Lars and the Real Girl: If only Geppetto had thought to make “Pinocchia”

This film from 2007 explores a town’s reactions to one of their own - a socially inept young man who’s shy quirks make him instantly endearing – and his delusions that the “Real Doll” he’s purchased is in fact a real girl.

Lars is just a guy trying to get though life with as little interaction as possible. His sister-in-law’s attempts to draw him into the house for a family meal are usually turned down and his co-workers find his anti-social quirks to be off-putting. But when a large packing crate arrives at his home - the converted garage behind the house his brother and sister live in - Lars finds a new companion in Bianca.

Referring to Bianca as a "vsitor" he met “via the Internet,” Lars slowly introduces his “Real Girl” to a town that, due to their closeness to Lars and his family, soon accept the doll as a member of the community.

In an uncomfortably hilarious and heartbreaking movie, the camaraderie of the human spirit is shown to break through social stigma, and Lars finds how to act with a real, real girl.

This film is a bit of a change from Ryan Gossling’s (Lars) 2004 appearance in The Notebook and his psychological thriller, Stay (2005), but it shows his diverse acting ability as he fully embodies the loner with sever social phobias. Most of the rest of the cast are not “Huge” name stars, and the setting of snowy Wisconsin might have you reaching for a blanket, but, having owned this movie for a good few years, I would give this movie a rating for 4.5 stars. (Only losing points for how utterly uncomfortable it made me feel.)