Welcome to Your Movie Mage, where I’ll discuss underrated films across genres and rate their level of underratedness. This week, we’ll be diving into the comforting, strange and beautiful film that is, “Lars and the Real Girl.”
“Lars And the Real Girl” is a hidden gem of a movie, which was originally released in 2007— a year filled with quality movies. The main character, Lars, is played by none other than Ryan Gosling, who shows his incredible range and heart relatively early on in his career.
Lars is a shy, awkward man in his late twenties who lives in the garage of his late parents’ house with his brother Gus and sister-in-law Karin. Karin and Gus are expecting their first child, while Lars remains alone outside of work and church. We learn very quickly that Lars is an absolute sweetheart but struggles to communicate and interact with other people. He seems to be intentionally keeping distance between him and others, as we see multiple people attempting to get close to him.
Karin consistently goes out of her way to invite Lars to dinner and get him out of his room. Contrary to Karin, Gus shows little concern for Lars’ isolated tendencies, most likely because father acted similarly after the death of their mother. We are also introduced to Margo, a woman working with Lars who shows romantic interest in him. Lars originally ignores this, unsure how to react and forbids himself to be close to someone.
The movie picks up soon after the introduction of our main characters when Lars receives a large package in the mail and—to Karin and Gus’ surprise—asks to bring a guest to dinner with them. This is when we learn that Lars is dating a sex doll named Bianca. This is the premise that I imagine deters most viewers from this film. Many will either think it is too strange and embarrassing, or that it will be a comedy, poking fun at a man in need of support.
However, this is when we learn that this movie is different from others. It doesn’t attempt to be cheap or surface level. We, like Gus and Karin, are concerned for Lars. As the movie progresses, the dialogue and actions reveal information about what happened in Lars’ life that led him to this
Lars’ personality is not thrown together but is rather well-thought out and traceable. We learn that Lars had a difficult upbringing. His mother passed away giving birth to him, and Lars was never able to fully grieve her. This seems to be why Lars finds companionship in a doll, which coincides with Karin’s pregnancy.
As Karin gets closer to giving birth, Lars gets more stressed and scared. We see Lars finally resolve this when he grieves the death of Bianca, who he found “dead” one morning, indicating he was letting her go and ready to pursue a relationship with Margo. In grieving Bianca, Lars was able to finally grieve the death of his mother. The choice of him loving a doll is also no gimmick, but rather well-thought out. He fears loving others because he fears losing them—but dolls can’t die.
A small reference to this is, right after Lars has introduced Bianca, he takes her to church with him. His friend, Mrs. Gruner, hands Bianca flowers while the other people in the town are unsure how to react. Lars thanks her and leans down to Bianca, saying, “Those are nice huh? They’re not real so they last forever, isn’t that neat?” It’s essentially a throwaway line, but it’s a testament to the thought that went into each line of dialogue. It’s a microcosm for what makes this film so lovable.
We see the same care applied to the other main characters, Gus and Karin. Gus too dealt with the grief of his parents, but the difference is he was older and able to leave their depressed, isolated father. He was able to create his own family with Karin, but feels guilty over this leading to Lars being in the state he’s in.
Gus originally pushes these feelings of guilt aside, refusing to admit he played a role in Lars’ development, while also denying any issues with Lars. By the end, he has a real discussion with Lars and apologizes for leaving him. Lars immediately forgives Gus, giving him closure for his guilt and resolving underlying fears of causing harm to his future child. This development makes Gus feel like a real person, as he hides his true feelings and gets defensive, but also cares enough to change. We can see that Gus isn’t this perfect guy, only there to show how strange Lars is. Gus has problems of his own, as he too was impacted by the death of his mother and then later his father.
The writing, acting and attention to detail are strong reasons why this movie stands out, but the music also sets it apart. The movie has one of my favorite soundtracks, as it matches the gorgeous scenery of a small, snowy midwestern town perfectly. Each scene is enhanced greatly by the music of David Torn, who managed to pack emotion and comfort into each piece. The music paired with gorgeous shots create a movie that feels nostalgic and warms my heart.
So how underrated is the film “Lars and the Real Girl”? I give this film a five out of five for underratedness. This is due to its lack of recognition, contrasted with its high quality. The attention paid to every aspect of this film makes it stand above many others, although it only has a 7.3/10 on IMDB