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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2007)
!24 #).%-!3 ,HZ[[O 6WDUWV )ULGD\ BY JASON BLAIR Ryan Gosling in Lars and the Real Girl O[[W!IPQV\JPULTHZJVT 6^LU>PSZVU (KYPLU)YVK` 1HZVU:JO^HY[aTHU (-PSTI` >LZ(UKLYZVU 1LJKWO\ 6DW 6XQ0DW 5 62210<.,'&28/'3$,177+$7 :HKDYHQHZZD\VWRVDYHPRQH\ VHHPRYLHV +)Z]fbllbhg\Zk]3hger*)) +)L>GBHKZ]fbllbhg\Zk]3hger.) ',5(&7('%<6($13(11 1LJKWO\ 6DW 6XQ0DW 5 1(;7:((.$1*/((·6/867&$87,21 %,-28/$7(1,7( )5,'$<6$7 85' $< 681 '$< ´6OLFNO\ FKDUPLQJ 1V+WVKMZ\4I\M6Q\M;-);76 JHQWHHOO\ HURWLFDQG GLUHFWHGZLWK /HTTLYVM[OL.VKZYL[\YU (ZTVRPUNWLYMVYTHUJL VXSUHPH MYVT:LH[[SL1\S` SROLVKµ 7YV 3,+A,77,305 IHDWXUHV 0LFKHOOH5\DQ %LRQLF:RPDQ BEE MOVIE PG 12:00, 1:10, 1:55, 2:35, 3:45, 4:25, 5:10, 6:30, 7:00, 7:45, 9:00, 9:35, 10:20 AMERICAN GANGSTER R 11:55, 2:40, 3:30, 6:15, 7:05, 9:45, 10:40 MARTIAN CHILD PG 11:45, 2:25, 5:05, 7:55, 10:40 SAW IV R 12:15, 2:00, 2:45, 4:30, 5:15, 7:00, 7:50, 9:30, 10:25 DAN IN REAL LIFE PG13 12:20, 2:55, 5:30, 8:05, 10:35 NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS 3-D PG 12:05, 2:30, 4:55, 7:40, 10:05 30 DAYS OF NIGHT R 12:25, 3:25, 7:20, 10:25 GONE BABY GONE R 12:50, 4:05, 7:30, 10:35 ACROSS THE UNIVERSE PG13 12:10, 3:20, 6:55, 10:05 WE OWN THE NIGHT R 4:15, 10:20 MICHAEL CLAYTON R 1:00, 3:55, 7:20, 10:15 HEARTBREAK KID R 1:25, 7:30 3:10 TO YUMA R 1:15, 4:00, 7:10, 10:00 THE GAME PLAN PG 1:05, 3:50, 7:05, 9:55 by Craig Gillespie. Written by Nancy Oliver. Cinematography, Adam Kimmel. Music, David Tom. Starring Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider, Kelli Garner and Patricia Clarkson. MGM, 2007. PG-13. 106 minutes. 44441 IULVDW VXQ SEEKER: THE DARK IS RISING PG [12:15] 2:35, 4:55, 7:15, 9:35 UNDERDOG PG [12:20] 2:30, 4:40, 6:55, 9:30 THE NANNY DIARIES PG13 [1:05] 4:35, 7:40, 10:05 ELIZABETH: THE GOLD- EN AGE PG13 [1:00] 4:00, 7:00, 9:40 MR. WOODCOCK PG13 [12:35] 2:45, 5:00, 7:50, 10:30 THE KINGDOM R [12:25] 4:25, 7:25, 10:00 STARDUST PG13 [12:55] 4:10, 7:35, 10:25 NO RESERVATIONS PG [12:50] 4:45, 7:45, 10:15 HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX PG13 [1:10] 4:20, 7:20, 10:20 THE BOURNE ULTIMA- TUM PG13 [12:30] 4:15, 7:30, 10:10 RATATOUILLE G [12:40] 4:30, 7:10, 9:50 HAIRSPRAY PG [12:45] 4:05, 7:05, 9:45 [ ] FRIDAY THRU SUNDAY ONLY W il la me tt e • E ug e n e O R Adv. Tix on Sale FRED CLAUS (PG) ★ Adv. Tix on Sale MR. MAGORIUM'S WONDER EMPORIUM (G) ★ BEE MOVIE (PG) ★ Fri. & Sat. (1145 1215 210 240 435 505) 700 730 925 955 Sun. (1245 115 310 340 535 605) 800 830 1025 1055 AMERICAN GANGSTER (R) - ID REQ'D ★ Fri. & Sat. (1130 1200 1230 300 330 400) 635 705 800 1000 1030 Sun. (1230 100 130 400 430 500) 735 805 900 1100 1130 MARTIAN CHILD (PG) Fri. & Sat. (1135 215 455) 735 1015 Sun. (1235 315 555) 835 1115 DAN IN REAL LIFE (PG-13) Fri. & Sat. (1140 220 450) 720 950 Sun. (1240 320 550) 820 1050 SAW IV (R) - ID REQ'D Fri. & Sat. (1205 230 455) 725 950 1025 Sun. (105 330 555) 825 1050 1125 GONE BABY GONE (R) - ID REQ'D Fri. & Sat. (1235 420) 710 1005 Sun. (135 520) 810 1105 NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS 3D - $2.50 EXTRA FOR 3D (PG) Fri. & Sat. (1155 205 410) 650 930 Sun. (1255 305 510) 750 1030 OC: 30 DAYS OF NIGHT (R) - ID REQ'D Fri. (1240) 715 Sat. (425) 1010 Sun. (140) 1110 30 DAYS OF NIGHT (R) - ID REQ'D Fri. (425) 1010 Sat. (1240) 715 Sun. (525) 815 LARS AND THE REAL GIRL (PG-13) Fri. & Sat. (1150 225 500) 740 1020 Sun. (1250 325 600) 840 1120 MICHAEL CLAYTON (R) - ID REQ'D Fri. & Sat. (1225 405) 710 Sun. (125 505) 810 THE GAME PLAN (PG) Fri. & Sat. (1245 415) 655 935 Sun. (145 515) 755 1035 ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (PG-13) Fri. & Sat. (1220 340) 645 945 Sun. (120 440) 745 1045 Adv. Tix on Sale FRED CLAUS (PG) ★ Adv. Tix on Sale MR. MAGORIUM'S WONDER EMPORIUM (G) ★ Adv. Tix on Sale BEOWULF (PG-13) ★ AMERICAN GANGSTER (R) - ID REQ'D ★ Fri. & Sat. (1145 315) 645 1015 Sun. (1245 415) 745 1115 Fri. & Sat. (1200 225 450) 715 940 BEE MOVIE (PG) ★ Sun. (100 325 550) 815 1040 DAN IN REAL LIFE (PG-13) Fri. & Sat. (1215 235 500) 725 950 