Lars and the Real Girl

It's not unusual for children to have imaginary friends. Parents usually take an indulgent - if uneasy - view of such a fantasy, confident that it will soon pass.

The Orphanage and The Spiderwick Chronicles both play on just such an understanding, but in each case the imaginary has more teeth than you would expect.

When it's an adult labouring under this delusion it's more disturbing - unless you're Jimmy Stewart and your pal is a six foot white rabbit answering to the name of "Harvey".

Lars (Ryan Gosling) may be another exception. He lives alone in a converted garage, right next door to his brother Gus (Paul Schneider) and his wife Karin (Emily Mortimer). Terminally shy, especially where the opposite sex is concerned, Lars practically suffers a nervous breakdown when his sister in law invites him in for dinner. As for Margo (Kelli Garner) at work, she might as well have the bubonic plague as far as he's concerned.

Still, Lars isn't unsympathetic. He's basically a decent guy - he's even a churchgoer - so long as you don't try to get too close.

That's why everyone in the small Midwestern town he calls home is so happy when Lars reports that he's found a girlfriend.

Bianca may not be the gal his mom would have picked for him - she doesn't speak English and she's paralysed - but she's a real doll. In fact she's plastic. Because Lars is so deeply smitten, Dr Dagmar (Patricia Clarkson) encourages friends and family to play along. Amazingly, the whole town gets in on the act and Bianca soon becomes a prominent figure in the community. Meanwhile Lars slowly but surely emerges from his shell.

Because Bianca is a sex doll the movie's premise has a built in "yuck" factor. That distaste evaporates as you realise that sex isn't on the agenda (she sleeps in Gus and Karin's spare room), and many viewers have embraced this odd little picture as a touching and original sentimental comedy.

I have to say I'm not one of them. The movie would be more honest if Lars did have sex with Bianca, but that's not really the issue. Anyone who has grown up in or moved to a small community will know that outsiders tend to be viewed warily. I simply couldn't believe the way the townsfolk accepted Bianca and welcomed her as one of their own - maybe I'm a cynic, but I have a suspicion that in real world, Lars would be laughed off the streets in about two seconds. Or worse.

If people really were this generous, sympathetic and understanding, well, maybe Lars wouldn't be in such a sorry state to begin with, poor soul.

Emily Mortimer and Paul Schneider give beautifully judged performances: Mortimer plays an open hearted and compassionate person with such simplicity and - sometimes - consternation; she almost makes the movie work single-handedly. Schneider has an easier task, Gus reacts in ways most of us would recognise (embarrassment, confusion, incredulity, guilt), and consequently reaps most of the laughs.

As for Gosling - he's a terrific actor, and this is a meticulously constructed performance, from the character's square, corduroy-and-knits clothes and too-thick moustache to his vague, nervous smile and wan expression. But Lars may be an impossible character. At any rate, Gosling didn't convince me otherwise.

Written by Nancy Oliver (who has half a dozen episodes of Six Feet Under to her credit) and directed by Craig Gillespie (who was canned from Mr Woodcock), Lars And The Real Girl is so tasteful and saccharine it makes Harvey look like a David Lynch movie.

Tom Charity
tom.charity@lovefilm.com