Reading the premise of this movie, whenever that was last year, I couldn’t by any stretch see how it could possibly make anything approaching a good movie. But when it got the Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay, then I heard someone comparing it to Harold and Maude ... what can I say, but I was pretty excited to find out just how it would turn me around.

In the end, I think I like more the fact that this film exists than the film itself. It says – sort of – weird is fine as long as nobody gets hurt, which is like practically my mantra; and as quite the weirdo myself, well, I’d be lying if I said it’s a complete waste of time. Though its ultimate goal is that final healing line, “You wanna take a walk?” which tells us Lars is “back to normal” ... on the way there are certainly hints – like the big one in Lars’ office of a male colleague’s obsession with action men and a female admirer’s teddy bear which he later, in a beautiful scene, “resuscitates” for her after said male colleague hangs it (she hid his action men; fairdos lol) – that we’re basically all pretty weird in our own way.

I’m not sure it entirely succeeds – I hate the fact that for a lot of people it will only confirm their assumption that all quiet loner types have such a similar homelife, talking to inanimate objects or even thin air etc. Very early in the movie, Lars’ sister-in-law has a great line about Lars’ aversion to social contact. Ryan Gosling’s performance is reminiscent of Adam Sandler in Punch-Drunk Love ... in fact, the score sounds a lot like Jon Brion too. I have no idea where the Harold and Maude comparison came from, except in that it’s a “quirky love story” which kind of shows exactly the simpleminded thought process I fear taking the movie the completely wrong way.

The main thing that must be said about the movie is … it’s not funny. There are giggles in places here, but do not be misled into thinking it’s a comedy or you’ll only be disappointed. I think to get the most out of this one you really need to go in with an open mind for a quirky but meaningful psychological discussion about life, loneliness, social interaction and love. It’s extraordinary how touching it gets in the end when you consider the premise; how you actually find yourself almost slapping yourself out of thinking of Bianca like a real character, especially during one beautifully lit kiss towards the end; and considering that, I’m more than slightly awed by it to be honest.

One word review: Phew. ‘cos I really feared hating this about as much as I did Waitress, Knocked Up, and just about any given “oh shit I’m pregnant” ‘comedy’ this side of Junebug. It’s something of a miracle that this won me over. In light of Junebug – seriously, am I the only person on the planet who remembers that movie? – the title here kinda pissed me off to start with, and Ellen Page’s character is even referred to as “Junebug” at various points – since starting this review I discovered this blog entry by the screenwriter which both illuminates that line of thinking and much to my chagrin makes me kinda love the movie even more. All that, and I have an inexplicable aversion to Ellen Page in general – something of a combo of her creepy similarity to Christina Ricci, the unanimous adulation of her in the critical world, and about a million other things.

But by midway, like I said, this pretty much had me won me over. I got over the almost insulting quirkiness of it all – the music (I mean how could I complain anymore when “Piazza New York Catcher” and more by Belle and Sebastian kicks in?), the stupid pipe, the hamburger phone, just the overall feel of it is so Napoleon Dynamite it again makes me wonder if every other movie fan on the planet has just a 2 year memory. Jennifer Garner kinda scared me when she popped up as the adoptive mother but she turns out to be perfect. Likewise Jason Bateman as her husband – after all my whining about the gender thing recently, I found to my surprise that this one does all the wrong things regarding the gender line but somehow makes it work. He does the “typical guy thing”, Garner even tells Page, “he’s just being a guy”, and I should be screaming at this point – but because it comes so believably from the character rather than the author or any collective consciousness lie … it works. As with Junebug, the characters here are all painfully believable, you can latch onto any one of them at any given time. Allison Janney in particular moved me as the pregnant teen’s mother – her little speech to the ultrasound technician is just beautiful.

Like so many movies of the past year, I can’t wait to watch this movie again now knowing that it’s not what I originally expected and feared (it does do the screamy “omg did you know giving birth hurts??” scene, though grr). The best I can say of it, ultimately, is that it won me over, that I can’t wait to see it again, and, like Atonement, I won’t be too bummed by any awards nominations that come its way.