Movie Review: Lars and the Real Girl

I am so excited to write this blog post. I've been looking forward to it since last Friday, when Jeremy and I watched the first half of Lars and the Real Girl. The Netflix DVD stopped working at that point and it was like torture to wait until Tuesday to receive the replacement disc. I almost jumped the gun and wrote a review of the movie anyway, on the basis of having seen the first half only. But then I decided that since there were so many ways that this particular movie could go horribly wrong, I'd better wait until I'd seen the whole thing before I recommended it.

Thankfully, my suspicions that the movie would turn out to be awesome were correct.

Never mind what you've heard about the premise of Lars and the Real Girl. Never mind what made me decide to give the movie a chance despite my misgivings (though this review had something to do with it). Just know that I loved this movie, and I'm so glad I watched it, and I think you should watch it, too.

Because Lars and the Real Girl is the kind of movie that makes you smile the whole way through. Even when it's touching, or sad, or unbelievably strange, you're still smiling. During the few days between when we saw the first half and the second half of the movie, I found myself thinking about the characters, wondering how they were doing. This, despite the fact that a) they are fictional people, and b) the events of their lives were necessarily suspended because they exist only inside of the movie, of which I had only seen half. I didn't care. I missed them.

And even though the premise is very wacky, the movie handles it well. There were a few times in the movie where I found myself thinking, "I knew this was too good to be true. Here comes a scene where it's going to go totally over the top and ruin the whole thing." But each time, the movie found a way to keep it light, keep it effective, and keep me smiling. If you do see the movie, watch out for the line, "And she is not petite, Lars. Bianca is a big, big girl!" to see a perfect example of what I mean. (Also: "We brought casseroles.")

Waking Ned Devine (and perhaps Son of Rambow) aside, Lars and the Real Girl is one of the strangest movies I've seen. But I found it charming, uplifting, and enjoyable. If you heard what it was about and decided not to see it on that basis alone, please reconsider. I don't think you'll be sorry.