Review: Dan in Real Life
I have to be totally honest here and say that I first heard of this movie because Dane Cook was a part of the cast. As a huge fan of Dane Cook’s stand-up comedy, I’ve been following his emerging movie career closely waiting for his moment to shine. So far I don’t think that time has come yet, although he did a great job in this movie, as well as in Mr. Brooks.
But anyways, when I saw that Dane was in the movie along with Steve Carell and Juliette Binoche, I couldn’t wait for it to come out. I was actually expecting a zany comedy but I was pleasantly surprised with what the movie actually turned out to be.
Dan Burns (Steve Carell) is a widower who is raising his three daughters on his own. When they all travel to his parents’ house for a family reunion, everyone is eager to help Dan get back into the dating scene. When Dan connects with a beautiful woman he meets at a book store (Juliette Binoche), he starts to feel like things may be looking up. He is shocked when he returns to the house to find out she is dating his younger brother, Mitch (Dane Cook). He now has to try to hide his feelings while surviving the concerns and questions from his family for his odd behavior.
I really liked this movie. I love Steve Carell and he did a great job in this movie in conveying a complex, lovable character. Juliette Binoche is as charming as ever and a great fit for the movie. Dane Cook does a great job as well, and his character ends up being very believable and endearing. This whole movie gets a lot of its charm from being believable. The relationships and the emotions are not so unrealistic that it makes you roll your eyes, which is common in a lot of movies these days. It has many funny moments, but overall it has a more dramatic feel to it as we watch Dan go through so many emotions throughout the movie. Although some of the scenes with the family seem kind of contrived, for some reason it all works well, most likely because the interaction with the characters and the emotions were so realistic.
My Rating:
Really Liked it
Dan in Real Life, Dane Cook, Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche, movie review
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