Lars and the Real Girl

Ryan Gosling makes an excellent job of playing Lars - the shy, possibly borderline autistic in this touching comedy of a young man who hits on the delusional idea of taking a life-sized doll along as his girlfriend to enable him to make social contact. Fine supporting acting from Patricia Clarkson as the family doctor, sensitive to the suffering caused by the loss of his parents, advises Lars' remaining relatives (Emily Mortimer and Paul Schneider) to indulge the make-believe for therapeutic reasons. There is fine interaction of the characters in Gillespie's clever direction – even the mail-order fiancée seems to come to life - and serious themes are treated without undermining the engaging comedy of the whole.

Thanks to Verve Pictures