Dan in Real Life

Okay, I like Steve Carell. So I was all set to like this movie... I mean really like it. I think he's an incredibly subtle comedian who can manage to humanize situations that are amazingly uncomfortable because they seem so authentic. He's also pretty cute in an EveryGuy sort of way. So a romantic comedy with some terrific co-stars (even if the love interest seems miscast) ... it just sounded like a recipe for a warm fuzzy evening. So how come I didn't like it?

Carell is Dan, the widowed dad to three precocious girls and an "expert on relationships" by virtue of writing an advice column. Our story starts as Dan and daughters head out to an extended family vacation - I mean the big 'Family as Imagined in Hollywood' type of thing - with brothers and spouses and cousins and Mom and Pop all doing crosswords, and charades and aerobics in the morning together. When ordered out from underneath every one's feet, he runs into the girl of his dreams in a bookstore. Too bad when she arrives at the family home for the vacation and turns out to be dating Dan's bro. Poor Dan.

Okay, so you know this is all going to turn out for the best, but it's a pretty miserable ride there. Carell does his angst/jealousy/trying to do the right thing best, Julliette Binoche (?) seems alternately insensitive and confused, and the rest of the clan (with outstanding actors like Dianne Wiest, John Mahoney, Dane Cook and Emily Blunt) are just nosy, noisy and self involved. In the end, I just felt sorry for this long suffering doormat of the family. Sure, there were some funny moments.... just not enough to justify the pain. If you still want more, the website is here.