Lars and the Real Girl

I remember thinking while watching this movie: this is what independent filmmaking is all about. A unique, passionate vision that a studio wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole. Independent filmmaking his become quite the narrowly defined genre over the past few years - even the term has taken on a different name. Independent has been compressed to indie, and the output has quickly become hip, coming-of-age teen films. In essence, something that the studios can easily market. When all the independent distributors went out of business or were bought out by the big guys, we were given a bunch of "arthouse" sub-labels (i.e. Focus Features, which is part of Universal) which were nothing more than studio pictures with smaller budgets.

This film hearkens back to the independent films of the 90's - something easily identifiable as independent and something the studios would never produce. Simply read the plotline: A young man, lonely and confused, becomes delusional and begins to pretend that a life-size female doll is actually alive and is his girlfriend. Now, put something like this in the wrong hands, and you have a gross-out comedy or a sketch on SNL. Handled deftly by newcomers Nancy Oliver and Craig Gillespie (writer and director, respectively) however, and you have a touching, layered film that examines loneliness, isolation and love, albeit with a quirky sensibility.

I kept coming back to Harold and Maude while watching this film. Another film with a plot that could be obvious for jokes (an 18-year-old has a relationship with an 80-year-old woman), it instead prefers to go deeper, and look at motivation and underlying issues. It skirts a fine line, and almost always stays on the right side of it.

Ryan Gosling, a recent Oscar-nominee for Half Nelson, could have easily cashed-in on his new found popularity with a string of romantic comedies, but here he takes on a particularly challenging role, and he's simply a revelation. Lars is warm and likable, and the movie simply can't work without him. The rest of the cast is uniformly wonderful. I was especially impressed with Paul Schneider (All the Real Girls). Because of its strange plot, the film will most likely be ignored come awards time, but if it was up to me, I'd give him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He's funny without being broad, and he gives his character substantial weight and sympathy, which makes his transformation from disappointed brother to a supportive backbone in Lars' life that much more touching.

This movie won't be for everyone, but people with an open mind and a hunger for something different will find one of the best films of the year.