Sun. (115 335 600) 825 1050 SAW IV (R) - ID REQ'D Fri. & Sat. (1245 300 515) 735 1005 Sun. (145 400 615) 835 1105 30 DAYS OF NIGHT (R) - ID REQ'D Fri. & Sat. (1155 230 505) 745 1025 Sun. (1255 330 605) 845 1125 WE OWN THE NIGHT (R) - ID REQ'D Fri. & Sat. 955 Sun. 1055 PM THE GAME PLAN (PG) Fri. & Sat. (1135 205 435) 705 935 Sun. (1235 305 535) 805 1035 ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (PG-13) Fri. & Sat. (1255 355) 655 Sun. (155 455) 755 Call Theatre for Showtimes Times For 11/2 - 11/4 ©2007 30 NOVEMBER 1, 2007 It takes a village to raise a delusion LARS AND THE REAL GIRL: Directed :OV[Z[LSSHYZ 6]LYOV\YZSVUN V\UK [OPZ^LLRLUK WHY[ IULVDW VXQ Creature Comforts D uring the final season of Six Feet Under, the occasionally frustrating, ultimately uplifting drama about family, forgiveness and life after death, I watched an episode I still think about today. Entitled “Ecotone,” a reference to the boundary between two environments, it reveals the final dreams of a comatose Nate Fisher (Peter Krause). In the last dream, after an exuberant road trip to the beach, Nate runs wildly into the surf while his brother David, who appears to be having the same dream, stands frightened on the shore. In the hospital room, only one brother wakes up. If you followed the show, the sense of loss was physical; it was an event both inexplicable and necessary to conclude the series. The writer of that episode, Nancy Oliver, has now written her first film, Lars and the Real Girl, a comedy that makes the above scenes feel quaint by comparison. Like Six Feet Under, Lars and the Real Girl isn’t for everyone. After all, it’s about a boy in love with a sex doll in rural, heteroge- neous Wisconsin. (Imagine a blow-up doll with the, well, stiffness of a mannequin.) But this isn’t a film about the thwartedness and bewilderment of small-town life, where being different, in the paranoid view Hollywood favors, can easily get you killed. Instead, director Craig Gillespie presents Lars as a tender fable about community and the importance of valuing our differences. It’s a message we’ve been taught hundreds, if not thousands of times, from the stories of Aesop to films like Mask and Radio. But what ele- vates Lars above similar fare is the way Ryan Gosling, playing Lars somewhere along the autism spectrum, manages to convey kind- ness and affection but also loneliness and ter- ror, often in rapid succession. Since nothing terrifies him more than being touched, his doll “Bianca” is a fitting solution. Films such as this one need a sage or guide, a wise elder to douse the flames of hysteria. In Lars, that person is Dr. Dagmar, played with sadness and calm by the mas- terful Patricia Clarkson. It’s Dagmar who creates a safe place for Lars to play out his delusion. But here, Lars avoids the familiar: The townspeople accept Bianca from the get-go, creating a life for Bianca that Lars never could, such as electing her to the school board. It’s only Gus (Paul Schneider), Lars’ older brother, who detests the “big plastic thing” (although he actually just detests, and blames, himself). Gus’ reaction is, “We gotta fix him!” while his wife Karin (a touching Emily Mortimer) wonders whether Lars might not have the better deal. The film maintains with tremendous confidence a delicate balance between morality tale and offbeat comedy. In addi- tion to adjusting to Bianca’s arrival, I had to adjust to Gus’ reactions to Bianca, which I felt I might tire from easily. But Gus, like everyone, finds a way to accept Bianca, until Lars must choose between fantasy and reality. Lars could easily have faltered as Bianca’s status changes, but instead I found the last act the most enjoyable of the film. That old cliché that goes “I laughed, I cried…”? I did both, simultaneously, for the only time I can remember. If for no other reason, see Lars and the Real Girl for Gosling, who is fast becoming the most interesting actor working today. If Gosling can make you believe in his love for Bianca, there’s not much he cannot do. ew Lars and the Real Girl is now playing at VRC Stadium 15.
