The perfect showcase for Carell, who solidifies his Everyman appeal with this performance.
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"Put it on my tab."
That line, spoken half under his breath and with a blend of sarcasm and resignation, pretty much defines the character that Steve Carell plays in "Dan in Real Life." Dan is an Everyman. Dan is easygoing. But Dan is also a quiet rebel. So when he gets stopped by the same cop twice for speeding, it comes out as "Put it on my tab." You see, he's got bigger problems.
Dan Burns is an advice columnist, but as a matter of interest, we never see him dispense one sentence of advice in this film. Aside from his newspaper fame being acknowledged in a scene or two, the film about a guy who writes a column called "Dan in Real Life" concentrates on just one thing: Dan . . . in real life.
Dan is the conscientious single parent of three daughters whose mother passed away. He's an easygoing likeable guy, and this is an easygoing likeable movie. Writer-director Peter Hedges ("Pieces of April") based it in part on his own single-parent father, for whom he obviously has a great deal of respect. And Carell is the perfect choice to bring that character to life. He's hapless, but not clueless. And he's principled, but flexible . . . and vice versa.
On one of the bonus features, we're told Carell's schedule filming "The Office" was so tight that he couldn't get to the movie set until six hours prior to filming. Hedges encouraged the three girls who play his daughters to perform "We Are Family" for Carell to try to bring him quickly into the fold, and darned if it didn't do the trick. The chemistry between Carell and oldest daughter Jane (Alison Pill), middle daughter Cara (Brittany Robertson), and youngest daughter Lilly (Marlene Lawston) feels honest and real. And I'm a former single parent of two boys and two girls, so I know the dynamic.
Carell is how I tried to be--fun and flexible, but firm and fair. Except when it comes to boyfriends and anything remotely dangerous. Fifteen-year-old Cara tries to have a tryst with her true-love Marty (Felipe Dieppa), but Dan puts his foot down so firmly that it would have gone through the floorboard if they were driving. Which, by the way, he will not allow his 17-year-old daughter to do even if she is old enough. Thank God for the little one, who isn't old enough to do anything but appreciate the peanut butter and honey sandwiches Dad makes for her with a smiley face.
Life gets even more complicated for Dan when he packs the girls up and goes to Rhode Island to visit the grandparents. Hedges says on the commentary track that he tried to overcast the movie, and he certainly did. The film's small parts are packed with talent, featuring Academy Award nominee Amy Ryan in a a bit part, perennial head-turners John Mahoney ("Frasier") and Dianne Wiest ("Edward Scissorhands") as Dan's parents, and Emily Blunt as a doctor who complicates the love triangle a bit.
Dan alienates his daughters just in time for the family retreat, which will remind folks of a non-seasonal version of "The Family Stone" with no one dying, except, perhaps, Dan inside. You see, his first day in Vermont he meets someone, but just when he's about to gush all over himself telling his family about this mystery woman, his brother Mitch (Dane Cook) walks in with the very same woman and announces that Marie (Juliette Binoche) is his girlfriend. Ouch.
And so the film weaves the plot threads of Dan's close-to-estranged parenting and his close-to-exploding unrequited love for his brother's woman, as we watch in the wings and appreciate just how good-natured and honest this small-but-entertaining film seems.
In 2000, the U.S. Census reported that there were 12.3 million single parents, 2.3 million of which were male. And it's refreshing to see that we've long passed the "Mr. Mom" or "Mrs. Doubtfire" stage, where single dads are depicted as incapable or well-meaning but in need of a counseling. Dan is a normal guy who just happens to love his brother's girlfriend and wants to do the right thing as a parent. You have to applaud that, because it's one of the few films that seems to get single dads "right." Hedges says he remembers his dad saying that nights were the toughest, and I can attest to that. There's no partner to turn to in order to discuss the kids' problems, and when it comes to discipline, you're both good cop and bad cop, no matter what gender you are. Single parents have it rough, and this film doesn't romanticize single-parenting, it doesn't tug on the heart-strings excessively, and it doesn't moralize. "Dan in Real Life" is as real as a film about single parenting gets, and as a romantic comedy it's also not half bad.
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[release]23153[/release]