LARS AND THE REAL GIRL — *** — Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider; rated PG-13 (vulgarity, mild profanity, brief drugs, slurs)
Despite the ironic title, "Lars and the Real Girl," the "real" person is actually Lars.
Played by Ryan Gosling, Lars Lindstrom is a shy social misfit who's pretty awkward but also rather sweet and appealing — terms that could be used to describe the film itself.
Despite this quirky comedy's much-discussed story line about relationships with life-size "sex dolls," the material is handled tastefully and intelligently. It's not done exploitatively, which is a huge, pleasant surprise.
After all, the movie does come from Craig Gillespie, the director of the recent Billy Bob Thornton vehicle "Mr. Woodcock." The two films are like day and night — "Lars" is as sweet-natured as "Woodcock" is mean-spirited.
Gosling's Lars is becoming increasingly withdrawn. He lives in the garage, while his older brother Gus (Paul Schneider) and pregnant sister-in-law Karin (Emily Mortimer) live next door in the Lindstrom family home.
They're becoming worried about Lars, especially when he claims to have a new girlfriend — one he met on the Internet. But Gus and Karin are horrified when Bianca turns out to be an anatomically correct doll that Lars purchased online.
But Lars behaves as if she's real. He's even crafted a backstory for her. So Gus and Karin decide to take both Lars and Bianca to a local doctor, Dagmar (Patricia Clarkson), who also doubles as the town shrink.
Director Gillespie and screenwriter Nancy Oliver keep the tone pretty light for about the first two-thirds of the film, though it does take a rather dramatic turn toward the end. And for the most part, it works.
Some of the credit for that goes to the great ensemble cast: Gosling, Mortimer and Schneider are all terrific, and supporting players Clarkson and Kelli Garner as one of Lars' co-workers beg for more screen time.
"Lars and the Real Girl" is rated PG-13 for sexually suggestive references and humor, scattered mild profanity (mostly religiously based), brief drug content (intravenous drugs), and slurs based on sexual preference. Running time: 106 minutes.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com