Gosling returns in gentle, quirky film Lars and the Real Girl

Last Updated: Monday, September 10, 2007 | 4:33 PM ET

CBC News

Canadian actor Ryan Gosling is winning praise in the quirky and sweet film Lars and the Real Girl, a followup to the Oscar-nominated performance he delivered in last year's Half Nelson.

Lars and the Real Girl, from first-time feature director Craig Gillespie, with a script by former Six Feet Under writer Nancy Oliver, screens at the Toronto International Film Festival on Monday, with a repeat screening on Thursday.

Ryan Gosling speaks during a press conference for Lars and the Real Girl at the Toronto International Film Festival on Monday.
(Aaron Harris/Canadian Press)

Gosling headlines the picture as Lars Lindstrom, a gentle outcast who shuns human connection and begins pursuing a chaste relationship with an anatomically correct sex doll.

Those around Lars are encouraged to play along with him in an attempt to help cure him of his social awkwardness.

"I'm really proud of it and I'm more anxious to see what people think of it, more than any movie I've ever done," Gosling said of the film at a press conference in Toronto on Monday.

"It's so special and there's nothing really that I can compare it to."

The film is set for North American theatrical release Oct. 21.