McKenzie Reviews - Lars and the Real Girl

Lars and the Real Girl isn't your typical love story. It's basically impossible to even consider loving an inanimate object... unless you're name is Lars and have a delusion.

This movie is marketed on Netflix as a Comedy. I love comedies. Especially dark comedies, which is exactly what I was planning on getting with this movie. However, I didn't feel like the humor always came through. The movie was in no way a drama, but it seemed too sad at times to be a comedy.

As screwed up as Lars is, I feel as though the audience comes to really connect with his character. You see him evolve from a closed off, strange guy to being excited to interact with something (even if it is an non-living sex doll) to living a somewhat normal life afterward. And, I found it so touching that everyone in the town really cared for Ryan Gosling's character and made him and his sex-doll girlfriend Bianca really feel taken care of and at home. You even see Lars' brother come to accept his delusional younger sibling. So touching.

But obviously, there is a huge creepy factor to this movie. Lars' co-worker introduced Lars to the website where he would eventually buy Bianca from. Needless to say, that was awkward. Also, the idea that someone can actually fall in love with a "anatomically correct" doll is strange. He talks for her and actually believes her to be real. In the real world, I doubt so many people would have given so much care to feed into this delusion.

Of course, there is the uplifting ending. Lars lets go of Bianca (through pretending that she died, of course) and connects with the girl that you knew he would end up with from the second the movie began.

The movie earned a Golden Globe Nominee for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical. Well deserved in my opinion. Very unique. It showed me something I haven't seen before. A man falling in love with a life-sized doll. I would recommend this to any friends who enjoy the dark comedy genre and gave it a 4 star rating on Netflix.

(Image Credit: Mild Mannered Photographer via Flickr)