Lars and the Real Girl

Surprise of the year so far. Lars And The Real Girl is one of the most touching and life-affirming films I've seen. It's also one of the saddest, yet I laughed most of the way through.
Led by a stunning performance from Ryan Gosling as Lars, a scared little boy trapped in a man's body who doesn't know how to connect either physically or emotionally with the world. When we meet Lars he seems like everyone else, although a shade reserved.
It turns out that he just doesn't know how to function outside his own limitations. He's been scarred by his past, so much so that he becomes delusional. Enter Bianca. She's essentially a sex doll but when she `arrives' Lars treats her like his new girlfriend, even refusing to sleep in the same room as her. That's how much he respects her.
The challenge for Lars' brother Gus and sister in law Karin, with whom Bianca `lives', is how do they deal with his problem.
What they do is quite surprising. See, what Lars doesn't understand is that people love him and care about him. That's a big part of what I drew from the film. How people react to and accept your quirks, special needs, disabilities, etc, are signs of how much they care for you.
It's easy not to see that. I think Lars eventually comes to see this fact. It certainly makes me think about how I treat others. Everyone should have a look at themselves in this regard.
Again, Gosling is amazing. He's the epitome of a closed off shell of a man, who has built so many walls around himself they are suffocating him.
An excellent support cast, particularly Paul Schneider and Emily Mortimer as Gus and Karin, and a highly original script makes it hard to believe this is an American film when you consider some of the rubbish and remakes pumped out. Bravo I say.
While I laughed a lot, with much of it you just had to laugh. It's a kind of guilty laugh because the situation is quite serious. And while it was very funny I'd have to say this was still a drama. So much so by the end it was hard not to well up a bit. Very happily giving this 9 out of 10.