ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Candida It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

susan-317 This movie exemplifies the triumph of the human soul to overcome trauma and move forward.Ryan Gosling has shown himself to be a fine actor in all of his more recent Hollywood outings. In Lars and the Real Girl, he proves that he's an exemplary actor and, as far as I'm concerned, has answered all questions about his skills -- forever.Lars is an introverted and shy boy who lives in an outbuilding on his family property. His brother and his brother's wife have the main house to themselves. The wife, played by Emily Mortimer - always wonderful - is pregnant. Lars' mother died during his birth, which lead him to attempt to cope by developing a relationship with a sex doll. This sounds wacky, but it's not. Instead, it is wonderful as the small town rallies to support him.I can't say more without creating "spoilers", so I'll just suggest you watch this move and fall in love with Lars, like I did.Enjoy!

Thomas Drufke It's films like these that truly test the strength of your actors. It isn't every day that a man brings a "sex" doll to his home, pretend it's his girlfriend, and has the whole town going along with it. But with a great lead actor in Ryan Gosling, there's opportunity to produce a good whimsical drama with plenty of heart. Lars and the real Girl deals with an awkward man, who suffers from delusion and maybe even a little bit more mental health issues, and his "real" girlfriend who proceeded to change his life forever. With a plot like this, it's really difficult to get on board with the premise for a good bit in the film. The only thing that's keeping this film afloat is the performance of Ryan Gosling. The ability of him to make this relationship with a doll feel so real is absolutely impeccable. Gosling has always impressed when it comes to his acting choices, and this film may be his boldest to date. He didn't get nominated for an Oscar, but Lars is one of the most challenging roles he's taken on, and he's as good as he's ever been. I found the community effort of making the doll real to Lars to be particularly moving. I could have done with a more built out relationship with his brother, as I feel like there was a missed opportunity emotionally. However, overall this film is one of the most unique films you'll see, and Gosling's turn is one of particular importance.7.9/10

water_boy1993 Actually, I have to say that the sounds effect,the cinematography and also the editing is not extremely great, but the plot and the actors & actress are really really good, especially the sister-in-law of the main character. I really love the scene in which that sister-in-law yell at Lars and told him how everybody cares about him. It's really emotional and touches our heart. Some.. oh no, all the characters in this movie is so damn cute which makes it.. unreal. It seems like all the best people in the world get around Lars.. In general, I really love the plot! Such a nice plot which we could hardly guess the ending. The movie has many funny scenes which also makes us thinking a lot.

mre_renee I am not a psychotherapist, however, this is how I perceive what is going on with Lars. His brother is married and his wife is pregnant. Lars' mother died in childbirth while having him. He's very concerned about this happening to her, as well, maybe subconsciously. Lars' relationship with Bianca is platonic, as she may represent his mother. As we all know, a boy's relationship with his mother is she is his "first girl". Lars never had a relationship with his mother.He is also developing affections for Margo. This complicates things with him and Bianca. He's "cheating" on her emotionally and learning to break away from Bianca just as a boy begins to discover girls outside of his relationship with his mother.Lars is identifying with his sister-in-law's pregnancy by being Bianca's child. As she comes closer to her due date, he begins to create Bianca's illness and eventual demise. In this way, for him, he sacrifices Bianca in order for his sister-in-law to survive childbirth. He also achieves closure regarding his mother's death by "reliving" it.