Yes, Juno comes out on DVD this week. And yes, it is amazingly smart and funny. It might even be better than my pick this week: Lars and the Real Girl. But everyone has seen Juno (at least most people have) and everyone has already sung its praises. So let us collectively move on. Lars and the Real Girl is probably one of the best films of 2007 to be A) critically trashed and B) commercially ignored. It stars the once in a generation talented Ryan Gosling as the emotionally frozen and psychologically wounded Lars. Fretting from pressures to pair up with local women and suffering from severe emotional trauma, Lars orders a lifelike female doll from an online website and proceeds to introduce her to his brother (Paul Schneider) and sister-in-law (Emily Mortimer) as his girlfriend, Bianca. Fearing for his sanity, Lars' family sets him up with a therapist (Patricia Clarkson) to get to the bottom of why Bianca has come into their lives. In what's best described as a very human, almost Capra-esque comedy of misfortune and small town spirit, Lars and his friends and neighbors work together toward healing him of his damaging, deluded perspective of the world. Part light comedy and part intensely emotional drama, Lars and the Real Girl offers up something truly original and entirely wonderful to behold. It's a clever comedy with great heart.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
DVD of the Week: Lars and the Real Girl
Yes, Juno comes out on DVD this week. And yes, it is amazingly smart and funny. It might even be better than my pick this week: Lars and the Real Girl. But everyone has seen Juno (at least most people have) and everyone has already sung its praises. So let us collectively move on. Lars and the Real Girl is probably one of the best films of 2007 to be A) critically trashed and B) commercially ignored. It stars the once in a generation talented Ryan Gosling as the emotionally frozen and psychologically wounded Lars. Fretting from pressures to pair up with local women and suffering from severe emotional trauma, Lars orders a lifelike female doll from an online website and proceeds to introduce her to his brother (Paul Schneider) and sister-in-law (Emily Mortimer) as his girlfriend, Bianca. Fearing for his sanity, Lars' family sets him up with a therapist (Patricia Clarkson) to get to the bottom of why Bianca has come into their lives. In what's best described as a very human, almost Capra-esque comedy of misfortune and small town spirit, Lars and his friends and neighbors work together toward healing him of his damaging, deluded perspective of the world. Part light comedy and part intensely emotional drama, Lars and the Real Girl offers up something truly original and entirely wonderful to behold. It's a clever comedy with great heart.
