Film Reviews

Dan in Real Life

• Rating:
• Director: Peter Hedges
• Starring: Dane Cook
• Details: USA / 98mins (PG)

Films are really about one thing: the defining moment in a character's life. Everything has been leading up to this; their finest hour is just in reach and how they overcome the tough obstacles thrown their way is what gives us plot. Dan In Real Life, however, doesn't take this approach as Dan (Carell) has already had his defining moment in back story - his wife died four years agom, leaving him with three girls who he's struggling to connect with. On the way to a family reunion on Rhode Island, Dan meets the lovely Marie (Binoche) in a bookstore and they hit it off. Finally achieving some sort of happiness since his wife died, Dan regales his family, who have been urging him to move on, on how this might be the woman who can help him do just that. However, Marie is dating Dan's brother Mitch (Cook) and he is forced to watch them play happy families for the entire weekend. A toned-down, restrained romantic comedy for adults is the pitch for Dan In Real Life, and for the most part, it achieves what it sets out to do. It strives for believability rather than super-dramatic movie moments, and subtle humour than laugh out loud scenes. Carell is on form, too, playing against type as the straight one in the family. There are some moments that don't fit, though, and feel shoehorned in so that the trailer can fool an interested audience into buying a ticket for a comedy that isn't. The big problem, the one that lets the whole show down, is the chemistry between Carell and Binoche: their attraction isn't believable and the two are better when they aren't forced to flutter their eyelids.

Review by Gavin Burke