Lars and the Real Girl

The following 'conversation' comes from Christianity Today's February movie e-letter.

"Seen any good movies lately?"

"Yeah. There's this one movie that is a wonderful, beautiful picture of the body of Christ, of the power of unconditional love, forbearance, and grace."

"Sounds great. What's it called?"

"Lars and the Real Girl."

"What's it about?"

"Well"—gulp—"it's about a sweet young man named Lars who has some, um, mental health issues. He's kind of strange, and a bit lonely. He goes online and"—gulp—"orders a life-size, inflatable sex doll, which he introduces as his girlfriend Bianca. And ..."

At this point, my listener's eyebrows shoot up, and he or she might take a step backward while giving me a look like I'm out of my mind. Can you say, Awkward?

But it's true. Lars and the Real Girl really IS a wonderfully redeeming film—and Lars' "relationship" with Bianca is quite chaste. It truly is a heartwarming portrait of the church in action, as believers in the local congregation reach out to Lars and love him right through his challenges.

At CT Movies, we liked it so much that we named it one of our Ten Most Redeeming Films of 2007. It's an eclectic list, including films with stories about everything from monks, kites, unwanted pregnancies, a 19th century abolitionist, and an animated rat who might just be the finest chef in all of France.

For a more homegrown and more recent comment on the same movie, check out this post.