FilmStubs: Lars and the Real Girl (2007)

"Often howlingly funny, and the actors are a treat."

— David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture

"The most poignant, well-acted and weirdly funny movie you'll see this year. [2007]"

— John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press

"Both hilarious and poignant, with a Capraesque humanity that caught me completely off guard."

— J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader

"A strangely affecting romance with real heart - and another sign that Gosling is one of the best young actors around."

— Helen O'Hara, Empire Magazine

"It's a premise as fanciful as Jimmy Stewart's Harvey, and yet the movie has a sweetness that manages to be pixilated and plausible at the same time."

— Bruce Newman, San Jose Mercury News

"Gosling's performance is a small miracle, not only because he's so completely open as a man who's essentially shut off, but because he changes and grows so imperceptibly before our eyes."

— Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

"Sweet, moving and heartfelt aren't necessarily the first words that come to mind when describing the tender tale of a young man and his sex doll, yet all three apply to Lars and the Real Girl."

— Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic

"Under Mr. Gillespie's admirably directed seriousness of tone, the performers, particularly Mr. Gosling, Ms. Mortimer, Mr. Schneider, Ms. Clarkson, Ms. Gardner and Mr. Reid, never miss a beat."

— Andrew Sarris, Observer

"A sweet little fable about how a delusional man-child is helped by the loving ministrations of his family and community, the kind of throwback flick where human nature is seen as inherently good -- a notion so quaint that it feels damn near buoyant."

— Rick Groen, Globe and Mail

"It's nothing less than a miracle that the director, Craig Gillespie, and the writer, Nancy Oliver, have been able to make such an endearing, intelligent and tender comedy from a premise that, in other hands, might sustain a five-minute sketch on TV."

— Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal