Dan in Real Life

I FINALLY got a chance to catch a Sunday matinee for the first time in months. I chose Dan in Real Life with Steve Carell. Written and directed by Peter Hedges (writer/director of Pieces of April) the film is an unconventional, quirky romantic comedy with more personality.

Steve Carell stars as Dan Burns, a newspaper columnist who has a weekly column giving advice to families about their problems. Dan is also a single father raising his three daughters after his wife's death. Dan and his three daughters are about to join the rest of the family for their annual get together at the family cabin by the lake. Unfortunately for Dan, his two teenage daughters are not very happy with him.

After they arrive at the cabin to meet the rest of the family, Dan is sent into town to the local bookstore for two reasons, to give him and his daughters some space and because he needs to pick up the papers. He meets a woman named Marie (Juliette Binoche) in the bookstore who he begins talking to and he opens up while they share one long conversation. She realizes she's very late for something and leaves rather quickly. He returns to the cabin very happy that he's met someone he's hit it off with, considering he's been alone for four years.


Unfortunately for Dan, he finds soon after arriving back at the cabin, that Marie is his brother, Mitch's (played by Dane Cook) new girlfriend. The next few days are spent with Dan and Marie alternating between flirting with each other and enjoying their chemistry and trying to stay the hell away from each other to avoid hurting Mitch. Dan continues his tenuous relationship with his daughters and finds out during his trip that his column is being considered for syndication.


The film is wonderfully cast with Carell and Binoche good choices with good chemistry as the leads. Cook does a great job as Dan's brother, Mitch, who is clueless that his girlfriend and brother are falling in love. Dianne Wiest and John Mahoney make the perfect matriarch and patriarch of this Rhode Island family who are wise to what's going on between Dan and Marie. The rest of the family are good, too. One thing I appreciate about this film is that they avoid the "perfect family" touches found in most romantic comedies. The families are usually too nice, too perfect and often break out into song, with scenes of the family singing "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" into cooking utensils and dancing around, just to prove they're fun and kooky. The annual family talent show night came very close, though, but for the most part they came across as a real family who grew up together, are still close and are too much into each other's business.


Overall it was a pleasant way to spend a few hours on Sunday. Carell gave another great performance as a widowed father who loves his girls and has a good job, but who is also a little lonely for company and struggling to relate to his teenage daughters. The film is a lot more subtle and layered and better than most romantic comedies without the cheese factor.

Dan in Real Life
7/10
Recommended: If you are in the mood for an unconventional romantic comedy, if you like Steve Carell, or if you prefer your rom coms a little darker.
Favourite quote: Marty: Love is not a feeling, it's an ability.

More ramblings to come.......