It seems like yesterday that Dan In Real Life was touring UK cinemas, and now here I am reviewing the upcoming DVD release.
A Steve Carrel movie is a varied thing, while in recent years his movies have dominated the box office and he seems like a genuinely nice guy I cannot deny I have not found any of his work overly pleasing, I was disappointed by Little Miss Sunshine, bored by the running time of 40 Year Old Virgin, indifferent to TV series The Office (US Version) and we won't even talk about Evan Almighty. So I say with quiet confidence that I was less than happy to sit through Dan In Real Life.
Dan (Steve Carrel) is a father, for four years he has raised three children alone after the death of his wife. In those four years he has been protective towards his offspring, focusing his life and soul into them. From a career perspective things look positive, he is slowly becoming the voice of a nation writing for local papers about how to raise children alone and the gift of love. Love however in the romantic sense is far from Dan's life; he has no time and certainly no interest in trying to find love, happy to devote himself to his three daughters. Having upset all his daughters to some degree the family head off on their yearly trip to spend time with the whole family.
A chance encounter in a book store changed his views of romance a woman (Juliette Binoche) enters and mistakenly believes he is a salesman and asks his advice. The two strike up a conversation that soon takes them out of the shop, and for an impromptu lunch. As the conversations continue Dan realises that he is attracted by this woman and wants to take the next step. Unfortunately Dan discovers that this woman is taken by another, and despite the mutual attraction they are forced to go their own separate ways. Overwhelmed by the fact that he is capable of having those romantic feelings Dan heads home to share the experience with his overlarge family, and pleased by the results. That is of course until he is introduced to his brother Mitch's (Dane Cook) new girlfriend Marie (Juliette Binoche).
Dan In Real Life is more of a family movie than the normal comedy that Carrel finds himself in, and I'm glad to say a very solid one; yes there are rather a lot of laughs but it's a sober laugh broken up by the seriousness of real life.
The movie is a moral one, lots of practise what you preach style messages. Dan teaches his daughters about care in driving, and repeatedly gets speeding tickets; and to be wary about love that blossoms too soon, literally falling in love in a heartbeat. But of course things go deeper still because he encounters a very real life problem, and that is falling for someone who has already effectively been taken; chances are if you have had more than a couple of relationships in your life you'll understand this exact standpoint. Of course these things are made worse when it seems the attraction is a mutual one. It's seldom in life however that when it happens it occurs in your own family, and Dan needs to assess what comes first family or love. So from this standpoint its a very sobering piece after all what would you do?
There are some typically Carrel moments of humour, this time delivered by those that surround him rather than the man himself, Carrel here stands for the most part away from the humour being more the sober miserable brunt for the jokes rather than the source. The look on his face when his parents played by Diane Wiest and John Mahony set him up with Ruthie Draper formally known as "Ruthie Pigface" a childhood taunt, is a most amusing one. The look gets worse when the movies ensemble cast gather round the piano to sing the "Ruthie Pigface Song"; of course times change and the pigface has gone, so when Ruthie arrives played by Emily Blunt, Dan's family are left a little shell shocked.
The casting is very well placed, ultra serious Juliette Binoche being an unlikely choice in a big budget crowd pleaser of a movie. And while her character is charming her attempts to hide her French accent have slightly the different result. But as I said its unusual casting, and one that actually adds to the charm of the movie; expect to see the actress tackling more movies of this style in the future.
I'll even give Dane Cook a relatively good nod, after the awful Good Luck Chuck I was prepared to send him down a crocodile filled Amazon in a boat with a whole in it. Here however he saves his ailing career with a decent supporting role as the emotionally charged brother of Dan. In fairness he is the provider of most of the humour, intriguing that of his two musical scores one he sings very well while the other incredibly badly. Sporting a Ryan Reynolds bearded look, if anyone provides the eye candy for the ladies it falls here.
Diane Wiest and John Mahoney play competent roles as slightly off the wall parents; a role that Wiest seems to have not only perfected but made the cast for all wacky older parents throughout recent movie history.
It seems you cannot go through a Steve Carrel movie where he does not dance for his wage, think about it..... Can you think of a recent movie or TV show where he does not dance? Maybe he has it written into his contract. The one unpleasant moment of the movie comes from Carrel and his dancing, creating a cringe worthy moment in which you feel that you have endured the ultimate embarrassment at the hands of a self convinced "hip" parent.
Dan In Real Life is a charming movie, a pleasing 90 minutes of family entertainments. The adult subjects carefully wrapped in a parcel so that they could have a double meaning. There is no swearing, no nudity, and nothing to make you want to turn off. This is a well meaning movie that delivers practical advice as well as entertain.
Being from Buena Vista's Touchstone wing there are little to offer here in respect of special features, in fact just a string of trailers for movies that have dominated our cinemas for the last year. There are some interesting choices on the DVD chapter stops that make me wonder if they were selected or just picked at random, two of which thrust us straight into Carrel dance routines, a fact that further cements my belief that he likes to be seen dancing.
Dan In Real Life is due for release in May, with a suggested retail price of £17.99.
Spencer Hawken 03/08
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Soundtrack
Good
How does it compare to others by the same director?
Good
Value for Money
Good
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DVD
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