A Doll and a doll.

First up we saw "Lars and the Real Girl" and it was a great surprise. It's a dark comedy that really is more drama that it is comedy. Ryan Gosling is exceptional as its title character.

This is a movie that really makes you wish you lived in a community the likes of the one presented here. It'd be right at home in any Normal Rockwell painting.

We were even able to bring my 12 year-old along and he enjoyed it as well. What's amazing is that there's absolutely no adult shenanigans in a movie that co-stars a sex doll. The doll is very much a major character in the movie and what impressed me most of all was how the writers made it so believable that all of the plot points could happen. That this doll could help not only Lars but also just about everyone in this tight-knit community is just precious. The car in which everyone goes through their various parts is exceptional. No one is out-of-focus here.

I can't wait to recommend this one to family and friends. There really isn't much to dislike here. It might be a bit dark for some but it's still impressive even if you're not a big fan of dark.

Next up we caught Steve Carell's new movie, "Dan and the Real G..... Oh, wait, it's called "Dan in Real Life."

This is a movie I've been worried about for some time. We saw the previews for it ages ago and then the movie seemed to miss one release date after another. I also happened to catch a totally different preview with my wife than the one I'd seen a dozen times with my friend. The two made the movie appear to be about entirely different stories.

This movie is not terrible. It's just not noteworthy. The previews are pretty much exhausted in the first 15 minutes and a couple aren't even in the final movie. A couple roles are poorly cast. Most notably the roles of the ill-fated brother and pig-face. They just didn't work for me. On a plus side, Diane Wiest needs to get into more movies. After this one many of you will wish she was your mother. Carell does a decent job but it's almost a snore from his perspective. The real shining light of the movie is Juliette Binoche. This woman gets better looking to me the older she gets. She's 43 and looks great. However, due to the poor casting of the brother, she looks totally wrong for him and you spend most of the movie just wishing they'd cut to the chase and kill off the brother in some quick plot point accident.

In the end you have a feel-good movie that doesn't make you feel all that good. It's a comedy with few real laughs and a drama that doesn't have much drama. I don't want my money back but please don't give us Part 2.