Real Good

I recently watched Lars and the Real Girl. Having heard good things about it, I had pretty high hopes. Sometimes, raised expectations are a recipe for failure.

This was not one of those times. Like Half Nelson, this movie featured a wonderful performance from Ryan Gosling, but this time surrounded by an equally good cast, and in service of a great story. It's about a painfully introverted young man who orders a "Real Doll" from the internet and, when it arrives, believes that it is a flesh-and-blood woman. His brother and sister-in-law are instructed by the small town physician to go along with the delusion rather than fight it, and much drama, sweetness, humor, and emotion ensues.

As I mentioned, the performances are just incredible. "Painfully" introverted really is the way I'd describe the title character of Lars, because it's actually uncomfortable to watch Ryan Gosling in the opening act of the movie. Emily Mortimer is wonderful as the nice-to-a-fault sister-in-law who just wants more than anything for the two brothers to be a part of each other's lives. And Patricia Clarkson is excellent as the doctor trying to treat Lars under the guise of treating the doll. The scenes in which she uncovers the root of Lars' delusion are among the most powerful in the movie.

The writing is excellent. It starts out awkward, and then drifts into funny, always stopping short of the line of actually ridiculing the main character. And then the story takes its most remarkable turn -- the entire town bands together to play along with the delusion. And it's completely believable. Before you know it, this doll really is a character in this movie, and you're caught up in how she is impacting the lives of all the other characters.

The movie gets deeper as it goes on, and never hits a sour note. Now, in retrospect, I think this movie has a fair amount in common with Edward Scissorhands, in that it tells an emotional story about a small group of neighbors. But this movie presents a more honest reality, rather than the heightened gothic-meets-department-store-catalog of Tim Burton's film.

In either case, the result is the same: a movie I rate an A. I definitely recommend Lars and the Real Girl.