Marketed as a romantic comedy starring the often-hilarious Steve Carell, Dan in Real Life is actually a film about family. OK, it is a comedy; but not the laugh-out-loud slapsticks you would expect from Carell.
Widowed with three young daughters, Dan Burns (Steve Carell) is an advice columnist still mourning for his wife after four years. Beside his job and his children, Dan doesn't really have a life. While on his annual family vacation at his parents' house in New England, Dan meets the woman of his dream. Marie (Juliette Binoche) is everything he could dream of: beautiful, kind, smart, with a great sense of humor. Suddenly Dan is giggling like a small boy and can't help babbling about Marie.
That is until he finds out Marie is his brother's girlfriend, and she was on her way to join the family for the weekend when Dan and she met. Awkward. Dan tries to force himself to forget about Marie but everywhere he turns, there she is, and his brother Mitch (Dane Cook) keeps reminding Dan how lucky he is and what a fabulous catch Marie is. To complicate matters, Marie is not necessarily saying "no, please keep your distance." Driven by jealousy and self-pity, Dan acts out his frustration like a 15-year-old until his family -- not knowing dilemma -- steps in to interfere.
Steve Carell (Evan Almighty) can be inconsistent. He was extremely funny in supporting roles and as Michael Scott in the hit show The Office, but he was flat in Evan Almighty. However, Carell is able to tap into his psychosis as well as his boy-man sensitivity to bring Dan Burns to life. Strangely, Carell shows great dramatic chops in a comedic role. There are key scenes in which his performance is pitch perfect and touching.
Juliette Binoche (Paris, je t'aime) is always lovely and interesting. As Dan's object of affection, however, her character seems somewhat inconsistent and we can't really tell how she feels until later in the film. Granted, the story is mostly told from Dan's perspective but still, her ambiguity keeps the audiences at a distance. She is like this image of perfection but doesn't quite seem real. Dane Cook (Good Luck Chuck) plays a lovable schmuck with ease, but his acting skills are rather lacking, especially in the company of a great cast.
As Dan's three daughters, Alison Pill (Dear Wendy), Brittany Robertson (Frank), and especially Marlene Lawston (Flight Plan) are adorable -- they have good chemistry with their onscreen dad. Dianne Wiest (Dedication) and John Mahoney (Frasier) are comforting as Dan's laid back but concerned parents. Finally, Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada) turns in a remarkably fun and sexy performance as Dan's childhood friend, Ruthie, albeit her limited screen time.
The screenplay by writer-director Peter Hedges (Pieces of Apple) and Pierce Gardner (Lost Soul) follows a conventional family vacation/romantic comedy routine. The set up is a bit contrived: boy meets girl cute and then boy loses girl quickly. The plot seems conventional as well, and predictable. Still, their strength is in the dialogue; there are some really sharp-witted lines and gut-busting situations. Despite certain slapstick moments, Hedges and Gardner manage to keep the comedy down to Earth and real. The story has a great sense of humor without resorting to extreme hilarity, and that sets the tone of the film nicely.
Those who expect to see Steve Carell doing his Michael Scott schticks or following the comedy footsteps of stars such as Jim Carrey or Will Farrell would be disappointed. However, unlike Evan Almighty, which basically neutered the actor from the first scene, Dan in Real Life gives him a chance to showcase his dramatic skills. There are of course funny moments, but it is the emotionally charged scenes that set Steve Carell apart. He has a way to really touch your heart with a simple look and a lopsided smirk.
Peter Hedges does a fine job letting his star shine. The film has a gentle and calm feel to it and that's such a great juxtaposition to Dan's emotional turmoil. Hedges keeps the pace brisk, although there are a few dull moments. The soundtrack is uninspired -- mostly recycled songs and the score is negligible. Still, Dan in Real Life is a sweet, humorous look at family and love and, most important, self-worth. It's an amusing feel-good movie to which we can all relate in our own real lives.Stars: Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche, Dane Cook, Alison Pill, Brittany Robertson, Marlene Lawston, Dianne Wiest, John Mahoney, Emily Blunt
Director: Peter Hedges
Writer: Peter Hedges, Pierce Gardner
Distributor: Buena Vista/Touchstone
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some innuendo
Running Time: 100 Minutes
Ratings:
Script – 7
Performance – 8
Direction – 7
Cinematography – 8
Music/Sound– 6
Editing – 7
Production – 7
Total – 7.5 out of 10
Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally) is an Egyptian national who holds a green card and is married to American citizen Isabella (Reese Witherspoon). During one of his business trips to South Africa, Anwar is detained by the CIA for his apparent involvement in a suicide bombing in North Africa that has resulted in the death of an American agent. Anwar maintains that he doesn't know anything, even though calls from known terrorists have been traced to his cell phone. Since it's unlawful to detain a US resident indefinitely, Director Corrine Whitman (Meryl Streep) authorizes Anwar to be transfered to Africa for "rendition": handing suspected terrorists to a foreign country where torture is allowed.
