Lars And The Real Girl

[MacGuffin]

Trailer here.

Release Date: October 12th, 2007 (limited)

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Patricia Clarkson, Kelli Garner, Paul Schneider
 
Directed by: Craig Gillespie (Mr. Woodcock)

Premise: A delusional young guy strikes up an unconventional relationship with a doll he finds on the Internet.

[squints]

http://xixax.com/index.php?topic=9782.0

I'd see this if Lars was played by Davecat.

[Pubrick]

a couple of things:

1. i don't like it when doctors or lawyers or any kind of professional person like that is at their desk and writing things down as if they're distracted with other work while supposedly meeting with their clients.. so boo-urns to that patricia clarkson, worst trailer performance of the year, everytime she spoke she started to write. that and she reminded me of Elizabeth Mitchell.

2. i guess Mr Woodcock is the companion piece about a male doll.

[MacGuffin]

Sex doll comedy hopes for divine help

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - How do you market a wholesome, old-fashioned film about a churchgoer who falls in love with his sex doll? Grass-roots screenings with religious groups, maybe?

That's one of the novel approaches being taken with the marketing campaign for director Craig Gillespie's unexpectedly poignant comedy "Lars and the Real Girl," which opens Friday in Los Angeles and New York.

"Half Nelson" Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling plays Lars, a painfully shy loner who lives in the garage next to his brother and sister-in-law's house. Crushed by the loss of his parents, he orders a lifelike doll named Bianca over the Web and convinces himself that she's his girlfriend. The local doctor (Patricia Clarkson) persuades his family, his small town and even his church to help him by going along with the delusion and accept Bianca as a real person.

There's nothing really prurient in the film, which earned a mild PG-13 rating for "some sex-related content." Lars and Bianca sleep in separate houses. There's a discreet scene in which Bianca's potential in-laws bathe her, but while some silicone is exposed, her anatomical correctness is never shown.

The film's producer, Sidney Kimmell Entertainment (SKE), plans more than 100 promo screenings by the time the film goes wide on October 26 including, yes, outreach to church leaders.

"We've found an enormous response from mainstream Christian groups," says Bingham Ray, who heads up SKE's distribution operations. "Some pastors may discuss the film as part of their sermons."

The trailer doesn't intentionally misrepresent the film's tone, but it does feature Bianca in ridiculous situations (holding a baby, sitting in church), making it tough to convey the film's themes of acceptance, tolerance and kindness.

"It's a hurdle we're trying to work with," Gillespie says. "I'm hoping the campaign will put more weight on Ryan's performance and the emotional journey that's happening to his character as it rolls out."

Ray says the marketing drive is likely to evolve.

Gillespie has reason to be nervous. His feature debut, "Mr. Woodcock," was passed to "Wedding Crashers" director David Dobkin after poor test screenings where audiences expected a different tone based on the premise. The Billy Bob Thornton comedy has earned just $23 million after four weekends.

"The concept of a gym teacher falling in love with his student's mom wasn't suited to mining the damaged relationship between a mother and son and Freudian triangle (issues)," he says. "A lot of comedies are suited to being dark and subtle, and that was not one of them. I think it was my own undoing."

With "Lars," Gillespie made the film he wanted to make with his backers' full support.

After the former commercials director spent four years unsuccessfully shopping Nancy Oliver's screenplay to the indies, the project came together in five days. Gillespie arranged a meeting with SKE, which produced such films as the FBI thriller "Breach" and the upcoming Afghan drama "The Kite Runner." He then sent the script to Gosling on a Friday. By Monday he had agreed to star, and SKE agreed to produce the $12 million film that Wednesday.

Now comes the hard part. The movie earned a rapturous reception at the Toronto International Film Festival last month, but whether audiences can or will ignore the sex doll in the room remains to be seen.

[pete]

paul schneider is in this!

[xerxes]

I'm surprised no one has written anything about this so far. It's surprisingly sweet, and not in a cheap sort of way. It walks a very fine line, never going down the path that it so easily could. I thought it was pretty great.

Ryan Gosling's portrayal of Lars was pretty pitch-perfect also.

[cine]

just saw this last week. they handle the subject matter honestly and sincerely, lots of comedy but without poking fun. really excellent movie with a big heart. clearly underrated too, RIGHT xerxes??

[Gloria]

I loved this movie so much.   It was sweet, sad, and incredibly moving.  It was awesome to see Paul Schneider again (I hadn't seen him in anything since I rented George Washington last spring).   Seeing him in a movie is like returning to a place you forgot you missed.  He was very good, but the movie obviously belongs to Ryan Gosling, whose performance is the backbone of this movie.  Emily Mortimer is so charming and sweet -- ah, hell, the whole cast was good.  It was just so sweet to watch a whole community of people came together to help humble, shy Lars.  That sense of community and caring is just so rare -- it was just lovely to watch.  I was floating out of the theater.  (Okay, I'm done gushing...  )

[w/o horse]

Had myself convinced it was a mistake I missed this last year, so full of regret and anticipation I rented it recently.  It is highly likeable for the reasons already noted (the cast, the sincerity of the script), and maybe the part of me that feels like the movie didn't take any big risks outside of its initial premise is wrong.  I guess that part of me would have wanted it to have been a film about demented love, while it's actually a sweet love letter about the endurance of the human spirit (with piano accompaniment).