Scan and Pan
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Lars and the Real Girl
Lars (Ryan Gosling) is a shy loner who orders a RealDoll sex doll for companionship and falls in love with it. His brother (Paul Schneider) and sister-in-law (Emily Mortimer) take him to see the town's doctor/psychologist (Patricia Clarkson), who urges his family and friends to help him by acting as if the doll, dubbed Bianca, is a real woman.
Director Craig Gillespie (Mr. Woodcock) handles the material with a flat, realistic touch that makes it difficult to connect with the story. It needs a touch of whimsical absurdism a la Tim Burton or Barry Sonnenfeld to really work, because a realistic style makes it much harder to suspend disbelief and become engaged by the story. Gillespie's approach is all wrong for what he's trying to accomplish.
The original screenplay by Nancy Oliver (a former staff writer for television's Six Feet Under) has underwritten characters, mistakes quirkiness for genuine humor, and mistakes sentimentalism for genuine emotion. The premise might have worked as a five minute sketch on a television show like Saturday Night Live or MADtv, but stretched out to 106 minutes it seems to drag on interminably as the story plays out in a predictable fashion.
Cinematographer Adam Kimmel (Jesus' Son, Capote) and production designer Arvinder Grewal (Land of the Dead, 16 Blocks) nicely capture the feel of a small town in winter. The style may be wrong for the material, but their work is solid. David Torn (The Order, Friday Night Lights) contributes a score that's excessively sentimental, trying to wring emotional responses out of the audience that just aren't there.
Gosling delivers a mixed performance as Lars. While he brings some charm to the role, the mannerisms he brings to his character, especially when Lars is stressed, are extremely annoying and quickly wear out their welcome. Clarkson gives a warm performance as the sympathetic doctor, while Schneider and Mortimer are solid as Lars' loving but confused brother and sister-in-law. If there's one performer who really stands out here, it's Kelli Garner, who steals the film as Margo, a sweet girl who works with Lars and has an enormous crush on him, although he's blind to how she feels about him.
Although Lars and the Real Girl falls into the quirky comedy-drama genre of indie films, it's a dreary film that's neither funny nor dramatic. All it has left is quirkiness, and that's simply not enough in this case.
[1.5 out of 5 stars]
If there's one thing indie films are known for, it's quirkiness. This film has that. However, quirky doesn't necessarily mean good, and this film is proof of that.
Lars (Ryan Gosling) is a shy loner who orders a RealDoll sex doll for companionship and falls in love with it. His brother (Paul Schneider) and sister-in-law (Emily Mortimer) take him to see the town's doctor/psychologist (Patricia Clarkson), who urges his family and friends to help him by acting as if the doll, dubbed Bianca, is a real woman.
Director Craig Gillespie (Mr. Woodcock) handles the material with a flat, realistic touch that makes it difficult to connect with the story. It needs a touch of whimsical absurdism a la Tim Burton or Barry Sonnenfeld to really work, because a realistic style makes it much harder to suspend disbelief and become engaged by the story. Gillespie's approach is all wrong for what he's trying to accomplish.
The original screenplay by Nancy Oliver (a former staff writer for television's Six Feet Under) has underwritten characters, mistakes quirkiness for genuine humor, and mistakes sentimentalism for genuine emotion. The premise might have worked as a five minute sketch on a television show like Saturday Night Live or MADtv, but stretched out to 106 minutes it seems to drag on interminably as the story plays out in a predictable fashion.
Cinematographer Adam Kimmel (Jesus' Son, Capote) and production designer Arvinder Grewal (Land of the Dead, 16 Blocks) nicely capture the feel of a small town in winter. The style may be wrong for the material, but their work is solid. David Torn (The Order, Friday Night Lights) contributes a score that's excessively sentimental, trying to wring emotional responses out of the audience that just aren't there.
Gosling delivers a mixed performance as Lars. While he brings some charm to the role, the mannerisms he brings to his character, especially when Lars is stressed, are extremely annoying and quickly wear out their welcome. Clarkson gives a warm performance as the sympathetic doctor, while Schneider and Mortimer are solid as Lars' loving but confused brother and sister-in-law. If there's one performer who really stands out here, it's Kelli Garner, who steals the film as Margo, a sweet girl who works with Lars and has an enormous crush on him, although he's blind to how she feels about him.
Although Lars and the Real Girl falls into the quirky comedy-drama genre of indie films, it's a dreary film that's neither funny nor dramatic. All it has left is quirkiness, and that's simply not enough in this case.
[1.5 out of 5 stars]
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