I wasn't really expecting to like Dan In Real Life, much less enjoy it to any degree. I know, that's a terrible thing to say...I do attempt to approach each and every film I go into with an open mind. The fact is, I've never thought of Steve Carell as particularly funny. He's never seemed to me to have the skill of a Simon Pegg or John Cleese, or even a Drew Carey. He has some basic comed-ic timing, yes--but that's basic, in the same way a dog can basically understand that when you shake a leash, it's time to go out for a walk. To me, Steve Carell's the kind of guy I'd never want to meet in a dark alley, because for a comedian, he's just sort of...creepy. He's got that creepy stare, which emits eerily out of those weird, creepy eyes of his. I'd see him as more of a quiet serial killer before I'd ever picture him as a comedian. Yes, he was funny in The 40 Year-Old Virgin, but that was due more to the script and direction than his actual delivery or inherent skills(he's probably good at fetching things, though).
That said, I was pleasantly surprised by Dan In Real Life...pri-marily because while it's being advertised as a light, breezy family comedy, it's really more of a straight-up drama with a few comedic laughs inserted.
Dan Burns is a New York advice columnist who is also a widow-er and father of three young girls: teens Jane(Alison Pill), Cara(Brittany Robertson) and pre-teen Lilly(Marlene Lawston). Dan gives great advice to the general public, but is losing touch with his daughters. As is the custom every year, Dan and his girls go out to Rhode Island for a family get-together with his Dad(John Mahoney), Mom(Dianne Wiest) and fellow siblings and extended in-laws. While on an errand one morning for Mom, Dan runs into a European beauty named Marie(Juliette Binoche) at a local book-store and they spend hours getting to know each other. Well, Dan spends most of it talking and Marie listening...until the end, when she finally gets around to telling Dan she has a boyfriend.
This is one of the central problems with the film for me as a guy, and why although I can recommend this film, it might not work for some...say, approximately the entire male half of the planet.
Like the recent movie The Game Plan, wherein we had the un-likeable child Peyton--who was one of the centerpieces of the story --here we are given Marie, who it is soon revealed is in a new rela-tionship with Dan's own brother Mitch(Dane Cook). Yet she and Dan both realize they are attracted to one another. Dan has already told his family--before Marie arrives at the folks' house-- that he met a beautiful woman at the bookstore, but in the family's rejoicing of the moment, Dan hadn't had a chance to explain it wouldn't work out because she was in a relationship. Once Marie arrives, rather than let Dan do the honorable thing and come clean to Mitch...perhaps even apologize to him for the awkwardness of the situation...Marie not only begs Dan to keep his mouth shut, but finds herself amused by the situation, and later--through some impossible contrivances--winds up naked in a shower with a clothed Dan, allowing him to take a good gander at what he's not getting.
This isn't comedy. This is what's called a cocktease. It's not funny in the slightest, and while I've never agreed with nor liked the phrase, the character of Marie as written is the exact reason some college-aged doofus came up with the term "Bros before Hos".
If you're a guy, it takes effort to watch Marie on screen and not pay one of your female friends $100 bucks to climb into the movie and punch Marie's lights out. She bonds with the family immediate-ly, including the girls, to Dan's dismay. She exercises and wrestles with Mitch in a sexual manner in full view of Dan, knowing it's painful to him, and yet tries to have her cake as well by not once attempting to put the brakes on Dan's feelings for her. She smiles like an angel, but deep down, she's inherently one of "those girls" your mother told you to stay away from. Why any writer would make a character such as this one of the main supporting struts of what is supposed to be a romantic comedy is beyond me.
The movie itself is the anti-Marie: inherently likeable in spite of its flaws(there's no family on Earth that exercises together and does all sorts of nifty stuff like the Burns family. Their togetherness is so unbelievably tight, it would make the Brady Bunch vomit in disgust) and running gags(the bit you've seen in the trailer--where Dan gets constantly ticketed by one serious stick-up-the-butt cop--gets old fast), you find yourself wanting the best for Dan, in spite of Marie's behavior. There are the normal angsty things revolving around middle daughter Cara that Dan has to deal with, including his own important meeting for potential syndication of his column which doesn't turn out quite as expected in a movie of this type. This development is one of the reasons I can champion this film with a clear conscience. Yes, there are plenty of happy-sappy moments, but they are balanced with a few genuine tugs at the heartstrings that resonate with a deeper and more profound mean-ing...especially when Dan has a final sitdown with his girls about how unreliable a dad he's been.
The young actresses playing Dan's daughters each carry their portion of the film solidly on their young shoulders. Although Alison Pill has chalked up the most performances acting-wise thus far, perhaps the girls' assuredness somehow has to do with each of them at one time appearing in such serious fare as Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and CSI. Whatever the case, each takes their part and runs with it. The same cannot be said about the soundtrack by Norwegian musician Sondre Lerche, however: it is abominable. Lerche's music for the film consists of original songs which tell the story as it plays out on screen! The songs are obvious, in your face, and threaten to drown out whatever dialogue might be taking place at the time. I should clarify that Lerche's music is only "original" in the fact these particular words have never been thrown together accompanied to music such as what is used here, and never in so obvious and lazy a manner. If the New York School for the Deaf has a band, they'd come up with better music!
Although I seem to be bashing the hell out of this flick, I really did enjoy it...except for the Marie character(all right, that's it...hey, Karla! Here's $100 bucks! Make her the Beating of the Week!) and her serpentine insidiousness. But the star of the film is Dan, and--not as a guy, but as a moviegoer--you want him to succeed. He's had it rough with the loss of his wife, raising three girls, one of whom is coming to despise him, and you hope he finds happiness
...even if it is with someone who might seem right for him, but will more than likely have him appearing in front of Judge Judy five years down the line. Remember, once a cheater, always a cheater.
...even if it is with someone who might seem right for him, but will more than likely have him appearing in front of Judge Judy five years down the line. Remember, once a cheater, always a cheater.
The real pleasure comes from the performances in this film(with the exception of Dane Cook, of course), from Carell's relatively deep approach to his character, to the always dependable John Mahoney(Frasier) on down to the girls. And in the end, it isn't just one character who matters here, but the overall arc of whether Dan finally listens to his own advice and straightens his life out. Go...enjoy Dan In Real Life.
But watch out for Marie.
Official Archives of LanceReviews...
The Unexpected Dramedy
More a drama than a comedy, Dan In Real Life is still better than it deserves to be.
This poster doesn't make me laugh...it just makes me con-fused, and not want to eat ever again.
Steve Carell and Juliette Binoche play two folks who meet-cute(God, I hate that f***ing term!) in a bookstore. Because that happens every single day in real life.
Dane Cook plays Carell's emotionally stilted brother who finds "love" with the woman Carell lusts after. Yeah, keep trying at that acting thing, Dane...maybe one day you'll get it right.
To Dan's dismay, his entire family forges an instant bond with Marie.
Emily Blunt plays Ruthie Draper--a completely extraneous character who just happens to be in town the weekend Dan comes to visit, and shows some vague interest in him.
Trying to prove to Marie that "two can play that game", Dan gets down with his bad self in a bar dance-off with Ruthie.
