I watched Lars and the Real Girl a day after Rendition and the same theme runs through these 2 movies for me, albeit done very very differently.
I have brothers too but I wonder if I'll do what Karin and Gus did for their brother, Lars, when he mail-ordered a life-sized brunette dummy to be his girlfriend, Bianca. The town folks' reaction is just as amazingly generous.
This story taught people how to love unconditionally and not to be wrapped up in our own worlds. Ask ourselves these questions honestly:
- do we judge our loved ones?
- do we try to impose our views and values on them?
- do we give up because we can't understand their ways?
- how far would wego for our loved ones?
Bianca became Lar's alter-ego. What he did not dare to express in front of people, he did it through Bianca. What the town folks were incapable of doing, they attempt through their efforts to accommodate Bianca. She not only taught Lars how to love, she taught everyone around him how to do so too.
A man's metamorphism through an original storyline. It's a movie which made me laugh and cry without going schizophrenic. I've heard that Ryan Gosling (Lars) is one of the most talented actors in Hollywood. I finally got to witness his genius. It's easy to go overboard with this kind of role. I can imagine Tom Cruise or Tom Hanks or Russell Crowe raving like mad men in similar roles. But Ryan Gosling has a quiet understatement which is just perfect. Equally powerful are the actors as his family members and psychologist. Priceless.
Learn to love in Lars and his girl Bianca at
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07299/828566-42.stm
