#81, 11/10 – Lars and the Real Girl (2007) (tofw)
I have been rather critical (mostly offline, but occasionally in this space) of the recent American independent movies which seemed to consider "quirk", in and of itself, a virtue. I could name a laundry list of culprits, many of them well-considered things, which I find ultimately unsatisfying beyond a few basic chuckles because there’s simply no there there. (Worse, many of these films are mean-spirited exercises in "comedy", something I’ve little patience for.) But I guess it’s better to speak of a "quirky" American independent movie which managed to have something very interesting and satisfying inside of it.
Honestly, I was skeptical about Lars and the Real Girl. I’d first heard of it a few hours before I saw it, and the premise seemed…. bad. But Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, and Patricia Clarkson are all favorites of mine and so I had to seriously consider any movie which features all three of them. I’m glad I did.
The actors (especially Gosling, who has now given three of the most wonderful performances I have seen in recent years) all bring something wonderful to this film, there is no doubt, but the real beauty is in the story and its tone. Here, thankfully, was a quiet, touching, human piece of work which eschewed the cheap pranks the movie’s basic premise seemed to make all too tempting. Every time I braced myself for the kind of joke I have grown to expect from recent "quirky" American independent movies, it didn’t come. It never did. And that’s worthy of some kudos.
But, just in case I’m overemphasizing my admiration for the movie’s restraint, that’s not what I adore the most about it. Lars and the Real Girl worked for me because it was genuine and sincere. It made you empathize with its central character, by never losing focus of his humanity (or his dignity, frankly), even in the midst of the story’s splendid absurdity. Maybe I’m getting sappy in my old age, but as the movie started its final reel, you could hear sniffles all throughout the theatre. I honestly can’t remember the last time I heard a Saturday night audience so affected by a movie which wasn’t, in my opinion, being manipulative or cloying.
Really, maybe I am getting sappy (or maybe I’ve spent too much time watching basic Hollywood movies this year and my expectations have suffered as a result), but I consider this a beautiful, soulful piece of filmmaking.