Lars And The Real Girl

Ryan Gosling shines in this surprisingly sweet romcom about a lonely man and his doll

Year: 2007

Certificate: 12

Watch now on Mubi

This film about a shy man and his mail-order doll is one of the oddest and most delightfully sweet comedies ever made. Lars (Ryan Gosling, well before he became a big star) lives next door to his sister-in-law, who is concerned about his lack of social contact. When his new friend (apparently a disabled missionary from Brazil) arrives, she is ecstatic – then bemused to realise that his lady friend is, in fact, plastic. Will the whole town play along with Lars’s fantasy? 

Shot with a tight focus in snowy and cosy small-town America, Lars And The Real Girl is one of the most original and heartwarming tales made for the screen, especially compared to what you might expect from the premise. It could have easily lurched into either sordid or sentimental territory, but instead navigates the perfectly human path right the way through to its ending. The soundtrack is great, too. (106 minutes)