Dan in Real Life
Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone (10/26/2007)
Comedy, Drama, Romance
In Collection
#3353
0*
Seen ItYes
786936732658
IMDB   6.8
1 hr 38 mins USA / English
DVD  Region   PG-13
Juliette Binoche Marie
Steve Carell Dan Burns
John Mahoney Poppy Burns
Bernie McInerney
Dianne Wiest Nana Burns
Emily Blunt Ruthie Draper
Dane Cook Mitch Burns
Alison Pill Jane Burns
Brittany Robertson Cara Burns
Marlene Lawston Lilly Burns
Norbert Leo Butz Clay Burns
Amy Ryan Eileen
Jessica Hecht Amy
Frank Wood Howard
Shana Carr Suzanne Burns
Felipe Dieppa Marty
Director
Peter Hedges
Producer Ginny Brewer
Darlene Caamano
Jonathan Shestack
Brad Epstein
Writer Pierce Gardner
Peter Hedges
Cinematography Lawrence Sher
Musician Sondre Lerche


Steve Carell's best film performance to date can be found in the fitfully engaging Dan In Real Life, where his long-suffering persona suits a character who lets his long-dormant hopes rise for a moment, only to be shot down again. Carell plays Dan Burns, a newspaper columnist who writes about family issues and relationships. As a widower with three growing girls to raise, however, the difference between Dan's printed wisdom and his struggles with fatherhood and loneliness is often vast. He's put to a severe test when he packs up the kids for a cabin holiday with his parents and siblings, then falls for the exotic, if elusive, Marie (Juliette Binoche) during a solo excursion to a bookstore. Stirred by a woman for the first time since his late wife, Dan is shocked to find that Marie is actually dating his brother Mitch (Dane Cook), and that she'll be spending the vacation with him in the midst of his family. From that point, the script, co-written by director Peter Hedges (Pieces of April), pretty much becomes a parade of difficult circumstances under which both Dan and Marie have to keep their attraction to one another secret. Certain scenes work better than others, but there is an overall monotony to the movie that isn't helped by a lack of onscreen chemistry between Binoche and Carell. Both actors are fine on their own terms, but whatever is supposed to be clicking between Marie and Dan isn't compelling enough to make one truly care that they get together somehow. Still, this is a film with plenty of moments to like, especially when Carell gets to broaden his previous range of emotions in a movie. --Tom Keogh
Edition Details
Distributor Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone
Release Date 3/11/2008
Screen Ratio 1.85:1
Subtitles French; Spanish
No. of Disks/Tapes 1