Meet Lars Lindstrom (Ryan Gosling), a sweet but very introverted guy living in the icy American Midwest, with his older brother Gus (Paul Schneider) and sister-in-law Karin (Emily Mortimer), when he believes he's found his soulmate in a mannequin named Bianca. Naturally this sounds alarm bells for everybody Lars knows, and a shrink (Patricia Clarkson) is consulted. But Lars is utterly convinced Bianca is a real girl, so he's going to do whatever it takes to prove that.
This is such a beautiful little sleeper hit of a film. Australian director Craig Gillespie, working from Nancy Oliver's deservedly Oscar-nominated screenplay (which should've won the Oscar), brings this challenging story to life with such sincere understanding and sensitivity, pleasingly avoiding flashy visuals and manipulative music (Adam Kimmel's score and David Torn's music are both nicely restrained), while still also making the frosty, isolated setting an accurate metaphor for Lars' mental state.
But on that note, the highest praise must surely go to Ryan Gosling. He may have been Oscar-nominated for Half Nelson and now La La Land, but I still maintain this is his finest performance (especially compared to Half Nelson). This is one role which proves subtle acting isn't always easier, and Gosling nails every nuance and flicker of childlike vulnerability Lars experiences in his state of delusion. He will astonish you, and Mortimer, Schneider and Clarkson provide solid support.
Before seeing this movie, for some reason I'd never considered delusion per se a mental illness, but it immediately changed that perception and it impacts me no less now. That's because Lars and the Real Girl, may promote its messages of tolerating difference and unorthodox romance, but it never judges its subjects, or preaches to us.
This is such a beautiful little sleeper hit of a film. Australian director Craig Gillespie, working from Nancy Oliver's deservedly Oscar-nominated screenplay (which should've won the Oscar), brings this challenging story to life with such sincere understanding and sensitivity, pleasingly avoiding flashy visuals and manipulative music (Adam Kimmel's score and David Torn's music are both nicely restrained), while still also making the frosty, isolated setting an accurate metaphor for Lars' mental state.
But on that note, the highest praise must surely go to Ryan Gosling. He may have been Oscar-nominated for Half Nelson and now La La Land, but I still maintain this is his finest performance (especially compared to Half Nelson). This is one role which proves subtle acting isn't always easier, and Gosling nails every nuance and flicker of childlike vulnerability Lars experiences in his state of delusion. He will astonish you, and Mortimer, Schneider and Clarkson provide solid support.
Before seeing this movie, for some reason I'd never considered delusion per se a mental illness, but it immediately changed that perception and it impacts me no less now. That's because Lars and the Real Girl, may promote its messages of tolerating difference and unorthodox romance, but it never judges its subjects, or preaches to us.
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