Dan in Real Life DVD: Review By AlaskaLoneWolf

I found this movie as funny as it was moving. Being a father is a tough job. It is even more difficult when you are a single parent. In this movie the lead character "Dan" played magnificently by Steve Carell, takes you for a ride in the driver's seat of love's twists and turns. Dan is a single parent, with three young daughters he has to take on a road-trip to see the family. During this struggle, he manages to seperate his one "problem-child" from a 'love-affair' crush she's had for three days. The entire road trip was her punishing her father for tearing her away from her 'one true love'. Dan is an avid reader, and likes to browse titles at the bookstore. There he meets someone who he makes an immediate connection with, and gets her number. Dan returns to the rest of his family, and tells them about "meeting someone" at the bookstore, having gotten her number. His brother Mitch, played by Dane Cook, is excited since he has also found someone new and had invited her to meet their family. Of course, when "Marie", played Juliette Binoche walks through the door the plot thickens as both brothers have fallen for the same woman. The life and family dynamics take center stage, in a sometimes gut-wrenching anticipation of what will happen to them in the end.

Steve Carell gives us an incredible performance, making me wonder why this movie didn't get more attention or rank higher than #2 at the box office. Personally, this movie is one of my favorites. It is an excellent explaination of what it means to be part of a family, and a stellar piece of one part comedy, one part romance, and two parts drama. It's the kind of mix I always enjoy in an honest snapshot of real life.