Review of Dan in Real Life (2007) by Jake B — 05 Dec 2011

Steve Carell has seemed to get over his momentary lapse in judgment (Evan Almighty)and gone back to something he can do and do extremely well. What Carell can do is effortlessly portray a likable everyman.

In 'Dan in Real Life', Carell is asked to do just that, he plays Dan Burns a man who is four years removed from losing his wife, yet still manages to raise his three daughters and write his weekly advice column. Currently, Dan is preparing to go on his family's annual weekend reunion. Meanwhile, two of Dan's three daughters are loathing him. Meanwhile, at a local bookstore, Dan encounters the beautiful and charming Marie (Juliette Binoche). However, she factors into Dan's life in more ways than he thinks. The love triangle the film creates is not treading any new ground. We know from the first sign of trouble how the events will transpire.

Nevertheless, Dan in Real Life still manages to charm its way into our hearts because its performers are so good and its characters are not bad people. At heart they are good people, normal people. This film has drawn many comparisons to last year's 'The Family Stone' however I think that previous feature was handicapped by attempting to make its characters zany. Dan in Real Life allows its actors to portray real people. This is a welcome change for Dane Cook as Dan's brother, who dials it down to bearable in this film. This is essentially cinematic comfort food, it tastes good as its going down and leaves you with a smile.