First of all, let me tell you that I recently upgraded my Neflix to two at a time (if I did three I’d never leave the house), and it has continued to enrich my life. These were the first two at a time I received, and I had a really hard time deciding on which to watch first.
So I played eenie meenie miney mo and ended on Lars and the Real Girl.
Ok, so on paper it sounds really bad. Have you heard of Real Dolls (link NSFW)? They’re sex dolls, but more than that. They’re over a thousand dollars and they feel (and look) like real women. There is apparently also a cult of people who have actual relationships with their dolls besides sex. The whole thing is interesting, and disturbing, especially as a smart girl whose biggest fear is that men actually want silent, personality-less women.
But I digress.
Lars is a lonely, lonely person. He lives in his brother and sister-in-law’s garage, is painfully awkward and shy, and hates to be touched. His loneliness is so great that he orders a Real Doll and starts a relationship with it. Lars is delusional, but instead of being ostracized by the small town he lives in, everyone plays along and does their best to make his “girlfriend” comfortable.
I gotta tell you, I returned it to Netflix and immediately bought the thing. It’s lovely. It’s obviously funny, what with dolls falling all over the place and stuff, but it’s also really touching. The more the town rallies around him, the more Lars feels loved, and as his confidence grows, it’s becomes virtually impossible for your heart not to shatter into a million pieces.
Briefly, we should talk about how good Ryan Gosling is.
In a world of Josh Hartnetts, there is a bright light named Ryan Gosling. I’m going to go ahead and chalk up The Notebook to a learning experience… He’s fucking fantastic. I saw him jogging on the street in New York and I wanted to run after him to hug him.
In short, rent it.
The Last King of Scotland also turned out to be pretty kickass. It’s based on the true story of Nicholas Garrigan, a scottish doctor who somehow got mixed up in with Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. It’s great. The whole thing has a very gritty, documentary feel, and it works. James McAvoy (another young actor who gives me faith in movies. Have you seen Atonement yet? Run to the store and prepare to be in love with him.) is the young doctor, and he is immensely likable and relatable. As the charismatic dictator sweeps him up in his playboy lifestyle, you’re swept up right with him, and you feel his anguish when he realizes what kind of man Amin is. Warning for those with weak stomachs: This movie is GRAPHIC. Um, I don’t want to ruin things for you, but let’s just say I screamed in horror more than 5 times in the last 20 minutes.
Anyway.
Awesome as McAvoy is, Forest Whitaker owns this movie. It would have been really easy for this film to suck. The whole concept rests solely on the ability of the actor playing Idi Amin, who managed to murder 300,000 of his own countrymen under their noses without national outrage (for a while, at least). He’s charismatic, paranoid… almost childlike, but with terrifying fits of rage. Forest Whitaker pulled it off and then some. That Oscar he got? Yeah, he deserved it. He disappears into the role. It’s an amazing performance. I want to find him and shake his hand.
Also, it’s got Gillian Anderson in it, which makes me happy because I love Agent Scully. Yeah, I said it.
See it… but be in the right mood for a serious downer.
Ummmm….
I’ve been having such good luck with Netflix lately. I have only been annoyed with a few of the last few that came through my mailbox (hint: Smiley Face isn’t a good movie. Take it at face value and you know that.). Hopefully my luck will continue.
What have YOU GUYS been watching?
