Dan in Real Life (2007) - unpretentiously funny
I watched Dan in real life (2007) on 2008–06–08.
These days I tend to prefer movies where guns aren’t fired, where people talk without swearing every other minute (Californication), and where everyone isn’t a billionaire with a private jet… Simply put, it is easier to fictionalize starting from an extraordinary context, than to fictionalize with both feet on daily Earth, like this movie dares to do…
Dan Burns (actor Steve Carrell in real life) challenges extraordinary with his quasi ordinary life of a widower writer, playing mr. right, father of three girls, afraid of allowing them new levels of freedom, with arguments ranging from “you can’t drive the car” to “you can’t date the boy”.
Dan drives an old Mercedes turbo diesel van, writes to a local newspaper and the only women in his life are his daughters, since his wife’s death. Marie (actress Juliette Binoche), will be Dan’s catalyst to a new life and to old feelings, as long as they can both deal with one surprising coincidence, to be revealed at a family reunion…
The movie shakes at the Burns family reunion: there are so many Burns (Mitch, Jane, Cara, Lily…) that not all the characters get the chance to be developed, so they just “hang” there, until the end, like strange bodies. Despite the overcrowdness, Dan and Marie will get quality time at the bathroom, and the movie escapes nearly unscattered. Well done!
Sunday 08 Jun 2008 | am | movies, movies reviewed, movies seen