Movie #356 - Lars and the Real Girl

Lars and the Real Girl
2007 - Rated PG-13 - 1 hr 46 min
Director: Craig Gillespie
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider, Kelli Garner, Patricia Clarkson

This movie could have been a total farce or completely tasteless.  But somehow, Ryan Gosling falling in love with a plastic sex doll that he things is a real Brazillian girl named Bianca is.... sweet.  I don't know how they did that. My head is still spinning.

Anyway, he's lonely and isolated and really, really awkward.  His brother and sister-in-law do everything they can to help him out, but Lars needs to get that help himself.  He orders a doll online and from the moment she shows up, he's treating her like a "real girl."  She even gets her own bedroom and rides around in a wheelchair.

And although Gosling's performance does much to transform this movie from would-be farce to true heartwarming story, it's not even him that has the biggest impact.  What's more amazing is how the people in town react.  Totally committed to playing along until Lars deals with his unaddressed anxieties/problems/depression/weird plastic doll affair, they just help him keep up the charade.  Before you know it, Bianca's quite the social butterfly and Lars is coming out of his shell. 

Then when Lars is finally ready to say goodbye, they let him do what he needs to do.  By then, it's not just playing along anymore, his friends and family and neighbors are truly attached.  It affects them all in a really beautiful way. 

I'm so glad this isn't a tasteless sex comedy and a guy who fantasizes that his plastic doll is real.  This is so much better.

Movie #329 - Jumanji

Jumanji
1995 - Rated PG - 1 hr 44 min
Director: Joe Johnston
Starring: Robin Williams, Kirsten Dunst, Bonnie Hunt, Jonathan Hyde, Bradley Pierce, Bebe Neuwirth, David Alan Grier, Patricia Clarkson

This movie is another classic, although I'm not really sure how that happened.  An evil boardgame traps its players and unleashes African animals and assorted disasters at every turn.  Players can even get sucked into Africa and then spit them back out, like, 20 years later.  Yikes. 

After the movie came out, they actually made this a board game.  People want to play this?!  Ok, I know, it's not real.  But if it's not as terrifying, is it as fun?

Back to the movie... which has some lame CGI animals.  But it was the 90s, so some allowances have to be made. I guess for it's time, the special effects were top-notch.  What I can say for this movie is that the premise is original and it brings you on a fun adventure.  A great movie for kids, not necessarily adults, but if you grew up watching this one, it strikes a nice sentimental note.