At this time of year, every movie reviewer in the country prepares a list of his or her Top 10 best movies of the year.
I’ll leave the best movies to the best reviewers, but if you’re looking for a few lesser known gems from a lesser known reviewer, check these out. These are the most surprisingly good movies I saw in 2011:
1. “White Irish Drinkers” (2010): I watched this story last weekend of two brothers trapped in their 1975 Brooklyn lives and pondering a robbery, destined for mediocrity or infamy. I was on the edge of my seat during this entire movie, waiting for the worst thing to happen. But the expected things don’t happen and, not to be a spoiler, I found the ending satisfying.
2. “Atonement” (2007): Wikipedia describes this as a “British romantic suspense war movie” set mostly in the 1930s. Starring James McAvoy and Keira Knightly, this story does indeed have romance and suspense. The main female character is a writer, to which I of course relate, and the soundtrack is magnificent.
3. “The Other Woman” (2009): I cried my eyes out when I saw “The Other Woman” staring Natalie Portman as the character for whom the movie is titled. Lisa Kudrow plays the biological mom. Besides the subtext of adultery and remarriage, the relationship between Portman’s character and her new stepson is center stage, and I found myself alternately wondering how she could be such a bad stepmother (not wicked, exactly, but definitely not good) and rooting for her success. Adding drama to this exceptional character-driven story, Portman’s character loses her biological child. The movie, which I recommend even if you’re not part of a stepfamily, is based on a book I haven’t read, “Love and Other Impossible Pursuits.”
4. “Lars and the Real Girl” (2007): This love story, of sorts, stars Ryan Gosling, who paired with George Clooney in the “Ides of March” this year, in an unconventional relationship with a blow-up doll. It’s much better than it sounds. Set in Wisconsin, it features all kinds of Midwest references to Scandinavians, church goers, winter and buttoned-up repression. I laughed, I cried, it became a part of me (really).
5. “Cedar Rapids” (2011): For the wife of an insurance man, I enjoyed every minute of this romp with insurance salespeople at their annual convention in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. A naive insurance agent (Ed Helms from “The Office”) gets out of his comfort zone and ends up opening the eyes of others. John C. Reilly is outrageous, as usual, and I enjoy Sigourney Weaver in just about anything.
Enjoy the movie season and the movie review season!
Minnesota Transplant 
Funny I didn’t hear about any of these movies, maybe because they haven’t been released in France (yet) but I’ll try to find them and watch them someway, thanks for posting!
For me, Midnight in Paris and The Help were at the top of my list for this year. But from your recommendation I am putting Lars and the Real Girl on my netflix queue.
I’ve put them all in my Netflix queue 🙂