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Plot Summary:
The Burns clan is gathering at their vacation place on the
Rhode Island shore: Dan (a widower with three daughters),
plus his parents, various brothers and a sister and their
families. At a bookstore the first morning he's there, he
chats up a woman, bares his soul and feels a connection
before she gets a call and bolts. She's seeing someone, who
turns out to be one of Dan's brothers. It's a dicey couple
of days at the house as Dan can't keep his eyes off her, his
brother is obviously falling in love, and everyone thinks
she's great. In this big supportive family, who will be the
first to find that he tension is too much to bear? And after
the snap, then what?
Two brothers, one girl and a pizza.
The Review:
“Dan in Real Life” is a movie that I missed in the
theater and went completely off my radar. So much so that I
had forgotten Steve Carell even did the movie until I saw it
at the video store. I asked the clerk at the counter how the
film was and she just kind of awkwardly smiled at me. That
should have tipped things off right there. Then again, I was
at Blockbuster. I guess I should be glad she wasn’t eating
her lunch while ringing me up. But I’m a fan of Steve Carell
and I was looking forward this picture. I prefer dramatic
Steve over comedic Steve. I know, how odd.
The film opens and we see that Dan Burns (Steve Carell)
is a columnist raising three girls by himself. We see him
making them breakfast, taking them to school and even
interfering with their dating lives - “No penis’ in my
daughter please.” We see something like five or six scenes
where Dan is running the house and taking care of the kids.
Very quickly I find myself asking where Mrs. Burns is, which
I imagine is the point. Shortly after he arrives at the
family cabin and shortly after that he takes off to the book
store where we meet Maria (Juliette Binoche). Let the boring
and unemotional love story begin.
Dan Burns (Steve Carell) rockin' an A-minor
We see these two characters having lunch, sharing laughs,
telling stories. Unfortunately there’s no sexy montage
featuring “Glory of Love”, but what can you do. But it’s
this scene that is meant to solidify the plotline for the
remainder of the film. After this great lunch Dan goes back
to the cabin and is introduced to his brother’s new
girlfriend Maria. MARIA! OH MY GOD! IT'S THE SAME FUCKING
GIRL! ZZZZzzzzz….. Wake me up when an original idea comes my
way. Seriously though, this “should we tell them” scenario
goes on for literally forty-minutes. What would have been
more interesting is if they did let the cat out of the bag
immediately. That’s something I don’t think I’ve seen
before, but nope.
Usually in films with limited locations and ensemble
casts you have several key people with several subplots
going on. It seems like everyone’s trying to either find
themselves or come to some big life decision. Films like
“The Big Chill” and “Indian Summer” come to mind. I realize
that the stories are different but the structures are
similar. Well, “Dan in Real Life” is all about Dan and let
me tell you folks, Dan is pretty fucking boring. Nothing
else happens to anyone in the cast, which seems like a waste
when you have this group of people. The editor could have
left the middle act on the floor and I wouldn’t have noticed
a difference.
Hey Buddy, hands off the crotch!
The film’s biggest flaw is the script. The whole setup
relies on this insane chemistry between Dan and Maria, which
creates a gargantuan problem considering how underdeveloped
their relationship is or, rather, their lunch. I mean they
had coffee for Christ’s sake. Either Dan has some serious
attachment issues or writers Pierce Gardner and Peter Hedges
didn’t think this through enough. I’m guessing it’s the
latter. A more effective approach would have been to show
Dan and Maria meeting, having lunch, then getting a hotel
room where they stay up all night talking and screwing like
teenagers on prom night. Maybe even invest as much as
twenty-minutes showing their connection. That would have
been far more effective than sharing a fucking donut.
I also found the film to be rather boring. I didn’t give
one ounce of shit for the characters. A kamikaze pilot could
have crashed into the cabin burning everyone alive and it
wouldn’t have bothered me in the least. That would have at
least been interesting. There were jokes as well scattered
about, which unfortunately I didn’t find all that funny
either. Like I said before, nothing really happens with
anyone else in the film so this great ensemble casts seems
like a complete waste. Steve Carell was charming and does
have a certain level of charisma, but even his performance
was run of the mill.
Dan considering if he should sniff his
daughters panties. Do it bitch!
The good news is the film doesn’t totally suck. Suck as in
Benchwarmers starring David Spade or when Arnold
Schwarzenegger flies through space as Mr. Freeze. “Dan in
Real Life” is a pretty film to watch, good cinematography,
good sound design, and decent performances all around. Great
cast: Steve Carell, Dane Cook, John Mahoney, Dianne Wiest
and Amy Ryan “(Gone Baby Gone”). No scenes or characters in
the film where so annoying that you wanted to reach into the
TV and strangle the characters. I’ve seen a lot worse films
in my day, “Teen Wolf Two” anyone?
Overall Thoughts:
“Dan in Real Life” didn’t do it for me. It’s not horrible
by any means, but it’s not great either. It’s sort of like
taking a roller coaster ride across the desert, no hills, no
bumps, nothing. But from reading other review sites it seems
I’m in the minority, which honestly surprises me. I’m
guessing a lot of the films likeability factor weights on
Steve Carell. Some people would pay money just to watch this
guy walk up and down the stairs for twenty minutes. If
you’re one of those then you need to check this film out,
otherwise pick another apple from the tree.
DVD Special Features and Specs:
• Deleted Scenes With Commentary By Writer/Director
Peter Hedges
• Real-Life Outtakes
• Just Like Family: The Making Of Dan In Real Life
• Handmade Music: Creating The Score
• Audio Commentary With Writer/Director Peter Hedges
• Video: Widescreen 1.85:1 Color (Anamorphic)
• Audio: English, Spanish, French - Digital 5.1 [CC]
• Subtitles: Spanish, French
Blue-ray Special Features and Specs:
• Same features and specs as above except screen
resolution is 1080p
Associated Links:
• Official
Site for Dan in Real Life
•
Watch Trailer in HD
•
Steve Carell on Letterman
•
Footage from the Premier
•
Various Clips from the Movie
Rating System:
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