Morbid curiosity and an appreciation for the talent of Ryan Gosling made me watch this movie, and I was pleasantly surprised. Gosling is a fantastic, fantastic actor. His portrayal of a man in his late 20s with slight mental illness was brilliant. He used this squinting/blinking thing that somehow made his whole character and conveyed his imbalance very simply. (It reminded me of someone, but I can't think who.) Also, as a random note: I wish I could meet Ryan Gosling and have him read aloud to me. No matter his character, whenever he reads aloud, it is beautiful.One other strange note. It seems like Emily Mortimer is pregnant in every movie she's ever in! She's often passionately arguing with her voice cracking. Though it's always the same, it is very convincing.
I really don't know how to describe the music. With its disjointed but lovely quality, it somehow conveys a childlike confusion and fear, but also an element hinting at struggling with very adult problems.
Should I give a brief synopsis? Basically, a lonely and maladjusted man orders a sex doll on the internet. Not for sex, but to create an ideal woman who he has a pure and loving relationship with. It is really remarkably original. Although it was marketed as such, it is not a comedy. It's actually a very moving portrait of mental illness, what our minds do to protect themselves, and how a family and community can band together to support someone who needs it.
I never thought I'd agree with Roger Ebert, and as much as it stuns me to say this, I can't say it better myself: "The film...wisely never goes for even one moment that could be interpreted as smutty or mocking...There are so many ways [it] could have gone wrong that one of the film's fascinations is how adroitly it sidesteps them. Its weapon is absolute sincerity...It has a kind of purity to it."
Rating: 3.5
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