I like Steve Carell (40-Year Old Virgin). He just has something about him that makes him somebody you want to root for in whatever role he plays. I also used to be a big fan of his when he was a correspondent on The Daily Show.
Another thing that some of you may or may not know about me is that I hate awkwardness in movies. It literally makes me cringe and look away. Maybe it’s because I can be pretty socially awkward myself and I can relate too closely to what’s going on. Anyway, this movie definitely has its strengths, but I found myself cringing for, literally, about 60% of Dan.
Dan In Real Life centers around Dan Burns, a widower and a father of three girls (about 17, 13, and 9), who writes a parenting advice column for a local newspaper. By all accounts, Dan is a great father. He devotes all of himself to his children. Basically, his youngest and oldest daughters are near perfect. His middle daughter is another story; she’s a typical angsty middle school brat. And boys are starting to be interested. After Dan catches her on the verge of kissing one of such boys at a local restaurant, he grounds her for a month and the family leaves for Dan’s parents’ house for the annual family get together.
Shortly after arriving, his parents (who you may recognize as the female D.A. from Law & Order and the dad from Frasier) send him out to the bookstore to buy some newspapers for the family. While there he notices a really attractive woman played by a surprisingly appealing Juliette Binoche (Chocolat, Cache). After coming up with a really cheesy way of spitting some game at her, they spend some time getting to know each other before she realizes she has somewhere she is supposed to be and heads for her car. Dan, who we can tell hasn’t felt this way about anyone in quite some time, musters up the courage to ask for her number. She says that she has a boyfriend, but agrees to give it to him because it’s “just two people finishing a conversation.” Dan heads home visibly giddy and tells his family about this great woman he met and how he “got the digits.” After everyone in his family tells him how great it is and encourages him to call her, Dan’s brother, played by Dane Cook (ugh…), says he wants to get his girlfriend’s opinion on when to call. Lo and behold, when his girlfriend walks in it’s none other than Juliette Binoche (sorry if this was a bit of a spoiler, but it’s in the trailer though so I figured it would be ok to include). Dan and Marie (Juliette Binoche’s character’s name) manage to barely play the situation off. Hilarity ensues.
The rest of the movie is a collaboration of three separate story lines: 1) Uncomfortable, funny moments surrounding Dan/his daughters and hiding Dan’s feelings/encounter with Marie, 2) The tension surrounding Dan’s commitments to his daughters and his need to do some things for himself, 3) Dan’s struggles to fully move on from his deceased wife.
They sold this movie as a comedy, as the rightly should because that’s the only justification one can have for casting Dane Cook, but the comedic elements usually fell flat. The strengths of this movie were really the second and third themes mentioned above. Carell is actually very convincing in his role, particularly as a father. There are a couple scenes later in the film that really strike an emotional cord. On the other hand, I thought that Binoche’s performance was just average. She fulfills the role of the intellectually intriguing, deceptively attractive middle aged woman, but I didn’t feel like she really brought a whole lot to the film.
All-in-all, if I was going to the video store tomorrow knowing how much I would enjoy the movie, but without actually having seen it, I would choose to rent it again. If you don’t go in expecting this to be a great comedy, but instead a good family drama that makes some attempts at comedy, you will really be in for a pleasant surprise. I’d put it in the “Check It out If You Have an Opportunity, But Don’t Run to the Store” category. It would be a solid movie to watch by yourself or with your significant other if you’ve got one.
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Like I said, this movie wasn’t as funny as I thought it would be but I still really enjoyed it. and I can’t lie, I also really enjoyed watching you cringe and squirm through the awkwardness the whole time…very funny lol.