While one has to accept and get over the difficulties of the film’s premise for any potential of enjoyment, “LARS AND THE REAL GIRL” offers some great entertainment for those who are able to. 

Lars(Ryan Gosling) is a likeable, shy, young man, living a sad, loner’s life in the garage of a home he inherited after his dad’s death.  His brother, Gus and Gus’s pregnant wife, Karin, reside in the main house. It’s obvious that Karin is a decent person, showing compassion for Lars. But, it’s more difficult to accept how kind and caring the whole town seems to be, caring as well about him.  After a co-worker reveals a website to order life-sized dolls, Lars decides to order one, and several weeks, $6k later, it arrives. Pushing acceptability and suspension of belief for the audience even more, Lars begins to treat the doll, now called “BIANCA,” as real, introducing her to everyone in town, rarely without it by his side, and the town seems complicit!!! Once a therapist is sought out, her advice to play along and to ask others to, while hard to believe, actually allows for the film’s more poignant, magical atmosphere to take over. While it defies credibility to believe so many would be compassionate to care and play along, “LARS AND THE REAL GIRL” pleads the case, “that” type of commitment and compassion for strangers would not just make a better life for everyone in a small town, but in the world as a whole.

Without giving away where the rest of the story is going, suffice it to say, it’s imaginative and refreshing.

“LARS AND THE REAL GIRL” has an indie-feel, but rises above many in its clean handling of the subject matter, making it easy to recommend for family viewing, with more mature children(12 and up).

MGM/FOX has provided the correct 1.85:1 aspect ratio for this AVC MPEG-4 encoded 1080p blu-ray. Unfortunately, while there’s no sign of DNR, the edge enhancement is notable through large portions of the film, causing distractions.  Colors are intentionally subdued, but complimenting the cold setting of the film.  Blacks, while not inky, manage to retain most of the detail in darker scenes. A good, but marred transfer, not distinguishable from the dvd counterpart available.

MGM/FOX has provided a DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix.  Surrounds are rarely utilized, other than to enhance the film’s soundtrack. The great majority of the film is center channel focused. Dialogue is always intelligible and free from distortion. The music is quite pleasant, and well complimented with this lossy mix. Otherwise, there’s little difference between the blu-ray mix and dvd counterpart.

Extras from the dvd have been carried over, including a deleted scene, mini-documentary (all in standard resolution)and theatrical trailer(offered in 1080p).