further film opinions that no one cares about

Saw two movies this past weekend - Gone Baby Gone and Lars and the Real Girl.

Gone Baby Gone...I wanted to love this movie. I've always had a soft spot for Ben Affleck even though he went through a huge douchey phase. But now he's got Jennifer Garner who seems so nice and down to earth and he's trying to lay low and do good work. And he collected so much talent for this movie that I thought he could pull it off. And he certainly does pull off an average movie. Casey Affleck is great and I might even say that it's well-directed. The problem, for me, was the writing (which was also Affleck). Granted, it's adapted from a Lehane book but still. I had serious issues with the act structure and, all in all, I couldn't shake the feeling that most scenes felt forced. It's totally snobby and ridiculous to use this word, but it just didn't feel "organic". To be fair, everyone in our group who saw it seemed to like it more than me so maybe I'm off base. But I just wasn't moved. Or maybe the problem was that I saw it a day after this next movie....

Lars and the Real Girl...Great. Just great. Fantastically simple and terrific. Made me think I should just avoid huge studio features all together. If you know the premise about Ryan Gosling in love with a sex doll, you may think it sounds too weird. But if you know me, you know I don't like too weird. This movie is purely a love story and a really moving one at that. Gosling is amazing as usual and the film just really captures this small snow-covered town really well. Whereas Gone Baby Gone felt forced, this film felt completely natural. It looked like they really shot in a small snow-covered town, and the actors were really wearing three layers because it was cold, and not everyone was glamorous and attractive. If it comes to your city, go see it.