4/5 Quirky but in a good way
  by One-Line Film Reviews (Easton, MD)
The Bottom Line:

An endearing independent movie that succeeds by takes a potentially absurd premise (a man not only falls in love with a sex doll, but believes it's an actual woman) and treating it with the utmost seriousness, Lars and the Real Girl is probably the best movie that could ever be made about a relationship between a man and a sex toy and certainly the most charming; if you want a date movie that's neither formulaic nor stupid, rent Lars and the Real Girl instead of some tripe like The Proposal.

3/4

5/5 Unexpected Surprise Hit
  by J. Jones (New England)
I thought this movie sounded weird. But not only did I find it amazingly great, everyone I know who has seen it also agrees.

5/5 A celebration of life ?
  by C. F. Mullins (Springfield, OH)

I am not nearly sensitive enough to appreciate in a positive way anything at all about Lars and the Real Girl. The chain of off-the-wall abstractions is so counter-intuition and counter-experience point after point that it is difficult to attach any significance to any part of it, let alone the connectedness of any sequence of events one scene after another. Why did Lars buy the Real Girl ? Apparently not for any of the reasons hundreds if not thousands of other people buy Real Girls. Why did Lars move her in with his sister ? Why did Lars introduce Bianca to his sister as his "friend" ? What is right with this picture ? There are so many leaps in getting even this far that one must pause before bothering to wonder how it all turns out. Is there a moral here for anyone contemplating buying a Real Doll ? Is there anything positive in the development of this story that could not have been achieved without the doll in nearly every community in America ? If the doll is completely unnecessary then why tell the story in the first place ? How does this completely unnecessary story become a movie ? Does anything that happens in the movie cause us to search our souls ? If so, I wonder if the story and the movie has made any of the right choices. I think that the strongest moral value in the story comes from the example of the community rallying around the troubled Lars and accepting his "friend" into their circle. Certainly this is far-fetched but in the fantasy-upon-fantasy world of the author this has had a socially acceptable impact, restoring the troubled Lars to community-normal behavior. This is good for the community. This appears to be good for Lars, especially in the eyes of his family and friends. Bianca D I E D ! It was Lars that decided that she was sick (After finding out that the girl from the office that he had always had a crush on had broken up with the guy from the office that he didn't like.) Is that healthy ? Is such behavior something that we want to encourage ? It's just another soap opera. A soap opera with a twist, perhaps. Just a Chick Flick. Next week somebody will dig Bianca up and we will be off to the races, again !

5/5 Beautiful, touching, and sweetly told story
  by Robert Gerlach (Salt Lake City, UT, USA)
The description on the back of the DVD and in the trailers completely misses the point of this film. It's marketed as a quirky romantic comedy. It is definitely quirky and very funny in parts, but the story is far richer and more meaningful and tender than this.

That the main character falls in love with a doll is incidental. This film is about human attachment, loss, and grief. It is about brotherhood and simple charity, and it is as heartbreaking as it is charming. The story is told with such elegant sincerity, the acting is so honest, and the message is so full of childlike goodness, that for me this film is a parable about mankind's capacity for love in its purest and most encompassing form. It truly renews my faith in humanity.

5/5 This is the Way the World Should Be
  by tealover
Yes it should.

The reactions of the townspeople; the love poured out to their neighbor, all in the name of healing - yeah, this is the ideal world, the way it should really be.

I love this movie. I bought the beautiful soundtrack as well.

Ryan Gosling should have grabbed the academy award for this one.