Content area
Full text
Lars and the Real Girl Craig Gillespie (Director) Nancy Oliver (Writer)
In February of 2007, Britney Spears barged into a beauty salon in Studio City, California, and shaved her own head-and no one stopped her. The salon owner, the bodyguards, the people with the cameras, everyone just went along. And why not? It wasn't unsafe, it was kind of funny, and just maybe it was what she needed to do to get help.
Lars and the Real Girl addresses this same subject: What is the right thing to do when someone acts out his or her unique pathology? Barring violent or destructive behavior, maybe the right thing to do is simply to go along.
This wonderful film directed by Craig Gillespie, written by Nancy Oliver, and starring Ryan Gosling (an alumnus of The Mickey Mouse Club, just like Britney) is an unlikely portrayal of how we respond to the mentally ill among us. It is a small story set in a small town about a man with a big problem. The source of the problem, however, is not as important as its manifestation.
Lars Lindstrom is a pious, lonely, young man who buys himself a real-as-you-can-get sex doll and turns her into his virtuous South American girlfriend, Bianca. He introduces her to his brother, Gus (Paul Schneider), and Gus's pregnant and worried wife, Karin (Emily Mortimer). Rather than immediately having him committed, Gus and Karin go along, perhaps unwillingly, as a way to reach Lars, who has been living as a nearrecluse in their garage.
Lars is a different sort. He relates to people as if he were somewhat autistic, perhaps one or two steps removed from the social norm. But he has a job, and his officemates like him, especially Margo (Kelli Garner). She is so inexplicably forward with him that a coworker warns her about looking desperate. This same coworker introduces Lars to a Web site selling lifelike dolls as sex partners. Not your standard blow-up babes, these dolls are sort of a grown man's American Girl, with names, hobbies, and personal histories. Poor Margo can't compete with such manufactured perfection, but she seems relieved when she finally meets Bianca: At least the guy isn't interested in another woman, he's just mad.
Colluding...