Lars and the Real GirlMovie Reviews

Poster art for "Lars and the Real Girl."

Gifts + Promos

Fandango Gift Card

Give the gift of movies with Fandango Bucks Gift Certificates! Design your own gift card, or choose from our collection.

Rock of Ages GWP

Buy Rock of Ages tickets to any Regal Theater Showing & receive a FREE song download!

Madagascar 3 Sweeps

Enter for a chance to win a wild family getaway to San Diego!

Need Help?
Go
Avg. Critic Score: 70 out of 100 Generally favorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
15 Iffy for 15+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 100
    Wall Street Journal | Joe Morgenstern

    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. Read full review

  • 90
    Washington Post | Ann Hornaday

    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. Read full review

  • 90
    Los Angeles Times | Kenneth Turan

    The creators of this film were fiercely determined not to go so much as a millimeter over the line into sentiment, tawdriness or mockery. It's the rare film that is the best possible version of itself, but "Lars" fits that bill. Read full review

  • 88
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    At a time when romantic comedies seem to have exhausted unique ideas, along comes Lars, an original, amusing and heartfelt tale sharply written by Nancy Oliver (Six Feet Under). Read full review

  • 88
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    How this all finally works out is deeply satisfying. Only after the movie is over do you realize what a balancing act it was, what risks it took, what rewards it contains. A character says at one point that she has grown to like Bianca. So, heaven help us, have we. Read full review

  • 80
    The Hollywood Reporter |

    A deep, sweet-hearted study not only of one lonely character but also of the community that supports him. Read full review

  • 75
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    A gentle comedy, offbeat but never cute, never lewd and never going for shortcut laughs that might diminish character. Read full review

  • 70
    Variety |

    Helmer Craig Gillespie's sweetly off-kilter film plays like a Coen brothers riff on Garrison Keillor's "Lake Woebegone" tales, defying its lurid premise with a gentle comic drama grounded in reality. Read full review

  • 50
    The New York Times | Manohla Dargis

    It's part comedy, part tragedy and 100 percent pure calculation, designed to wring fat tears and coax big laughs and leave us drying our damp, smiling faces as we savor the touching vision of American magnanimity. It holds a flattering mirror up to us that erases every distortion. Read full review

  • 50
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    Really, I think we put up with Lars at all only because Gosling has such an affinity for the wounded boy birds he tends to play that it's easy to watch him do his thing. Read full review

View more reviews for Lars and the Real Girl on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 15+ Sex doll takes center stage in quirky comedy.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know the movie's focus on the main character's "relationship" with a very lifelike sex doll may raise questions from young viewers about just exactly what one is -- and what it does. The film also focuses on Lars' emotional disorder, in part explained by his distress over the fact that his mother died during his birth and his father's bad behavior afterward (these events come up in conversation but aren't shown). Expect some slangy references to women's bodies and sexual activities.
  • Families can talk about whether the movie seems at all realistic -- and, for that matter, whether it's intended to. Does the doctor do the right thing in letting Lars believe in Bianca's existence? Do you think it's believable that the townspeople play along? What do you think the movie's overall message is?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Lars' emotional disturbance leads him to believe that a life-sized sex doll is his girlfriend; on a doctor's advice, his fellow townspeople go along with the idea in order to ease his upset. Lars' brother is very distressed by his behavior.
What to watch for
  • violence false0 Violence: A minor scuffle between Lars and Karin (she tackles him), meant as comedy.
  • sex false3 Sex: The film focuses on Lars' "romance" with an inflatable sex doll, so it includes discussions of porn, sexual activity, and desire. A couple of shots of a porn Web site show girls in underwear. Brief cleavage shot, plus shot of Bianca the doll's bare bottom. Brief discussion of homosexuality, as neighbors think that Lars might be gay.
  • language false0 Language: Minor language, including a couple of uses each of "hell" and "damn." Some slangy allusions to sex (i.e., "the right cowboy to tame this wild filly," "slutty hunk of silicone").
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Cracker Jack.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: A background character smokes a cigarette.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

Looking for more reviews? Movies.com Critics Say:

Dave White

4.5

Dave White Profile See Dave White's Profile

Gosling is the perfect guy to play Lars. Read full review See Dave White's on MOVIENAME on Movies.com

Read more movie reviews at Movies.com

Lars and the Real Girl Movie Ratings + Reviews

Fans say

Go 1,585 fan reviews

Critics say

Go See all critic reviews

Lars and the Real Girl Featured Trailers + Video Clips

Facebook Movie Fans

Fan Fandango on Facebook