Pop Culture Buzz

***1/2 STARS

Every year a movie comes out that restores my faith in humanity. Last year “Little Miss Sunshine” charmed audiences with it’s true life depiction of a modern family. Just like “Sunshine” did, “Lars and the Real Girl” hits all the right emotional notes and creates a beautiful tale about love, loss and human relationships. I found myself sobbing with happiness towards the end of “Lars” and when it was over I walked away feeling like I was a better person for watching this film.

It is nothing less of a miracle that the director and writer of “Lars” have been able to make such an endearing, intelligent and tender comedy from a premise that, in other hands would just come off as a dirty joke or comedy sketch on t.v. I am also very glad that Lars was depicted as a fully functional, emotionally distraught young man and not as someone who is mentally ill or handicapped. We are able to relate to Lars which creates the deepest empathy for his character.

Gosling does a terrific job as the quiet, lonely, isolated Lars who announces to his friends and family that he has a wheelchair bound girlfriend named “Bianca” who arrives in the form of an anatomically correct doll he purchased via the internet. Afraid that his recent actions are signs of mental illness the family doctor (Patricia Clarkson) asks Lars’ friends and family to go along with the “delusion” and to accept “Bianca” as a member of the community. The result is a tender, heart felt story that shows the giving and loving nature that people have within themselves if they truly tried.

Watching Patricia Clarkson’s dry, methodical performance as Lars’ doctor gave me goose bumps. Her character’s interactions with Lars are genuine, sincere and heartfelt. I could pick on this movie for being too emotionally charged but I didn’t feel manipulated once the credits began to roll. I walked away from “Lars and the Real Girl” feeling absolutely fulfilled and refreshed. The underlined message and themes in “Lars” touched me deep and I am so grateful I was able to see such a tender, human and REAL film. “Lars and the Real Girl” is why I love movies so much, period.