Dan in Real Life (2007)

Directed by: Peter Hedges | 98 minutes | drama, comedy, romance | Actors: Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche, Dane Cook, Alison Pill, Brittany Robertson, Marlene Lawston, Dianne Wiest, John Mahoney, Norbert Leo Butz, Amy Ryan, Jessica Hecht, Frank Wood, Henry Miller, Ella Miller, CJ Adams, Jessica Lussier Margot Janson, Willa Cuthrell-Tuttleman, Emily Blunt, Felipe Dieppa, Matthew Morrison, Bernie McInerney, Amy Landecker, Steve Mellor, Shana Carr, Nicole Morin, Charlotte Davies, Zoe Pauliks, Lucas Hedges, Sondre Lerche, Kato Ådland, Ole Ludvig Kruger, Morten Skage, Marci Occhino

Dan Burns (Steve Carell) has been a widower for four years and has his hands full with three growing daughters, the middle one in particular having gone through puberty. Reluctantly, she is taken to the usual family gathering at her grandparents’ Rhode Island country house, when she would rather have stayed with her boyfriend Marty Barasco (Felipe Dieppa). But when she arrives at the beach villa, she doesn’t have much time to grieve. It is full house with Dan’s two brothers, his sister and all their supporters and children and the chaos and noise are like a warm bath for all family members. Dan is a bit crushed by the parenting difficulties he has with his daughters. He is therefore sent out by his mother (Diane Wiest) to buy newspapers and get away from it all. At the local bookstore, he strikes up a conversation with one Marie (Juliette Binoche). It ends with the shy, introverted Dan telling her his entire life story and falling in love with her. Back at the country house he tells the assembled family that he has now met a woman… Everyone is overjoyed for him and Dan wants to tell everything about her, but then his brother Mitch (Dane Cook) introduces his new girlfriend to the family and unfortunately for Dan, that’s Marie.

This is certainly a heartwarming film about a large family whose various members support, love and tease each other. From the very first moment, you as a viewer are included in the family happenings and you let yourself be carried away by the funny rituals and warm mutual manners. There is more than enough to enjoy, while Dan and Marie do everything they can to extinguish their crush and above all to keep it a secret from the rest of the family. The sentimentality that comes into play here is well kept in check and therefore the excess of sweets is not too much, but sometimes even moving. But you can’t really expect anything else with such a surplus of acting talent.

The way Dan is torn between his love for Marie and his loyalty to his brother is very well portrayed by Steve Carell. He can barely control himself and gets more and more entangled in wanting so badly, but not being allowed by himself and the circumstances. The comic moments are just as numerous as the endearing ones. The only really cringe-inducing scene is when Dan tries to make Marie jealous by dancing wildly with his gorgeous blind date Ruthie Draper (Emily Blunt), a flat farce that’s completely out of tune with the rest of the film. Are you sad and lonely or do you just temporarily need a lot of warmth, then watch this heartwarming film where you are part of a large, loving family.