Dan in Real Life (2007)

Good Movie, rent it first

I liked this movie a lot and I recommend watching it but it is a very personal choice whether to buy it or not. So if you are reading this review without watching the movie first, go rent it and then make your decision But if you had seen it and are reading this review dont fool yourself and buy it. November 13, 2008

Great Family Entertainment

In this day of off-color humor, this charming film is a breath of fresh air. I'll admit, I waited until it was out on DVD; after all, Steve Carrell and Dan Cook aren't exactly known for starring in roles considered "family-friendly". I was pleasantly surprised at the all-around wholesome subject matter.

If you're in the mood for a feel-good movie with plenty of laughs, this film delivers. Delightful! November 3, 2008

Pan this real life

There is nothing real, or likable, about Dan in real life. The movie meant to represent a real human being's foibles, sorrows and feelings. Instead, we are treated to affable Steve Carell using his The Office persona in a movie that has little depth, warmth or charm. Sadly, the film is an inexcusable waste of the remarkable talents of its actors, not the least of whom is Juliette Binoche. In fact, the movie is embarassing fake, with nothing in the dialogue approaching genuine conversation.

Don't waste your time on this one.


October 25, 2008

You'll love Steve Carell in this.

I had the chance to watch Dan in Real Life, starring Steve Carell and Juliette Binoche, this week, and may I just say that I'm beginning to think Steve Carell can play whatever role he chooses? The man has displayed some range, people, range that you often don't see in a "comedic" actor. This tendency reminds me a bit of Jim Carrey, but I think that Carell's style is subtler and funnier.

In this movie, Carell plays Dan, a widowed newspaper-advice columnist with three daughters. Dan has carried a torch for his late wife since her death (which was four years prior to the events of the movie). As the film opens, Dan is bundling his little family up for an annual visit to his parents' house. Once there, he makes a short errand into town, where he meets Marie (Binoche) in a book shop. The two feel an instant connection, and they sit and talk for hours. Later that evening, Dan is more formally introduced to Marie. She's his brother's new girlfriend. (Ouch.)

During the days that follow, we watch Dan as he breaks down personal and professional barriers, learns more about what it means to put family first, and actually begins listening to some of his own advice.

Carell and Binoche, I thought, were both wonderful in this, and the script taps into something that many screenwriters fail to give enough credit to - women love men who make them laugh. Comedians can play romantic leads, if they are allowed to use the aspect of their personalities that makes them (in some cases) most attractive - their senses of humor. People make jokes all the time, and at least SOME of them are really funny. We don't see enough of such light banter in film, probably because it plays best when ad-libbed, and in scripts it seems so often over-rehearsed.

Carell perfectly captures the sort of giddy, joking high that one gets when one finds a kindred spirit. Dan and Marie make each other laugh, and they think the same things are funny. (Incidentally, I though Carell and Binoche had great chemistry in their scenes together.) This is a warm, funny story, and it's perfectly suited for family viewing. (It's got a PG-13 rating.) October 13, 2008

A Pleasant Date Movie

Wow, Steve Carrell, Juliette Binoche and Dane Cook all in the same movie. I've never heard of Dane Cook until I read all these comparisons of him to the late great American icon comic George Carlin. And now he has a featured role alongside one of the most accomplished French actresses in cinema, Binoche. Dan in Real Life, is obviously going to attract fans of "The Office's" Steve Carrell, who is very good in this movie, but if you're not a fan of any of the principal actors, then this is just another harmless date movie. As Hollywood stories go, Dan in Real Life, comes up with a plot device centuries old and a conclusion just as antique. There are some unexplicable happenings, but movies are a fantasy world, where imagining the impossible has to come true. Dan in Real Life is fictional but it's also fun. In it's own unique way, "Dan in Real Life" is a pleasant reminder that it's never too late to find your other half. September 21, 2008

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