Over the course of a couple of days, Marcia and I watched “Dan in Real Life” starring Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche, and Dane Cook.
Here’s a quick rundown on the plot thanks to Amazon.Com:
Dan Burns (Carell) is a newspaper columnist who writes about family issues and relationships. As a widower with three growing girls to raise, however, the difference between Dan’s printed wisdom and his struggles with fatherhood and loneliness is often vast. He’s put to a severe test when he packs up the kids for a cabin holiday with his parents and siblings, then falls for the exotic, if elusive, Marie (Binoche) during a solo excursion to a bookstore. Stirred by a woman for the first time since his late wife, Dan is shocked to find that Marie is actually dating his brother Mitch (Cook), and that she’ll be spending the vacation with him in the midst of his family.
We saw a glimpse of what Carell can do without extreme comedy tricks/persona in “The 40 Year Old Virgin”. He continues the trend with this movie. The humor is real. It’s uncomfortable situations, or things said, but very real. At times you see the true character coming through, and it’s a very real, very believable character. Not just someone to propel the comedy. Carell is starting to show very good range.
The story itself was good. As the basic plot goes, it’s a little predictable. The family atmosphere though created by the other siblings, their spouses, and children, added a pretty good dynamic. John Mahoney and Dianne Weist played the parents and probably could have used more screen time. Also, some more of his relationships with his daughters, especially his youngest could have been added. However, that would have led to a much longer movie. As it was, clocking in at an hour and thirty-five minutes, it was the right length.
Overall, it was an entertaining film that both of us enjoyed. Though kind of glad we didn’t see this in the theater.
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