{"id":771,"date":"2008-04-26T21:32:30","date_gmt":"2008-04-27T02:32:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/?p=771"},"modified":"2022-10-10T14:30:50","modified_gmt":"2022-10-10T18:30:50","slug":"lars-and-the-real-girl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/lars-and-the-real-girl\/","title":{"rendered":"Guess what’s coming to dinner in Lars and the Real Girl"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lars and the Real Girl<\/em> is warm, funny, and moving, but felt a little “screenplay” to me. Aside from the indie film cliche of The Small Town (which affords an isolated community of eccentrics and an economically small cast), it seems to be a precisely workshopped exploration of a simple compelling premise: a man falls in love with a sex doll. And yes, these particular models are, uh… real<\/a>… and to Lars, even better than the real thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the fine script and performances really do sell the unlikely conceit. Ryan Gosling makes a potentially unappealing character very sympathetic, and indie queen Patricia Clarkson is so sublimely calm (watch her respond to each outrageous development in Lars’ life with a blink and a pause) that I suspect she would make a great shrink in real life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I were in a screenwriting class workshopping this script, I think perhaps I might point out one missing aspect: we see the town pull together to support Lars, but would they do so for just any citizen? I’m not sure there’s a sense of why they’re especially protective of Lars in particular.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lars and the Real Girl is warm, funny, and moving, but felt a little “screenplay” to me. Aside from the indie film cliche of The Small Town (which affords an isolated community of eccentrics and an economically small cast), it seems to be a precisely workshopped exploration of a simple compelling premise: a man falls […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,2],"tags":[1214,1213],"class_list":["post-771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-3-stars","category-movies","tag-patricia-clarkson","tag-ryan-gosling"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/lars-and-the-real-girl-feature.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa9lhB-cr","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5153,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/maze-runner-the-death-cure-2018-movie-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":771,"position":0},"title":"Teenagers shall inherit the world in Wes Ball’s Maze Runner: The Death Cure","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"October 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"While definitely not in the target audience, and without expressly setting out to do so, I've still somehow managed to see all three Maze Runner movies. Their easy availability on streaming services is just too tempting for my chronic addiction to escapist sci-fi. It's interesting to see how young adult\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"2 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/2-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Maze Runner: The Death Cure","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/maze-runner-death-cure.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/maze-runner-death-cure.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/maze-runner-death-cure.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/maze-runner-death-cure.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/maze-runner-death-cure.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3617,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/tree-of-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":771,"position":1},"title":"Sad Dinosaurs: Calling Bullshit on Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"April 30, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"As a public service, I will now summarize all 2 hours and 19 minutes of Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life for you: My mommy was pretty, my daddy was mean, sometimes kids die, I inhaled too much DDT, and it makes me so sad. Sad like the lonely birth\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"2 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/2-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Tree of Life","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/the-tree-of-life.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/the-tree-of-life.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/the-tree-of-life.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/the-tree-of-life.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/the-tree-of-life.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5210,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/darren-aronofsky-mother-2017-movie-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":771,"position":2},"title":"Darren Aronofsky’s “mother!” earns its exclamation point","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"December 29, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Darren Aronofsky's mother! is an allegory so undisguised that it barely qualifies as one. It's more like a cinematic smoothie: blend one (1) King James Bible, the Big Bang \/ Big Crunch Wikipedia article, a heavy splash of Lars Von Trier-esque literal-as-metaphorical torture of a beautiful woman, season to taste\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Jennifer Lawrence in mother!","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/mother.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/mother.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/mother.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/mother.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/mother.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1881,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/tokyo\/","url_meta":{"origin":771,"position":3},"title":"Michel Gondry, Leos Carax, and Bong Joon-ho’s Tokyo!","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"August 4, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Tokyo! is a portmanteau film comprised of three shorts set in the eponymous city, all by directors not themselves from Japan: Michel Gondry and Leos Carax from France, and Bong Joon-ho from South Korea. Gondry's \"Interior Design\" is based on the comic book Cecil and Jordan in New York by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Yu Aoi in Tokyo!","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/tokyo-yu-aoi.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/tokyo-yu-aoi.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/tokyo-yu-aoi.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/tokyo-yu-aoi.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/tokyo-yu-aoi.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":164,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/the-girl-in-the-cafe\/","url_meta":{"origin":771,"position":4},"title":"Kelly Macdonald and Bill Nighy bond over extreme poverty in The Girl in the Caf\u00e9","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"February 28, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Richard Curtis and David Yates' The Girl in the Caf\u00e9, a BBC movie aired in the US on HBO, was incredibly cute, and my heartstrings were indeed pulled, but I couldn't shake the sense the love story was mere dressing for the real purpose of the film: explicating the issue\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bill Nighy and Kelly Macdonald in The Girl in the Cafe","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/02\/girl-in-the-cafe-featured.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/02\/girl-in-the-cafe-featured.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/02\/girl-in-the-cafe-featured.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/02\/girl-in-the-cafe-featured.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/02\/girl-in-the-cafe-featured.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":321,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/the-dork-report-for-july-17-2006\/","url_meta":{"origin":771,"position":5},"title":"The Dork Report for July 17, 2006","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"July 17, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"The Design Observer reports: the 2006 National Design Award honorees refused the invitation to the White House. Bob and weave in front of the new Spider-Man 3 lenticular poster. (guest submission from Spider-Girl Andrea) Mr. T. keeps it real. (guest submission from Fool Pitier Andrea)","rel":"","context":"In "The Dork Report"","block_context":{"text":"The Dork Report","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/dork-report\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Dork Report","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dork-report.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dork-report.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dork-report.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dork-report.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dork-report.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=771"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6225,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771\/revisions\/6225"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}