Ryan Gosling - Lars And The Real Girl: Playing With Dolls For Grown-Ups. (Minor Spoilers) - Page 3

-Bianca- · 03-22-2007, 09:39 PM

Quote:

Omnipresent Talkbacker IndustryKiller Has Seen LARS AND THE REAL GIRL!!

Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.

Go ahead. Call him a plant.

Industry Killer’s been a talkbacker for a looooong time, and the one thing I know for sure is that he’s not a puppet for anyone. He’s opinionated, he has very particular likes and dislikes, and he’s more than willing to tell you about it.

I love the title of this film, and I’m looking forward to seeing it. This is the first report I’ve heard from anyone who’s seen it, so check it out:

Quote:

'Ello fellow Aicners, IndustryKiller! Here taking a minute off bitching about Transformers to bring you some information on an actual work of art. Now I may be in the minority here, but I felt Ryan Gosling deserved the academy award for best actor this year. I thought his somehow simultaneously subtle and intense work in Half Nelson harkened back to the sublime realism of the Pacino and Brando of old. He had an understated acting style that is underappreciated in this new world of accents and biopics. Moreover I think he is currently the best actor of his generation.

This brings us to our feature presentation, Lars and the Real Girl. I was part of the first test screening for this the other day at the Arclight. So far this is a flick that has flown completely under the buzz radar and I gotta do my part to put a stop to that. Gosling plays Lars, a painfully introverted and lonely guy who lives with his brother and sister in law after the death of his father leaves him alone. You know this guy, you've seen him at work or around. the type that you wanna be really nice to because he's sweet and seems so sad, but won't go the extra mile because then you might actually have to spend time with him. He goes to church and work and does his best to avoid others including his family. One day Lars happily announces that he has a female visitor that will be staying with him, this greatly excites his brother and Sister in law who have begun to worry about his behavior, at least until they find out that this would be companion is one of those plastic sex dolls Lars has ordered off the internet. Moreover, Lars is completely convinced she is a real person, to the point that he has conversations, takes her to the doctor, and goes on walks with her. On a doctors (played ably by Patricia Clarkson) orders they decide to play along in an effort to help Lars out of his shell.

Unlike Little Miss SUnshine, this is an indie comedy with real soul, not all too perfectly quirky characters whose lives fall apart according to the jokes. What struck me is how amazingly real the premise is played, never pandering to the comedy and never pushing false profundity and hope on us. Instead it allows it's characters to breathe and through that the story flourishes instead of becoming a slave to gags. What you see, rather than a comedy, is human beings reacting to a situation that happens to be comedic the way you or I would. And while it's an absolutely hilarious film, the filmmakers (and Gosling) never shy away from the fact that Lars is a very troubled individual with incredibly deep seeded insecurities, and as a result we have some very funny scenes punctuated with heart breaking drama.

There is one scene in particular where Lars is at a party and you can plainly see Lars struggling with this new social urge combined with his crippling anti-social disorder. It's a scene so good I'll never listen to the Talking Heads "This Must be the Place (Naive melody)" with the same ears again. Gosling does this saying almost nothing and it's a brave performance. By the end of the film even the woman handing out questionnaires was crying.
A nod also belong to Paul Schneider and the ethereal Emily Mortimer as Lars's brother and sister in law. It's also a film that doesn't treat small town America with disdain, but rather it's peripheral characters are well rounded and kind without coming off as naive and dumb. Being from a small New England town myself I found this pretty refreshing.

I don't think this film comes out until fall even know it seemed damn near completion at this early date. I wasn't part of the focus groupd afterwards but God I hope they didn't give any typical jackass focus group advice. Apart from maybe a bit of tightening up late in the first act nothing needs to be changed in this film. Moreover I plead with the studio to support this film as judging from the audiences very enthusiastic reaction I think it has a very real shot at being a hit with the mainstream. It's certainly at least as funny as Little Miss Sunshine and a far better film from top to bottom. So on that note of hope, peace out.

Omnipresent Talkbacker IndustryKiller Has Seen LARS AND THE REAL GIRL!! -- Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news.

Sounds good.

