Dan in Real Life

Though suffused with a number of overtly positive elements (including an unexpectedly subtle performance from co-star Dane Cook), Dan in Real Life ultimately succumbs to an egregious emphasis on inauthentic elements – as filmmaker Peter Hedges’ use of sitcom-level jokes and twists grows increasingly problematic as the movie progresses. Steve Carell stars as Dan Burns, a widowed father of three who travels to his family’s countryside estate for an annual reunion/party. After encountering a beautiful woman (Juliette Binoche’s Marie) at a local book store, Dan returns to the house certain he’s met the love of his life – although, of course, it’s eventually revealed that Marie is currently dating Dan’s younger brother (Cook’s Mitch). The predictable and downright trite atmosphere is, initially, fairly easy to overlook, with the presence of several familiar faces within the cast (including Dianne Wiest, John Mahoney, and Amy Ryan) and comfortably familiar nature of the story transforming the early part of Dan in Real Life into the cinematic equivalent of comfort food. Yet there eventually does reach a point at which the film’s utter lack of subtlety becomes impossible to ignore, as Hedges peppers the proceedings with a number of eye-rolling plot developments (ie the absurd manner in which Dan’s family discovers his crush on Marie). It’s subsequently worth noting that the majority of the movie’s characters rarely behave like real people, which – given the degree of artificiality within Hedges’ screenplay – admittedly doesn’t come as much of a surprise. And given Hedges’ previous participation in such above-average efforts as What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and About a Boy, there’s little doubt that Dan in Real Life finally comes off as an undeniably disappointing piece of work.

** out of ****

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