CS Weekly Archive> DVD > 3/14/08

Reality Bites

by peter clines

Pierce Gardner and Peter Hedges (latter also directed)

Dan (Steve Carell) is an advice columnist and single father trying to raise his three girls.  While attending the annual family get-together in New England, he meets Marie (Juliette Binoche) at a local book store and swiftly finds himself falling for her—just before he discovers that she’s the new girlfriend of his brother, Mitch (Dane Cook).  Dan in Real Life doesn’t go for the broad, slapstick laughs Carell has become known for, which is one of its big failings.  A story based around a love triangle is almost always hard to pull off, because the writer somehow has to deal with the now-insignificant other.  It gets more awkward, though, when the insignificant other is also a best friend to another element of the triangle, and in this film it’s exceptionally awkward that Dan is after the girlfriend of his decent and beloved brother, and that she’s returning the feelings.   While the scenes between the two budding lovers are sweet and honest, they’re lost beneath this disturbing situation.  Bereft of over-the-top laughs, Dan comes off as a creepy stalker more often than a lovestruck romantic. On his commentary track, writer-director Peter Hedges praises the first draft by Pierce Gardner, but also admits many of the scenes push the limits of believability.

Dan in Real Life

Buena Vista Home Entertainment/Touchstone
Rated PG-13; 98 min.

$29.99

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Peter Clines has had a lifelong love affair with the movies. He grew up in New England, where he studied English literature and education, and now lives and writes somewhere in Southern California. If anyone knows exactly where, he would appreciate a few hints.

Dan in Real Life courtesy Buena Vista Home Entertainent/Touchstone