Dan In Real Life

Year of Release: 2007
Genre: Comedy / Romance
Rating: PG-13 for some innuendo
Director: Peter Hedges
Starring: Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche, Dane Cook, Dianne Wiest, John Mahoney, Alison Pill, Brittany Robertson, Marlene Lawston

Date Of Review: February 2008

If you have seen the movie trailer and it appeals then you know exactly what to expect with “Dan In Real Life”. It’s a pleasant way to spend 90 minutes or so. It’s not your stock standard romantic comedy. It’s not your usual boy meets girl, they fall in love and live happily ever after scenario. It’s a little bit more complicated than that. Steve Carell ("The 40 Year Old Virgin") plays Dan Burns, a newspaper columnist, widower and family man, with three young daughters. At thanksgiving he takes his girls to his parent’s seaside house for a family reunion over the holidays. On the outskirts of town he meets a woman (Juliette Binoche) in a bookstore that he falls for only to discover later that she is in fact his brother’s (Dane Cook) new girlfriend.  “Dan In Real Life” is a light-hearted look at love in an awkward situation. It’s an interesting scenario and at no stage does it ever come across cheap or sleazy; it’s innocently handled and extremely well acted. Despite its complicated romantic entanglement, what I liked about the film is the simplicity of its execution. “Dan In Real-life” is funny, warm-hearted and family friendly.   It’s completely devoid of gross-out gags; it has a more normal, heart-felt sense of humor that comes from within us.

Steve Carell does a fine job, underplaying it all, as the confused, love-struck, family man. Dane Cook ("Good Luck Chuck") is solid in support as his brother and is used to great comedic effect in a number of scenes. The two guys share a fun moment as they perform in a family talent show that sees Carell on guitar and Cook struggling with the vocals. Also a hoot, is the sequence where Cook manages to get the entire houshold involved in a family aerobics session, he's no Richard Simmons, but he does manage to bring out the best in Carrel who busts more than a few hysterical moves. Add to this, Juliette Binoche as their love interest, the third element in the triangle, who proves she can be just as effective in English language films as she is in French. Now, if that’s not enough, there is a fourth element brought in to add spice to the proceedings. She comes in the form of plastic surgeon, Dr. Ruthie Draper, played by British actress Emily Blunt. She turns out to be a bit of a knockout, a far cry from the image the brothers had of her from their childhood. Combine these 4 elements and you have a rather neat recipe for romantic hilarity.  

If I had any soar points with the film it would be that you don’t put an Oscar winning actress like Dianne Wiest ("The Lost Boys") in a supporting role as the lead’s mother and then not give her at least one standout scene. I was waiting for her to step up at one-point and almost steal the film, something I know she is more than capable of, but sadly she just doesn’t get her scene. Also, the film ended rather abruptly. Just when I was getting ready for a more energized comedic ending, with a love-struck Carrel and his kids in a mad scurry trying to track down Binoche, they simply get to her too quickly and what had the potential to be something special was a little drab. I felt that it could have done with a more elaborate ending, a mad chase to get to someone usually involves a lot of laughs and a heightened element of suspense, will he make it to see her, what are his obstacles in getting there? They do, however, compensate for this mishap by giving us some insight into the outcome of their relationship on the end credits, a small consolation I must say.

“Dan In Real Life” is a little film. There is nothing epic about it. Sure, it has A-list comedian of the moment, Steve Carrel in it, but it’s a small, straightforward family comedy with a little drama and a nice dash of romance. It has a lot of accessible qualities that many big film's boast but don't possess. I am sure that there will be at least one character in this film that audiences will connect with, be it, Grandmother, Father, Uncle, Brother, Sister, Cousin, Boyfriend, Girlfriend, the're all there in one form or another. No one has been left out. I am sure that once positive word gets around, "Dan In Real Life" will compete well in today’s overpopulated CGI-laced marketplace. With each film Steve Carrel is begining to grow on me and I have high hopes for his next film, the big screen remake of the classic Don Adams ("The Nude Bomb") TV series "Get Smart" (2008), bring it on Agent 86. 

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