Movies

Lars and The Real Girl

Lars is a quiet loner who lives in the garage of his old family now occupied by his older brother and his pregnant wife. His sister in law is worried about how unconnected he is and tries to bring him out his shell. Karin and her husband worries are intensified when he brings home a realistic sex doll whom he delusional thinks of as his chaste girlfriend.

Gosling here gives a brilliant performance full of nuance and restrained emotion. This makes the character of Lars so likeable and understandable you can just about believe a whole town would go along with his delusion. Emily Mortimer also heads up a good supporting as the loving and concerned sister in law.

The story in places here can be a little far fetched in some parts especially as there are seemingly no dissenting voices in a whole town against the charade. In fact at later points it seems they may be a little more caught up than they should. The main story which has Lars and family deal with the delusion and come together well makes up for this.

An enjoyable if unlikely tale of good people and the acceptance of a loving family. A lovely and thoughtful movie.

Vantage Point

Attending a special Counter-Terrorism Rally in Spain, The American President is shot down. The event and aftermath are shown through the points of view of a TV crew, a weathered Secret Service Agent, a Spanish Policeman, an American Tourist and the Terrorists themselves.

Dennis Quaid here is excellent as a secret service agent who took a bullet and is now facing his first day on the job. Forest Whittaker is also great as always in a soulful and faceted performance.

The movie is split up, replaying the action through the different viewpoints until the final 15 minutes where they all mesh together to reveal the twist in the plot and the finale. This is kind of like a jigsaw that is enthralling in the making but here the final picture is a little disappointing. Some of the twists and motivations are not well explained and despite some great action (including an exciting car chase through tight spanish streets) the ending gets a little silly (a little Air Force One).

Whilst a clever idea with brilliant central performances, the movie loses its way a little in the third act.