Avoiding cliche while exploiting the obvious comic possibilities of a man's obsession with a 'anatomically correct' love doll, Lars and the Real Girl is a satiric, sentimental jewel.
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10/26/07
Lars And The Real Girl (2007)
81
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:129
Fresh:104
Rotten:25
Average Rating:7.1/10
Consensus: Lars and the Real Girl could've so easily been a one-joke movie. But the talented cast, a great script, and direction never condescends to its character or the audience.
Theatrical Release:2007
Box Office: $5,802,820
Synopsis: As the title character, Ryan Gosling is a strange but likeable young man who manages to keep down a job but keeps mostly to himself. He only leaves the garage where he lives when his older brother... [More]
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider
Director: Craig Gillespie
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Reviews for Lars And The Real Girl
Gosling is a flannelled laundry pile with a porn star moustache, overdosing on uncut gravitas to such a foolish degree he takes himself right out of the movie's fantastical ambiance.
10/26/07
Manages to be — yes — sweet and sincere without ever tipping over either into saccharine schmaltz on the one hand or grossout territory on the other.
10/26/07
Lars and the Real Girl shares the optimism and sense of community of gems like The Station Agent, You Can Count on Me and Junebug.
10/25/07
There are a million ways this film could go wrong, and it succumbs to none of them.
10/25/07
Every scene that could be played for pathos uncorks great laughs, while those that could turn crass or silly are compassionate. On every level, this is a labor of love.
10/25/07
Sweet, moving and heartfelt aren't necessarily the first words that come to mind when describing the tender tale of a young man and his sex doll, yet all three apply to Lars and the Real Girl.
10/25/07
Director Gillespie and screenwriter Nancy Oliver keep the tone pretty light for about the first two-thirds of the film, though it does take a rather dramatic turn toward the end. And for the most part, it works.
10/25/07
While occasional moments are as sweet as they're meant to be, most of the movie is as fake and awkward as Bianca herself.
10/25/07
Tender, thoughtful and distinctive.
10/22/07
Often howlingly funny, and the actors are a treat.
10/22/07
Top CriticThe movie is convinced that its man-loves-mannequin premise is uplifting, when actually it's just kinda gross.
10/20/07
There are some pretty nice moments here -- it's good to see Gosling take a role that doesn't ask him to be a genius or a maniac, and that gives him a different look.
10/20/07
Great for a few laughs, but a little to drawn out.
10/19/07
Gosling has deservedly won big buzz for his sensitive and humane portrayal of Lars, never playing him with the slightest wink and hence making his journey all the more affecting.
10/19/07
The snowy, bleakish start of Lars and the Real Girl doesn't quite prepare you for the strained winsomeness and warmth that follow.
10/19/07
Gosling's performance is a small miracle, not only because he's so completely open as a man who's essentially shut off, but because he changes and grows so imperceptibly before our eyes.
10/19/07
Almost impossibly sweet, a tale of love and kindness that's funny without being snarky.
10/19/07
It's a premise as fanciful as Jimmy Stewart's Harvey, and yet the movie has a sweetness that manages to be pixilated and plausible at the same time.
10/19/07
Top CriticOne could be led to expect something arch and knowing, but the film is anything but that. It's an emotionally invested movie about loneliness and the lingering scars of early trauma.
10/19/07
Top CriticLatest News for Lars And The Real Girl
July 17, 2008:
David Gordon Green: From Indie Auteur to Pineapple Express 
David Gordon Green might seem like an unusual choice to direct Pineapple Express, but as it turns out, the man behind the camera for Snow Angels and All the Real Girls was a... More...
June 05, 2008:
Gosling, Gillespie Start The Dallas Buyers Club
Ryan Gosling will re-team with his Lars and the Real Girl director, Craig Gillespie, for the based-on-a-true-story drama The Dallas Buyers Club. More...
April 14, 2008:
RT on DVD: Juno, AVP2, and Dungeon Siege
If you're not sick of hearing Diablo Cody this, hamburger phone that, then this week's bonus-packed release of Juno should be numero uno on your list, home skillet. Otherwise,... More...
January 23, 2008:
Ryan Gosling Starring in Jack Ryan Franchise Reboot?
Romantics swooned over him in The Notebook, and critics loved his turn as the doll-toting lead character in last year's Lars and the Real Girl -- and if the latest rumors are... More...
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