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All Movie Info
Starring:
Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche, Dane Cook, John Mahoney, Dianne Wiest, Alison Pill, Roger Dillingham Jr., Emily Blunt, Amy Ryan, Jessica Hecht, Matthew Morrison, Kal Thompson, Patrick Pitu, William DeCoff, Jerry Quinn, Ellen Becker-Gray, Rob W. Gray, Larry Vigus, Frank Wood, Russell Woron-Simons, Norbert Leo Butz, Brittany Robertson, Seba Johnson, Marlene Lawston, Jaclyn Sabogal, Shana Carr, Seba Johnson, Felipe Dieppa, Jessica Lussier, C.J. Adams, Willa Cuthrell-Tuttleman, Lucas Hedges, Kevin Kate, Amy Landecker, Sondre Lerche
Directed By:
Peter Hedges
Written By:
Pierce Gardner, Peter Hedges
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Dan in Real Life (2007)
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Movie Review by Jarrod
October 30th, 2007
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I really like Steve Carell, and he is one reason why 'Dan in Real Life' is even remotely enjoyable, at least to me, because this is not much of a comedy. He really shines with the lovely, mature Juliette Binoche, and their chemistry is always convincing. Carell plays Dan Burns, who writes newspaper advice columns. He is a widower raising three daughters, two of them teenagers, who often treat him more like an older brother than a father, and he is so undemanding that it would be very easy to push him around, but they seem to love him and never get too unruly. Every Thanksgiving, Dan goes to see his parents (John Mahoney and Dianne Wiest) in Rhode Island. There, in a bookstore, Dan meets Marie (Binoche), and they hit if off pretty well. Dan realizes later that Marie actually belongs to someone else, his brother Mitch (Dane Cook). The awkwardness of their situation, as they are introduced to one another and have to pretend they have never met before is clearly illustrated, and there is always the concern that a relationship between them could never happen, since they both care too much about Mitch, and don't want to betray him. There are not a whole lot of laughs here, Carell is charming, but also restrained, and the movie feels somewhat aimless, as it if isn't really sure where it wants to go or want it wants to do. The romance stuff is rather strong, Carell and the radiant Binoche can sell that, but Dane Cook continues the trend of playing obnoxious and unnecessary characters, and to think of him with Binoche is amusing in and of itself. Not to say Cook cannot score with the ladies; my female friend and frequent movie companion finds him very attractive. But a classy lady like Binoche with a goofball like Mitch? Carell is definitely more her type.
It is sentimental, corny, and sweet, but occasionally feels like a sitcom, a particularly bland one at that. Strangely, we never really get to know that much about Marie, which is sort of a shame, since she is easily the most engaging and interesting person we meet here. Mahoney and Wiest are not used to their full potential, either. Director Peter Hedges's last feature, Pieces of April, with Katie Holmes, was better, but he also co-wrote About a Boy and What's Eating Gilbert Grape, also superior films, but to compare any of them with 'Dan in Real Life' would be unfair, to them and to it, since each movie has a distinct personality and style.
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