Dir. Craig Gillespie
Writ. Nancy Oliver
Act. Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Kelli Garner, Paul Schneider

I don’t usually throw this phrase out too lightly, but this picture is the best movie of 2007 so far (Dec. 6, 2007).

Every year, I wait for one movie to come along, rise above the ashes of the sea of Hollywood and the self-proclaimed independent market crap that invades American cinemas. Last year, it was “Stranger Than Fiction.” This year, it’s “Lars and the Real Girl.”

Living in his brother’s detached garage, Lars, played by Ryan Gosling (Fracture), has a delusional break and believes a life-size, high-end sex doll is his new foreign girlfriend who doesn’t speak much English.

His brother and sister-and-law counsel with the local family practitioner, who also holds a degree in psychology, to find out Lars’ issues. At her advice, they an everyone else in town who cares about Lars treat the doll/girlfriend as if she is human.

Eventually, Lars’ come out of his reclusive shell and becomes more socially adjusted, but at a high emotional price. As he become more psychologically adjusted, his relationship with the “real girl” begins to crumble.

This picture is purely a study in a man’s healing. It isn’t even about what made him have the psychological break. It almost doesn’t matter. Lars is an innocent character who is functional; he keeps a job, interacts with some people, but is socially recluse. The film attempts to blame this on the treatment of his father after his mother died giving birth to him. The point at the top of Act 2 is, how does Lars get healed? Thus, our movie really begins.

The writing is adorable with a great array of characters, from the skeptical brother, to the pushy sister-in-law; from the shy girl at work who has a crush on Lars, to the staunch church-lady who leads the community in their acceptance of the “real girl.”

One of my favorite scenes was when Margo, the girl at work, played by Kelli Garner (The Aviator), broke up with her boyfriend and was crying about a co-worker hung her stuffed bear by the neck as an inter-office gag. Lars catches up with her in the break room, removes the noose from her bear, checks its vital signs and administers CPR to the stuffed animal during conversation. It was purely fucking adorable, and anyone who doesn’t melt or at least laugh at that scene doesn’t deserve to see this movie. You must be all crudded up inside, and have no heart, so you may as well run off and be an Oakland Raiders fan.

The cast oozes talent. Gosling shows why he is an Academy Award nominee once again, although the film isn’t making enough of a splash for him to be remembered, I think. Garner as Margo was also delightful, but it was Emily Mortimer (Dear Frankie) as Karin the sister-in-law who was a major driving force for both the story and the cast. Paul Schneider (The Assassination of Jesse James…) also had a couple great moments as Lars’ brother.

I also have an immense amount of respect for director Craig Gillespie who kept the visual style of this picture very simple, like Lars. I see him as more in the vein of Mike Nicholls, who shoots a scene adequately while focusing on performances to grip the audience instead of flashy and expensive camera movements and lenses; however, I shake my head at the fact the only other movie he’s director to hit the big screens was this year’s “Mr. Woodcock.”

I dug “Mr. Woodcock” enough, but compared to “Lars and the Real Girl,” I’m kind of scratching at the temple.

The last thing I’ll point out is, “Lars…” is one of those movies where everyone in the audience sat quietly in their seats as the credits rolled cause they were deeply affected by the story, characters and the film’s message. “Stranger Than Fiction” also had that effect on the audience I saw it with.

“Lars…” runs the gambit; laughs, tears and genuine sentiment. It is every reason I love movies in the first place.

Benn - Where's the Humanity?