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Dan in Real Life (2007)

tomatometer

64

Average Rating: 6.1/10
Reviews Counted: 169
Fresh: 108 | Rotten: 61

The fine performances elevate Dan in Real Life beyond its sentimental plot.

63

Average Rating: 6.6/10
Critic Reviews: 35
Fresh: 22 | Rotten: 13

The fine performances elevate Dan in Real Life beyond its sentimental plot.

audience

70

liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 362,528

My Rating

Movie Info

A widower and father of three who also writes a parenting advice column for his local newspaper falls for the girlfriend of his younger brother during a family vacation in director Peter Hedges' offbeat love-triangle laugher. Steve Carell stars as the writer who finds his widely known convictions put to the ultimate test, with Dane Cook and Juliette Binoche respectively assuming the roles of the younger sibling and his radiant girlfriend. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

PG-13, 1 hr. 38 min.

Drama, Romance, Comedy

Pierce Gardner, Peter Hedges

Mar 11, 2008

$47.6M

Buena Vista

Cast

All Critics (169) | Top Critics (35) | Fresh (114) | Rotten (64) | DVD (23)

This is his [Carell's] most assured and rounded performance to date.

November 3, 2007 Full Review Source: CNN.com | Comment (1)
CNN.com
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Now, everybody knows that Steve Carell is lovable.

October 31, 2007 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | Comment
TIME Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's a nice film. There's some nice touches to it.

October 29, 2007 Comment
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Why must so many family-friendly romantic comedies give us such wan, forgettable dialogue and predictable situations? Dan is derivative at best, and feels like filmmaking by focus group at worst.

October 26, 2007 Full Review Source: USA Today | Comment
USA Today
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A movie nicely packed with pleasantly unpredictable surprises.

October 26, 2007 Full Review Source: Toronto Star | Comment
Toronto Star
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Dan in Real Life fires on so many circuits that at times it's actually shocking how good it is. It tells a funny and emotional story without any of the sentimental shorthand found in most romantic comedies.

October 26, 2007 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | Comment
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A charming, though occasionally off-target -- and consistently tempo-challenged -- romantic comedy.

October 9, 2009 Full Review Source: Times-Picayune | Comment
Times-Picayune

The most cloying family meeting since A Very Brady Christmas

August 27, 2009 Full Review Source: CinePassion | Comment
CinePassion

Una comedia romántica muy menor, predecible e intrascendente que desaprovecha por completo el talento de un buen elenco. Una lástima.

May 10, 2009 Full Review Source: Uruguay Total | Comment
Uruguay Total

What's wrong with Steve Carrell? His is one of the quickest falls from comedy to crap since Chevy Chase.

April 23, 2009 Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | Comments (3)
Boston Phoenix

A creature made of gingerbread and hugs.

March 17, 2009 Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | Comment
Film Freak Central

I prefer a little more dysfunction in my dysfunctional family comedies.

August 18, 2008 Full Review Source: 7M Pictures | Comments (3)
7M Pictures

Carell and Binoche are great fun to watch, doing just what the movie requires (not much, as scripted by Pierce Gardner and director Peter Hedges) and then some.

August 7, 2008 Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | Comment
Sacramento News & Review

Carell seems to be at his best when he is put in awkward situations and is forced to make a fool out of himself, and there are plenty of those moments in Dan in Real Life.

July 23, 2008 Full Review Source: Watertown Daily Times | Comment
Watertown Daily Times

Alas, [Hedges'] forays behind the camera with Pieces of April and now Dan in Real Life indicate he's got Sundance intentions but a Hallmark Channel soul.

May 1, 2008 Full Review Source: MSNBC | Comment

There's a decent collection of extras here, including a full-length commentary by writer/ director Peter Hedges.

March 26, 2008 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | Comment
Apollo Guide

Writer/ director Peter Hedges likes to touch on deeper emotional truths, but he doesn't have the courage to really probe his characters' struggles in a meaningful way.

March 26, 2008 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | Comment
Apollo Guide

Because it touches on the universal themes of loss and love so honestly, it is a film that feels authentic even in its many contrivances.

March 26, 2008 Full Review Source: Movie Views | Comment

The DVD of this middling serio comedy includes outtakes and deleted scenes, commentary from helmer Hedges describing Carell as blessed with "Chekhovian sadness" and hidden video footage that reveals the lead man as perfectionist, asking for more takes

March 21, 2008 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comment

The plot often falls into contrivance, but the crazy-yet-comfortable chaos of the family reunion setting smoothes it all over...

March 20, 2008 Full Review Source: MSN.com | Comment
MSN.com

...ultimately succumbs to an egregious emphasis on inauthentic elements...

March 19, 2008 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | Comment
Reel Film Reviews
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Dan in Real Life

Dan in Real Life suffers the usual family comedy film with overbearing clichés from many other films that came before it. I thought that this film was a wasted opportunity to make a film that would have great comedic bits, and be overall a fun, entertaining comedy. However, I found myself mostly bored with this, and

November 30, 2011
TheDudeLebowski65
Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski

Super Reviewer

My predicted rating: 3.5This isn't a Comedy in the sense that you'll be laughing all the way through, but it is a relatable Comedy with comical parts. Those family get togethers, the adult and child double standards - easy watching with a feel good factor.

September 22, 2007
76Majikat

Super Reviewer

    1. Dan Burns: I don't want to go out with the pig... Face.
    – Submitted by Sara B (34 days ago)
    1. Dan Burns: Life... Is full of disappointments.
    – Submitted by Sara B (34 days ago)

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Foreign Titles

  • Como la vida misma (ES)
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