Your girlfriend's a bit stiff, Lars

I got my first introduction to RealDolls courtesy of, who else, Howard Stern. They're the next generation of sex toys - life-size mannequins with skin that feels real to the touch.

Or so I hear.

"Lars and the Real Girl" takes the concept to its illogical conclusion. Our hero, Lars (Ryan Gosling), falls for a RealDoll-style toy named Bianca. Lars is a bit of an introvert. OK, that's like saying Paris Hilton has a fondness for being photographed. He can barely function with other people, but when he buys Bianca online he suddenly comes out of his shell. Except now he's got a fake woman on his arm at all times.

Friends and family, including brother Gus (Paul Schneider) and sister-in-law Karin (Emily Mortimer) consult with a local doctor (Patricia Clarkson) to see how best to help poor Lars. Let him be, she says, and pretend Bianca is a real as she is to Lars. Good thing he lives in Small Town America, since word spreads about Lars' situation and the entire community keeps up the illusion that Bianca is the real deal. Human, that is.

The sight gag of Bianca in bed, Bianca reading to school children, Bianca at the dinner table ... it all works. And the Oscar-nominated script by Nancy Oliver finds the right approach for such surreal material, but ultimately it handcuffs her as much as it liberates.

Gosling is winning and, for lack of a better phrase, real, but there's something about the toothless grin he parades so often here that feels precious.

There's nothing phony about Bianca's performance. It's the one constant in this quirky, occasionally laugh out loud feature.

(Photo: Ryan Gosling and Bianca, in her screen debut, in "Lars and the Real Girl")