Good start, but then it gets ruined

A Disappointing Continuation

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

I picked this up at a pound store so my expectations were low. I hadn't heard of the film but I like Steve Carell so thought I would give it a watch. What unfolded was a funny, sensitive, entertaining story about a man struggling with his life as a single parent. There are details here that are beautifully handled. I am surprised that this film is not better know. I hope people will seek it out. It's a treat!

This movie is first and foremost about love, and it feels so genuine and realistic because it shows love as it usually happens - unexpectedly! You will have to 'feel' and understand the story in order to appreciate it.The story of Dan (one of Steve's best performances I've seen to date!) is the story of many single men and women around the world: feeling lonely while everyone around seem to have a great partner for life's dance.Juliette Binoche (Marie) is a great actress! We already knew it from Chocolate but in this movie she is outstanding. She and Steve shared a special chemistry while making this movie. I'm sure that at the very least they are good friends in real life.When you do feel the story, this will be one of those movies you come back to every now and then...

Steve Carell's Jack Lemmon-esque everyman quality has never been utilized to greater advantage than in the 2007 comedy Dan in Real Life, a warm family comedy that provides smiles, giggles, roll on the floor laughter, and a possible lump in the throat.Carell is just wonderful as Dan Burns, a widower with three daughters who, shortly after arriving at his parents' mountain cabin for a family reunion/weekend, is enchanted by a woman (Juliette Binoche) he talks to for ten minutes in a bookstore. Dan is on cloud nine until he learns the woman is dating his brother, Mitch (Dane Cook).Director and co-writer Peter Hedges establishes the kind of guy Dan is from the opening scene where we see him still sleeping on his side of the bed and taking excellent care of his girls. Sympathy is immediately evoked for Dan as he fights his attraction to the woman, but can't. The story takes an odd turn when Dan's parents arrange a blind date for him and Mitch's girlfriend is clearly jealous.Hedges' direction is spirited and Carell is backed by a wonderful supporting cast led by John Mahoney and Dianne Wiest as Dan's parents...two very classy people whose love for their son keeps them from coming right out and letting him know when he's screwing up. Dane Cook, who I usually can't stand, is almost likable as Mitch. Leo Norbert Butz has some funny moments as Dan's other brother, as does Emily Blunt as Dan's blind date. Also loved Brittany Robertson as Dan's middle daughter, Cara.The film's primary faux pas is the casting of Oscar winner Juliette Binoche as the object of Dan's affections. Light comedy is just not Binoche's long suit and her performance is just as annoying as her character becomes when she sees Dan with another woman. Not to mention the fact that the on screen chemistry between Carell and Binoche was nonexistent.Lovely cinematography and a lilting song score by Sondre Lerche help, but it is the casting of Binoche that keeps this film from being the very special film that it almost is.

The movie was interesting. It kept flowing. The characters were likable, which is important to me. I don't want to watch a movie about people I don't care about. I really liked the whole family atmosphere. I liked the way the family played together and had fun together. It was really nice. His misery on finding out that the woman he just met is with his brother was played nicely. You could just feel how awful that would be. You meet somebody that you think is special, and then suddenly what seemed to be the starting point of a relationship turns into the end of the relationship. It's especially frustrating and unbearable when the more you get to know of the person, the more you like them. The family was so close and the woman was so accepted as the brother's girlfriend that I had to wonder how in the world it would ever be possible for him to end up with the woman, even if she were to decide that she preferred him over the brother. It seemed as if it would just be unthinkable, because the brother and the rest of the family would hate him then. I'll leave it to you to see how it turned out. Incidentally, the given description gives away something at the beginning of the film and I think it should be changed so that it doesn't do that. (If it were to be changed, I'd have to modify my review so as to not give away anything.) I think I enjoyed this movie primarily because of the characters and because of the nice family feeling that was evoked. It's too bad more families can't be like this.