca could have a threesome. That would've been cool.
Giggitty
...
i was wondering how long it would take for that idea.
of course it would come from someone with 'Giggitty' as their signature.
I agree with the original poster (although I take issue with a great deal more elements of this movie) - Margot's crush and her waiting around was unrealistic. Yes, she was much prettier than the movie portrayed her, but that's not the larger point. For me, I practically threw the remote control at the screen when Lars rebuffed her pass and serenely told her, "[he] could never cheat on Bianca." At that point, any woman (sane or insane) would say, "Dammit, she's a *beep* doll. I'm sick of patronizing you. I'm sick of this whoole whacked town patronizing you. You can't 'cheat' on a sex doll," and storm off from the bowling alley.
shareI agree.
sharethe reasonably good looking girls crush on lars is just part of the whole playing it safe mentality in this film. first make the relationship with a SEX DOLL he buys chaste....then to say he's "ok" make it so a girl has a crush on him. its all rather pathetic and part of the thread of stupid thinking that runs through this movies script.
share>>>I agree with the original poster (although I take issue with a great deal more elements of this movie) - Margot's crush and her waiting around was unrealistic. Yes, she was much prettier than the movie portrayed her, but that's not the larger point. For me, I practically threw the remote control at the screen when Lars rebuffed her pass and serenely told her, "[he] could never cheat on Bianca." At that point, any woman (sane or insane) would say, "Dammit, she's a *beep* doll. I'm sick of patronizing you. I'm sick of this whoole whacked town patronizing you. You can't 'cheat' on a sex doll," and storm off from the bowling alley.
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Apparently the town had had meetings about the issue of Lars and the doll, and the doctor had explained the nature of Lars delusion and recommended letting Lars lead the way in how this would be treated.
If I knew someone was under medical care I would go along with what their doctor recommended for them, even if it would not have been my personal choice.
Apparently Margot had caring feelings for Lars, and was intelligent enough not to contradict what the doctor was doing in her treatment of Lars's delusion.
Besides, a man that wouldn't cheat - what a prize he is (once he over his delusion).
Okay... has everyone forgot that Margo DID have a boyfriend? That boring guy from the office. She broke it off with him because she had always loved or been interested in Lars. She said she didn't have a reason to end the relationship, but she truly did. Just because she's hot doesn't mean she's a tramp. This is a dumb post on your part.
MY MOVIE COLLECTION: http://www.dvdspot.com/member=stewardo
Agree with CalvinJ and the original poster. A (girl)friend of mine has recommended this film, but going on the contents of this thread alone I am not tempted to see the movie. It's a film that milks a simple premise for all its worth and then some. It takes an emotionally stunted guy and exaggerates the case, making a crank out of him and continually hopping between these two conditions - his sad syndrome and his over-the-top delusions.
From what I gather (haven't seen the film), the 'death' of thingummyjig at the end is meant to represent the beginning of Lars' development into a more normal person, but the metaphor is all wrong. It doesn't represent anything of the sort. Symbolically it would have to be Margot falling through the ice of a lake and Lars using the doll to pull her to safety, etc, etc.
The only part of the movie that was too difficult to suspend my disbelief for was the idea that Bianca was "elected" to the school board. I could see them pretending with giving her a job and volunteering at the hospital, but the idea that she was ELECTED to the school board stretched quirky believability to the breaking point.
shareyeah..honestly..it's like the whole town shares the delusion
and arranging for ambulance and funeral - doesn't all this cost money??
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