Learning About Real Life
Movie Reviewer, a storyteller, A Big Giant Sap, Beach Goer
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NOV
16
2007
Dan In Real Life —
We like to think as parents that our main directive is to teach our children, but maybe sometimes if we allow it, our children can teach us a few things. That's the lesson I walked away with when leaving the theatre after seeing Dan In Real Life recently.Dan's (Steve Carell) real life is suffering a little the last few years. His wife passed away after an illness leaving him with three daughters to raise, two of them now teenagers and the other barely old enough to have remembered her mother. Dan doesn't seem quite ready to let them grow up, as he denies his oldest, Jane (Alison Pill) the chance to drive the family car, no matter how many times she begs, and pulls his middle daughter, Kara (Brittany Robertson), away from her young puppy love, prompting her to call him a murderer of love. Lilly (Marlene Lawston), his youngest's, only offense is to tell him that he's a good father, but a terrible dad.
Despite the two older girls' protests, the family leaves on their annual trip to Dan's parents' (John Mahoney and Diane Weist) house, a huge, old, warm home on the coast of Rhode Island. All of this siblings and their families are staying there as well, but Dan is pushed out of his normal room in preference of his brother Mitch's (Dane Cook) new girlfriend who's due to arrive the next day. Instead, Dan's mom gives him the plush digs of the laundry room.
When Dan awakes in the laundry room the next morning and stumbles out still arguing with his daughters, his mother sends him out to get the newspaper, aka disappear for awhile. He heads to the bookstore, makes eyes with a beautiful stranger, then helps her find books that have something do with love, with just two of his selections being The Life of Ghandi and Everyone Poops. She buys the books, and they sit and chat over a muffin, and he gets her number before she takes off. Dan goes back to his parents' house and excitedly tells them about the girl he met, and they're thrilled, since he hasn't been interested in anyone since the death of his wife. Mitch's girlfriend arrives, and because it gives us both our humor and drama of the film, it's the girl from the bookstore, Marie (Juliette Binoche). For the same reason, they decide to keep this little coinky dink to themselves.
The other thing this coincidence allows us is the chance for Dan to learn a few things from his daughters, instead of the other way around. Everyone always assumes he has the answers, as he's an advice columnist for a local newspaper, and there's talk of his column getting syndicated. Yet, for a guy that always has the answers for others, he doesn't have them for himself. Cara is the one that teaches him that love doesn't always have rules, while Jane teaches him to trust. Lilly teaches him that life always goes on. It appears Dan's real life is just like everyone else's.
I like any movie that teaches me something, or where the characters themselves are learning. I also have a weakness for romantic comedies, so Dan In Real Life was right up my alley. It didn't have as much comedy as I would have assumed, especially given that the star is Carell, yet it still managed to completely pull me in with the drama of it all, and more so with Dan and his daughters than Dan and Marie. I was also entertained with the family fun everyone had together at Mom and Dad's house, as they had Battle of the Sexes Crossword Puzzle Competitions, group workout sessions, and even a family talent show. All in all, the film leaves you with a warm feeling, just like the comfy house the family lives in.
Last edited on Nov 16, 2007
Dan In Real Life is recommended by LauraBelle
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