Hammerman Ikon

Hammerman Ikon Film Guide

Lars and the Real Girl
2007
*
Director: Graig Gillespie
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider, Kelli Garner, Patricia Clarkson, Nancy Beatty, Doug Lennox

Lars is a shy 27-year-old introvert who lives in the garage next to his childhood home, now inhabited by his brother and his pregnant wife. The family and co-workers, who attempt to break him out of his shell, are happy to hear that he finally has a girlfriend, but Bianca turns out to be a life-sized sex doll. Nancy Oliver, a staff writer on Six Feet Under, makes her screenwriting debut with this flimsy and gimmicky premise, which could have potential as an outrageous sex comedy, but she gives us a terribly earnest and politically correct drama in which Lars and Bianca barely hold hands. The sympathetic townsfolk, without a cynic among them, collectively agree to play along with the pretense for the benefit of the delusional Lars. Even if you manage to get past this sugary wish fulfillment scenario, you still face a long and extremely tedious film which doesn't offer a single dramatic conflict.