Following the "one for them, one for me" career strategy employed by more than a few talented Hollywood actors, Ryan Gosling's follow-up to Fracture is another modestly budgeted, indie character study: Lars and the Real Girl pairs the dreamy star of The Notebook with an inflatable love interest named Bianca, whom he repeatedly boasts to his family works as a "missionary."

(We're guessing the confusion over Bianca's line of work stems from Lars misinterpreting the directions on the erotic doll's packaging.) Despite the wacky premise and easy jokes, however, ET's sneak preview does suggest that Lars will provide ample opportunity for Gosling to ply his craft, particularly in one heart-wrenching scene in which the actor tries to resuscitate an expiring Bianca with a bicycle patch kit and the power of his own lungs, tearfully imploring his punctured lover not to "give up on me, now, you hear?"