Lars and the Real Girl

Consider this a pretty typical indie comedy-drama. Ryan Gosling stars as Lars, a socially awkward man who buys a sex doll one day and treats her like a real, living person. "He's gone crazy," his brother laments. "Just play along," advises his sister-in-law, said brother's wife. Talk about marital drama! Sooner or later, all of Lars's friends and coworkers are playing along with the thought that Lars will eventually need to confront whatever it is that's making him so delusional. Before long, his anatomically correct doll of a girlfriend - Bianca - has become quite the local celebrity. Meanwhile, a real female human being begins to take an interest in Lars, who staunchly refuses to "cheat" on Bianca with another girl. He thinks this, even as he grows jealous of Bianca's newfound celebrity and fame. In the end, he finally gets over Bianca and embraces the real girl, but only after confronting some demons from his past. Now, based on general hearsay, it seems like most people genuinely enjoyed this movie. I did not. I didn't dislike it, but it seemed way too strange and unrealistic to me that a man could go around with a sex doll he considers to be his girlfriend and have his entire social network just jump aboard with few questions asked. Maybe I'm just an asshole, but if a friend of mine tried to tell me his new girlfriend was a sex doll, I'd be more than hesitant to play along. And that goes double for a simple coworker or neighbor. For that reason, Lars and the Real Girl felt more cute than realistic to me. If all of that sounds like something you'd be into, then by all means, don't let my review stop you from seeing it. It just didn't impress me a whole lot.