Ryan Gosling, Paul Schneider, Emily Mortimer

Unlike one of it's central characters – yes, the one with the price-tag, and the stiff legs - “Lars and the Real Girl” is very much full of life, it's an extraordinarily original film with many things a doll does not have – heart, personality, and most of all, legs.

The one thing it does have in common with its plastic player is that you can't take your eyes off it.

Reaffirming his status as one of Hollywood's bravest and most interesting new actors, Ryan Gosling (best known for his role in the 2004 weepie ''The Notebook''), takes on the role of Lars, a young socially isolated man, unable to bear being touched, whose suddenly traumatized by his sister-in-law's pregnancy.

When Lars announces to his brother (Paul Schneider of “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”) and his wife (Emily Mortimer of “Friends” fame) that he's going to bring a girl home for dinner, they're understandably excited. Happiness turns fear though when they discover the new girl is actually a doll – named Bianca, who Lars seems to think is real.

Despite the concerns of his friends and relatives, a local doctor (Patricia Clarkson) notes that since Lars otherwise has a highly functional personality that threatens no one, this delusion is a sign that he is working through some personal issues and his loved ones should play along in the meantime.

If it's a run-of-the-mill dramedy you're after, you won't find it here - nothing about ''Lars and the Real Girl'' is familiar or typical – except perhaps the underlying message it wants to get across, that sometimes all it takes is a little kindness and patience , and, of course, its reminder that the feeling of loneliness is a human emotion one won't wish upon anyone.

Performance-wise, everyone is sensational – particularly Gosling, who could've totally off-railed the film with an over-the-top performance, which he most certainly doesn't. In addition, Schneider, Mortimer and Clarkson give excellent support. Oh, and Bianca isn't half-bad either – she's a real doll.

What could've turned out to be, well, er, a remake of ''Mannequin'' instead plays as a warm, touching and amazingly 'real' love story – - Written by ''Six Feet Under ''scribe Nancy Oliver and directed by Craig Gillespie, it would've been a tough one to nail down the tone, but together they've done it; quite an achievement - not necessarily between a man and doll, but between a man and his family.

Plastic Fantastic!

Rating :
Reviewer : Clint Morris