Anwar's disappearance prompts his wife to make her way to Washington D.C. to seek help. Her old flame, Alan Smith (Peter Sarsgaard) is assistant to Senator Hawkins (Alan Arkin). Alan's investigation leads him to Corrine Whitman, but his confrontations may jeopardize both the Senator and his own political career.
Meanwhile, Anwar is being interrogated and tortured at Abasi Fawal's (Yigal Naor) facility. Fawal was the target of the terrorist attack, which resulted in 19 deaths. The rendition is being observed by American agent Douglas Freeman (Jake Gyllenhaal), who was at the scene of the bombing and lost one of his colleagues. As the torture becomes more and more severe, Douglas questions their validity, Anwar's innocence, and whether he's doing the right thing in the name of patriotism.
The ensemble cast includes Reese Witherspoon (
Omar Metwally (
The script by Kelley Sane (
However, the suspenseful drama/thriller is marred by inconsistencies and a somewhat heavy-handed message. The situations that lead to Anwar's arrest and subsequent rendition are rather thin, coincidental and incredulous. I mean, couldn't the CIA have done better than following just one lead? While it tries to present the various points of view, we can't help but feel its judgment by way of the character developments: Alan Smith is contemplative and sensitive, Isabella El-Ibrahimi is all-American, and Corrine Whitman is cold and distant. Such subtle commentaries do not go unnoticed and they give the story a perceived "liberal" bias. We would be hard pressed to not get the message: torture is useless; rendition is bad; violence breeds more violence.
Jude (Jim Sturgess) is a dock worker in Liverpool, England. He travels to America to find his father, who abandoned his mother when she was still pregnant with Jude. While looking for his father at Princeton University, Jude meets student Max (Joe Anderson) and they quickly become best friends. Soon, Max drops out and moves to New York City with Jude. They find an apartment run by would-be singer Sadie (Dana Fuchs) with an eclectic group of roommates such as JoJo (Martin Luther McCoy) and Prudence (T.V. Carpio).
Meanwhile, after her boyfriend Daniel (Spencer Liff) died in the Vietnam War, Max's sister, Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood), gets fed up with the boring suburban life and moves to New York. When Jude first sees Lucy, he knows it's love at first sight. While still mourning Daniel and resisting further heartbreaks, Lucy falls in love with Jude as well. Max, Lucy and Jude become inseparable.
When Max is drafted into the army, Lucy becomes an anti-war activist, much against the wishes of the laid-back, Bohemian Jude. After being arrested at a riot, Jude is deported back to the UK. The group of friends and lovers suffer through the uncertain period of loss and separation and fear. Then Max returns from the war, alive...
Evan Rachel Wood (
Joe Anderson (
There are some interesting cameos including Eddie Izzard (
Written by Dick Clement (
Director Julie Taymor (
Hardly a "kid," Eddie Cantrow (Ben Stiller) is a 40-year-old bachelor who is clinically commitment-phobic. Then he meets the perfect woman, Lila (Malin Akerman), who is smart, sweet, and gorgeous. The pressure of settling down prompts Eddie to marry Lila after only knowing her for six weeks.
On their way to honeymoon in Mexico, Lila reveals more of her true self to Eddie, who realizes that he may have made a mistakes. Meanwhile, Eddie meets another woman, Miranda (Michelle Monaghan), who is vacationing with her family. Miranda and Eddie hit it off immediately, but Eddie never reveals that he's a married man. At the same time, he completely ignores Lila while pursuing Miranda. Once Eddie's secret is out, however, he has a whole lot of explaining to do.
Ben Stiller (
Malin Akerman (
Loosely based on the Neil Simon's original, the Farrelly brothers (
The biggest flaw is that even as a comedy, there should be some kind of character growth. 
Technically the film also feels uneven. Part of the movie drags incessantly, and the jokes fall flat. The amount of sensible humor and crude jokes seem out of balance, and the effect is jarring. One gross-out moment that resembles the famous "frank and beans" in 
Certainly,