Movie-Dan In Real Life

Dan In Real Life highlights Steve Carell in a starring role that is not just campy, spoofy part, but a subtle and fairly deep role laced with humor and sadness. And Carell pulls if off brilliantly.

He is Dan, who writes a newspaper advise column on parenting. And he is really good at it. He has 3 daughters, tow of them teenagers, and he raises them alone as there mother died 4 years previously.

And Dan tries really hard, and his own loneliness makes it even tougher to know the right way to handle his daughters. They are all off to Rhode Island for an annual family get together. While there he meets a woman, and they both like each other very much, but she is in a relationship. It turns out, the relationship is with Dan's brother, which he finds out once back at the family abode.

This sounds kinda campy, but Carell plays the role so well---he is generally happy, but there is a sadness and loneliness that comes through that makes him vulnerable. And that actually comes through many of the characters. Juliet Binoche is perfect as the woman Dan wants, but cannot have. And she wants him too, it is not a one sided feeling. And now, they have to act like they don't have these feelings while being in a house full of Dan's family.

Dan In Real Life have characters that are complex. They don't always talk about it, but show it in gestures and expressions. A great supporting cast, with John Mahoney and Diane Weist heading it as Dan's parents, gives this movie and unexpected depth. And they characters have a realism to them...like when you have been through tough times, you carry those scars with you, and for months to years, you feel them, and they effect your behavior and reactions. I could relate to Dan, and his family.

I really liked this movie.