**heaven85** · 03-23-2007, 10:43 PM

It does. Thanks so much for posting.

banter-diva · 04-04-2007, 12:38 PM

I had the pleasure of seeing both test sceenings (Arclight and The Grove) of Lars and the Real Girl. The Arclight audience seemed a bit more receptive towards the movie.

All-in-all, I thought the movie was certainly uplifting! Fun, hilarious, and moving. I've seen Ryan Gosling in the Notebook, The Believer, and recently,.. Half Nelson (stellar performance). Yet, his acting in Lars and the Real Girl just goes to show his ability to play a wide range of characters.

I certainly hope this movie is released.

**heaven85** · 04-04-2007, 08:01 PM

You saw it twice? That's awesome. Thanks for posting and welcome to the board!!!!

This sounds like a different type of movie for Ryan and I'm glad that he did well. As he does like to play different characters.

Thanks for the info.

-Bianca- · 04-04-2007, 08:11 PM

Awesome. Glad to hear it's good stuff.

Quote:

You'd have a hard time finding anyone who doesn't think Rachel McAdams is an absolute doll. But these days, her real-life boyfriend Ryan Gosling may be taking that idea a bit too far. In October's "Lars and the Real Girl," which just finished shooting, the Oscar-nominated actor plays "a guy who falls in love with a sex doll," he said. With a plot like that, the flick seems certain to be the first full-on comedy from the typically intense star. But before you start having painful flashbacks to "Mannequin," Gosling was quick to point out that the whole movie is played straight. "It's probably the closest thing to 'The Notebook' that I've done since," he insisted. "It's a real love story. He believes that she's real, and there's a whole love story." Co-starring fellow awards-season heavyweights Patricia Clarkson and Emily Mortimer, the movie's script comes from the brain of "Six Feet Under" writer Nancy Oliver.

MTV Movie News | Movie File: Nelly, Ryan Gosling, 'Madagascar 2,' Justin Timberlake & More

**heaven85** · 04-05-2007, 11:07 PM

Awww gotta love Ryan. He thinks that you real Bianca.

-Bianca- · 04-07-2007, 09:31 PM

**heaven85** · 04-09-2007, 10:45 PM

So you have your own Noah then.

So ....are you.... real?

Glad to see you can take a joke.

-Bianca- · 04-10-2007, 09:05 PM

I like to think of it more as Ryan, in a way, having his own Bianca.

**heaven85** · 04-11-2007, 06:53 PM

That is so sweet of you to think that way. If would be so sweet if you were actually real.

But then again when you think about you're also famous now Bianca. You're in your own movie.

-Bianca- · 04-11-2007, 07:42 PM

I always knew my life would be made into a movie... I just didn't think there'd be so many artistic liberties taken that I'd end up being a lifelike doll.

**heaven85** · 04-12-2007, 10:41 PM

I know Bianca. They love your life so much that they did a movie out of it staring Ryan too but I never saw you as a doll. Have you ever seen yourself that way Bi-an-ca?

-Bianca- · 04-30-2007, 10:35 PM

Spoiler:

Quote:

Actor Ryan Gosling's in love ... with a sex doll?

Forget Rachel McAdams. Gosling falls in love with a blow-up doll in his next film, "Lars and the Real Girl."

"They have really realistic ones. You can design them and they feel real," says Gosling, who plays the title character. "[My character] has a delusion. He orders one and he's convinced she's real. He's a hermit. He takes her into the town he lives in, and [the townspeople] play along with him, so they can get to know him and make him feel comfortable. In the process they fall in love with her too."

The film, written by "Six Feet Under" scribe Nancy Oliver, also stars Patricia Clarkson and Emily Mortimer.

Of course, even with plastic dolls, the course of true love never doth run smooth.

Spoiler:

This is a comedy — albeit in the vein of '70s classics "Being There" and "Harold and Maude."

Says Gosling, "It's like a Hal Ashby film."

Sign Up

At least I'm loved by all though, I guess.

**heaven85** · 05-02-2007, 08:41 PM

Wow Bianca you are loved. Everyone went to see you one last time.

-Bianca- · 05-03-2007, 07:40 PM

Well, I am that pretty and that special and, in this, that plastic...


Fan Forum > Archived Celebrities > Ryan Gosling > Lars And The Real Girl: Playing With Dolls For Grown-Ups. (Minor Spoilers)