Lars and the Real Girl (2007)

Let me give you the elevator pitch of a movie premise:
A shy dude buys a sex doll on the internet but doesn't use it for sex. Instead, he talks to the doll ("Bianca") as if it was real and somehow gets his whole small town to play along. And, oh yeah, its not a comedy. It's totally serious. Bam.

There you have it, the plot of Lars and the Real Girl in a nutshell. Somehow, the movie still got made. Maybe they had a better pitch. For the movie to really work, the filmmakers need you (the viewer) to buy it. To buy that this poor shy man (Lars) in a small town somewhere in the north orders a doll online and really believes its a real person. To buy that the whole town cares so much about Lars that they play along with his "delusion" and incorporate Bianca (aka the doll) into their lives.

I didn't buy it. Maybe I'm a cynic. There was some great acting- Ryan Gosling was really good at expressing his character's inner turmoils non-verbally. Emily Mortimer's character exuded concern for Lars. The movie was enjoyable simply because I could watch Ryan Gosling's acting. However, I couldn't fully buy the town's complicity. I couldn't believe a doctor/therapist would tell everyone to play along with Lars' delusions and they would actually do it. It was just a little extreme- the townsfolk went beyond simply supporting Lars in his weirdness- they actually spent time and money on the sex doll themselves. Why? Ostensibly because they care so much about Lars.

In the end, it didn't ring true to me that a large group of people (we're talking a whole TOWN here) would make that kind of strange sacrifice for one, maladjusted (and definitely mentally troubled) introvert. I mean sure, I care about Lars too- I want him to be normal and happy. But I wouldn't take his doll with me to work or get her haircut. So I guess I'm a cynic and a terrible, heartless person. But then again, sex dolls don't have hearts either.