Average Rating: 6.1/10
Reviews Counted: 169
Fresh: 108 | Rotten: 61
The fine performances elevate Dan in Real Life beyond its sentimental plot.
Average Rating: 6.6/10
Critic Reviews: 35
Fresh: 22 | Rotten: 13
The fine performances elevate Dan in Real Life beyond its sentimental plot.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 362,528
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
Oct 26, 2007 Wide
Mar 11, 2008
$47.6M
Buena Vista
All Critics (169) | Top Critics (35) | Fresh (114) | Rotten (64) | DVD (23)
This is his [Carell's] most assured and rounded performance to date.
Now, everybody knows that Steve Carell is lovable.
It's a nice film. There's some nice touches to it.
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.
A movie nicely packed with pleasantly unpredictable surprises.
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.
A charming, though occasionally off-target -- and consistently tempo-challenged -- romantic comedy.
The most cloying family meeting since A Very Brady Christmas
Una comedia romántica muy menor, predecible e intrascendente que desaprovecha por completo el talento de un buen elenco. Una lástima.
What's wrong with Steve Carrell? His is one of the quickest falls from comedy to crap since Chevy Chase.
A creature made of gingerbread and hugs.
I prefer a little more dysfunction in my dysfunctional family comedies.
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.
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.
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.
There's a decent collection of extras here, including a full-length commentary by writer/ director Peter Hedges.
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.
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.
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
The plot often falls into contrivance, but the crazy-yet-comfortable chaos of the family reunion setting smoothes it all over...
...ultimately succumbs to an egregious emphasis on inauthentic elements...
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
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, 2007Super Reviewer
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