Alecc B. on "Dan In Real Life"

Do you guys watch The Office? If not, you need to. The entire cast is great, but Steve Carell stands out as the incompetent man in charge, Michael. There are so many awkward and uncomfortable situations that seem like they wouldn't be as bad if Michael just shut his mouth from time to time. Carell plays that role to perfection.

As far as films go, Carell's best performances are in and The 40-Year Old Virgin and Little Miss Sunshine. He tried his hand at a big-budget family film with Evan Almighty, which was one of the biggest flops this year. I can't even think of one part in any of the trailers that looked funny.

Now, Carell gives us Dan In Real Life. I guess the best way to describe this movie is to call it a bland version of The Family Stone.

PLOT

Dan Burns is a newspaper columnist who people write to for advice. He's a widower with three children that just tries to set a good example. All four of them go on vacation to spend time with the rest of their family. While in town, Dan meets Marie, an out-of-towner, and instantly has a connection with her. After they part ways, Dan goes back to his family's house to tell everyone about it. That's when his younger brother Mitch introduces him to his new girlfriend. Yep, Mitch is dating Marie. OH SNAP!

ACTING

Carell is good as Dan. He balances the comedic and dramatic elements well. Juliette Binoche plays Marie light and breezy. She seemed to have a good time making this flick. Dane Cook, as Mitch, is absolutely terrible here. There are scenes in this flick where Cook will say his lines and you'll actually cringe. Sure, the dialogue wasn't anything special, but Cook isn't gifted enough to make them work anyway. There is one scene in particular when Cook sings in front of the family. Oh...my...word. Just awful. As Dan's parents, Dianne Wiest and John Mahoney are underused. The sexy Emily Blunt shows up for a couple of scenes and looks oh-so-scrumptious!

WRITING & DIRECTING

Peter Hedges and Pierce Gardner wrote the script for this flick. Movies with a simple premise like Dan In Real Life are elevated to a good place when the writing is strong. That's not what happened here. The dialogue is pretty stale throughout the film, and the characters of the family aren't really that developed, so it never feels like you're watching a real family. They're just familiar faces all together in one flick.

The character of Marie never really gained any sympathy from me either. I mean, she's constantly flirting with Dan even after she knows he is Mitch's brother. What a whore!

Hedges directs here too, and doesn't really add anything to Life besides stale direction and slow pacing. There are only two scenes in the movie that actually put a smile on my face. One involves Cook singing before the God-awful performance I mentioned earlier. The other scene has Carell dancing like a fool at a local bar. Those two scenes were very funny and left something to be desired for the rest of the film. That desire was never fulfilled.

While not being completely terrible, Dan In Real Life is still pretty weak.

Overall Review: ** stars

Best Line:

Carell: This corn is like an angel.