Lars and the Real Girl

Upon seeing the trailers for Lars and the Real Girl, I figured I'd be walking into a semi-charming, obscure romantic comedy. Perhaps it would warm my heart or tickle me in a light-hearted way. But would I walk out of the theater in a different manner than how I'd come in? Probably not. Or, so I thought. Unlike most of the theater audience, Lars rarely made me laugh out loud and never really shocked me in anyway. I did find myself warmed and stricken with joy as the plot unfolded before me. This film is probably one of the most human I've seen in quite sometime. The critics seem to agree that the miracle of the film is taking an otherwise disturbing premise and making it something charming and intelligent. I don't see it that way at all. Instead, I find the real miracle of the film is that for 106 minutes, I regained a newfound faith in humanity.