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Lars and the Real Girl
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List Price: $14.98
Our Price: $14.98
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
Starring: Patricia Clarkson, Liisa Repo-Martell, Karen Robinson, Doug Lennox, Nicky Guadagni
Directed By: Craig Gillespie
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
Brand: LARS AND THE REAL GIRL (DVD MOVIE)
EAN: 0883904103738
Format: AC-3
Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: MGM (Video & DVD)
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2008-04-15
Running Time: 107
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
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Editorial Reviews:
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Sometimes you find love where you'd least expect it. Just ask Lars (Academy Award-Nominee* Ryan Gosling), a sweet but quirky guy who thinks he's found the girl of his dreams in a life-sized doll named Bianca. Lars is completely content with his artificial girlfriend, but when he develops feelings for Margo, an attractive co-worker, Lars finds himself lost in a hilariously unique love triangle, hoping to somehow discover the real meaning of true love. Offbeat and endearing, this romantic comedy takes a fresh look at dating and relationships and dares to ask the question: What's so wrong with being happy?
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Touching, Life-Affirming Film
Comment: Sweet-natured and painfully shy Lars finally finds a girlfriend on the internet. Her name is Bianca, a life-sized love doll who has arrived in a packing crate. Lars treats her as a real person, though. First he introduces Bianca to his brother Gus and sister-in-law Karin at dinner before taking her to the church of the community in a wheelchair. Naturally Gus and Karin don't know what to do, but a local doctor advises them (and the entire townspeople) to go along with Lars's "delusion." The result is a charming, bittersweet tale of human nature.
The unique film could not be a success without the convincing backstory of Lars himself. Nancy Oliver's screenplay gives us several hints as to the reasons for his shyness without interrupting the flow of the narrative. Lars lives in a garage and he doesn't want to touch people. We slowly come to understand him through Ryan Gosling's amazing performance as Lars, who makes his character endearing. No wonder the people of the community want him to be happy. By the end of the film's story, you will feel the same way too.
The entire cast is great especially Paul Schneider as Gus, Emily Mortimer as Karin and most notably Patricia Clarkson as the doctor who quietly listens to Lars's story. Patricia Clarkson's fantastic performance gives her character as a wise and understanding doctor credibility and warmth. Actually the snowbound town and its people who support Lars are depicted sympathetically without being condescending or sentimental. This is a rare achievement, considering the tricky nature of the central topic.
In a nutshell, "Lars and the Real Girl" is a touching, life-affirming film. Its approach may be far from conventional, but its theme itself is universal.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great movie and original story line.
Comment: I love this movie and its characters. It really is a heart warming movie and really funny. The characters were really well developed and well acted. There were scenes that really made you squirm in your seats due to the awkwardness in the movie that the poor main character had to endure. You could not help but feel for the main character who is a lovable introvert and his caring and well meaning family. The whole town sort manifest their needs through the doll which they adopted. Fun movie.
Customer Rating:
Summary: One of the Best ever
Comment: As someone with family members who suffer from mental illness, I found this to be one of the best movies ever made dealing with this subject. It also is just a wonderful film about the power of love and acceptance to heal. I should be so lucky as to live in the town portrayed in this film should I ever slip just a little sideways from reality. Watch this movie.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME
Comment: After thoroughly enjoying this super sweet movie, I thought it might do my family and friends some good if I went around for a few weeks with a life-size guy "doll" of my own, let's call him Tim.
Well, after 6 months in Anoka State Hospital and 2 commitment hearings before a judge, I can now say that it was a terrible idea and something that I would not recommend to anyone ever.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Awkward, Unusual, and Incredibly Charming.
Comment: Lars is a good guy, but he's missing something in his life. His brother, Gus, and wife, Karin, are both worried about him since he seems to spend an awful lot of time alone. Saying he's shy would be a massive understatement. When a woman speaks to him, he is pretty much incapable of responding. Physical contact from anyone is painful to him. Friends and family think he should get a girlfriend. When a co-worker shows him a site that sells love dolls, he shows little interest at first but winds up warming up to the idea. Once Bianca enters the picture, she winds up changing Lars and the town that he lives in for the better.
I had heard a lot about this movie within the past year or so and hadn't gotten around to seeing it until now. I honestly kept putting it off. How could a movie about a guy carrying around a sex doll be any good? It was interesting because I wound up really enjoying it. I guess when you get right down to it, I can relate to Lars more than a lot of other people. I don't run around buying sex dolls thinking they're real or anything, but I'm also very shy and could kind of put myself into Lars' shoes more often than not.
Ryan Gosling fits this role perfectly. I hadn't really seen anything with him that I was really impressed with until now. The quirks he's capable of portraying in this role were as awkward as they were charming. The way he pulls off talking to a doll for over an hour and not only making it believable, but entertaining is also incredibly impressive.
The movie is labeled as a comedy, but I didn't really find myself laughing out loud all too often throughout most of the film. It's not really that kind of comedy. It has this Garden State kind of feel to it, where it's not gutbustingly hilarious but there's a certain charm to it that keeps you watching. At its roots, it's very heartfelt which may not be something everyone is expecting from the trailer or plot synopsis.
Lars and the Real Girl is a film that relies on awkward situations or rather a rare occurence that winds up causing multiple awkward situations and it focuses on people's reactions to these situations that occur. It's worth seeing for Lars' odd behavior and the snowball effect it causes. I may have enjoyed it a bit more than others since I felt I probably related to the main character more than others might and it felt like I heard the same amount of hype for this as I did for Garden State or Juno, but I felt like this was as strong as those films if not stronger.
Rating: 8/10
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