Dan In Real Life (2007)

Dir.: Peter Hedges
Plot: A single father finds love in an unexpected (and awkward) place whilst holidaying with his extended family.

Not feeling particularly great and seeing it was on BBC iPlayer, I sat down to watch this on a whim with fairly meh expectations. In fact, it turned out to be one of the most engaging little movies I've seen all year. Quiet but charming widower Dan (Steve Carell) falls for a woman (Juliette Binoche) who he meets in a bookshop whilst visiting his parents for a big family reunion, but when he gets back to their house, there she is: unfortunately, she happens to be his brother's new girlfriend. Over the next few days, Dan becomes hopelessly infatuated with Marie, something which is increasingly difficult to disguise from his close-knit family.



The scenario is as attractive as it is charmingly implausible: this big family gathering for a week at their parents' gorgeous cabin house, and it's all parlour games, log fires, farmhouse lunches and surprisingly elaborate homemade talent shows. This is all done without a trace of irony, which is really quite refreshing. It helps that Carell's parents are John Mahoney and Dianne Wiest, of course, who sell all this cosiness as easily as you would expect such a pair of pros to do. Dane Cook, who I've never seen before but know he's meant to be super-annoying, is perfectly fine as the brother, which is appropriate given that Mitch is supposed to be just that: fine. Nothing to write home about, that is, and certainly not enough for Juliette Binoche. She is absolutely radiant, charming, subtle...  this could go on all day. It's one of the few romantic comedies where I've been in love with both sides of the couple - even as a straight woman, Binoche makes me melt. I think it was Roger Ebert who compared her to Ingrid Bergman for her ability to be sweet and serious in a very European sort of a way, and I couldn't stop seeing that similarity in her performance here.

Steve Carell is someone who I casually enjoy when he doescomedy, but when he goes serious I'm ready to die for him. He does get a lot of funny moments here, but they're very restrained, realistic touches and he plays them that way. A bit like Robin Williams, when Carell plays an emotional scene he emits an incredible warmth that just draws you to him, and with the extra vulnerability of widowhood in play, every scene has some kind of emotional undertone. By the end of the film, I was looking forward to the inevitable payoff even in the face of its complete predictability.

Dan In Real Life isn't without its flaws. Some of the plot threads seem to go nowhere (the stuff with Carell's job could easily have been cut) and not every scene works (the dancing on the lawn scene was so random and odd). The only major annoyance I had was the introduction of Emily Blunt's character  - from the moment she walks in the door, the path of the movie is made so painfully, shamelessly obvious that you think 'oh, they're making it look really predictable so they can pull the rug out later'. But no. It actually goes ahead with probably the most insultingly signposted plot device imaginable. In romcom terms, (not renowned for their inventiveness) it isn't really that egregious, it's just that Dan In Real Life is a better film than that.

It's a little indie aroud the edges, with its guitary soundtrack and quirky windswept New England seafront setting; but at its core, it's a traditional low-key romance. In fact, the rambling, cosy family setting recalled Remember The Night, with the same warm Bovril-type feeling developing in your stomach. It is nowhere near as perfect as that movie, but it is nonetheless extremely well-shot, well-scripted and beautifully acted.

8/10