Gosling's Latex Love

At the Variety screening of “Lars and the Real Girl,” on Wednesday at the Arclight, director Craig Gillespie and thesp Ryan Gosling chatted about their unconventional story that follows the courtship of a man and his latex love.

After a four-year battle to get the film made, Gillespie got the pic off the ground. Nabbing Gosling was the easy part.  “The fact that I was crying at the end of the script…I couldn’t believe that this writer [Nancy Oliver] took me to that place,” said Gosling. “It reminded me of some of my favorite films in a way, like ‘Harvey,’ or a Hal Ashby film.”

Although a pic about a man finding true love with a 125 lb. Barbie is not a classic theme, the director found that auds can still relate to the story. “In the first focus group, there was one guy who was really annoyed and he said, 'I don't get it. Is it a comedy? Is it a drama? What is it?' And a guy at the other end yelled, 'It's called life.'” (E. Maxwell)