‘Lars and the Real Girl’ is entertaining whimsy

Published 3:44 pm Thursday, October 18, 2007

“Lars and the Real Girl” is one of those movies you get right away, or not at all. Admirably, this film never blinks in its pursuit of a single wacky premise.

Lars, played by the inventive Ryan Gosling, is a severely bashful fellow who can barely be coaxed out of his garage apartment to have dinner with his brother, Gus (Paul Schneider), and sister-in-law, Karen (Emily Mortimer).

Abruptly, Lars finds companionship. The object of his affection is Bianca, who moves in with him right away. She could hardly have her own place: Bianca is a life-size plastic doll.

Gus and Karen are understandably concerned, if not grossed out. But Lars seems to think Bianca is real (he says she’s disabled, which is why she needs to use a wheelchair), and the town doctor (Patricia Clarkson) suggests that everybody treat Bianca in the same way.

This might help Lars work through his bizarre fixation. Would this happen in real life? Probably not. But the story depends on it, and as we watch, a fragile kind of movie magic begins to happen.

Or doesn’t — if you think this is all ridiculous. I liked “Lars,” and found it funny, although it doesn’t quite achieve the sweet, careful balancing act it aspires to.

For one thing, the concept (from “Six Feet Under” writer Nancy Oliver) is not quite fully explained to us. For instance, what’s the sex angle? Bianca looks like a blow-up sex toy, and somebody wonders about the ickier implications of Lars’ infatuation. But Oliver doesn’t divulge that — maybe we’re supposed to read Ryan Gosling’s performance as virginal.

The film is directed by Craig Gillespie (credited with the largely reshot “Mr. Woodcock”), who tries to capture a small-town world somewhere between “Northern Exposure” and “Twin Peaks.” He doesn’t quite get it — maybe this movie needs a truly left-field director of oddball subjects, like Werner Herzog.

Gillespie is good with actors, though. Everybody hits a similar tone of understated bafflement, including Kelli Garner as a loyal and sympathetic co-worker who stubbornly supports Lars about this Bianca thing, despite her own feelings for him.

Gosling, who got a deserved Oscar nomination last year for “Half Nelson,” plays it right down the middle. Gosling’s method is to build character from tiny details — eye tics and neat mustache — into a memorable whole.

Special mention to ­Schneider, who’s also terrific in support in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.” He gets to convey most of the movie’s disbelief, and he’s a master at exasperated sidelong glances.

In short, it’s hard not to like this movie. Unless you find the whole premise sick, that is.