Lars and the Real Girl

I'm happy to report that, in Lars and the Real Girl, Ryan Gosling admirably redeems himself as an actor after the travesty that was Half Nelson. The character of Lars is everything that the other character wasn't, not least someone you could care about and someone you believed.

Lars is a lonely man, living in the garage of the house his late parents left to him and his brother. The main house is occupied by his brother Gus and his wife Karin; they are expecting a baby.

The "real girl" of the title is actually a sex doll Lars ordered online, yet she becomes his companion. Will this eccentricity be accepted by the God-fearing community? And what will the impact be?

First-time helmer Craig Gillespie handles directorial duties well, though perhaps the handheld camerawork at times of emotional upset is a tad obvious. Peter Berg's name pops up in the opening credits as executive producer, and Patricia Clarkson's appearance is usually a guarantee of something worthwhile.

On the surface this is a comedy, and certainly it has some good lip-curling moments. But it was absolutely not the laugh riot that the woman behind us in the cinema thought it to be. And when her inappropriate mood-breaking laughter was immediately followed by the phrase "Only in America", I just wanted to punch her. But that's an aside...

This is the best I've seen of the recent spate of tragicomedies hitting our screens, and I would recommend you catching it if you haven't already. I give Lars and the Real Girl 73 points out of 100.

Good Night, And Good Luck.

It was with a degree of trepidation that I approached the George Clooney-helmed Good Night, And Good Luck., so bitterly disappointed had I been with his directorial debut Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. And on the surface of it, a parallel could easily be drawn between the two films.

Both movies deal with that classic perceived Cold War threat to America, Communism; and both deal with behind-the-scenes life in the world of television -- a world, of course, that Clooney knows only too well, albeit in another era.

That, I am delighted to say, is where the similarities end. Good Night, And Good Luck. is almost flawless if not always thrilling, telling a small story of CBS TV anchorman Ed Murrow taking on Senator Joe McCarthy at the time of his "witch hunts", seeking out supposed communists across the USA.

The film is beautifully shot; it has a message that is probably more relevant today than it was in the 1950s, when this true story is set; and the acting is perfectly understated by the strong ensemble cast, which includes Patricia Clarkson, Robert Downey Jr, Frank Langella, and Clooney himself, and is headed up by the wonderful David Strathairn, who surely would have picked up the Oscar had it not been for Philip Seymour Hoffman's knockout performance in Capote.

And this film also knows how not to overstay its welcome, clocking in at less than an hour and a half once you take out the end credits. Perfect!

Scores
Acting: 16
Story: 16
Direction: 14
Enjoyment: 15
Involvement: 16
Total: 77