OK movies can be held together by a gifted cast. Dan in Real Life is a pitch perfect example. The plot is fairly familiar territory. A widowed father of 3 kids visits his family and falls in love with a girl he finds is dating his brother. Throughout the film, we're treated to the antics of the family who endure some of the title character's odd behaviors.
The success of the film lies in Carrel's performance and the subdued direction of Peter Hedges. A visit to the family can go wacky wrong in pictures like this and you end up with another rendition of Meet the Parents or the like. But while Hedges likes family quirks, he downplays them and keeps our focus on the central characters, and here that is Dan and his love interest, Marie.
Carrel plays innocent well. It's hard to imagine another actor playing Dan as likable as Carrel does. That charm is important for the character as even though he irks his family in the film, he remains pitiable throughout. Pitiable is a characteristic many of his characters have, even when they should be deplorable (see "The Office").
The script is subtle. While this is involves Dan and Marie's relationship, their aren't any of those obvious moments you expect out of films like this, even when the outcome becomes clear. This makes the character of Dan and his situation more convincing. It creates and uneasy kind of humor. We laugh and cringe as we imagine what Dan goes through to try and avoid the inevitable.
This is also a good "family" film, in that it stresses the importance of family, and that for the most part, it's pretty clean. Dan has three daughters that he takes care of on his own, and he is somewhat overprotective, but is generally a good father. The film shows their relationship with their father and where they don't always see eye to eye. If I have one gripe about the film, it's that the resolution isn't fleshed out more, when the ongoing theme of the film seems to be family.
Overall, this is a good natured dramedy that probably doesn't stand out too much within the genre. I liked the fact that this was an adult dramatic comedy that isn't filled with a deluge of toilet humor, though I wouldn't take the little ones.
The success of the film lies in Carrel's performance and the subdued direction of Peter Hedges. A visit to the family can go wacky wrong in pictures like this and you end up with another rendition of Meet the Parents or the like. But while Hedges likes family quirks, he downplays them and keeps our focus on the central characters, and here that is Dan and his love interest, Marie.
Carrel plays innocent well. It's hard to imagine another actor playing Dan as likable as Carrel does. That charm is important for the character as even though he irks his family in the film, he remains pitiable throughout. Pitiable is a characteristic many of his characters have, even when they should be deplorable (see "The Office").
The script is subtle. While this is involves Dan and Marie's relationship, their aren't any of those obvious moments you expect out of films like this, even when the outcome becomes clear. This makes the character of Dan and his situation more convincing. It creates and uneasy kind of humor. We laugh and cringe as we imagine what Dan goes through to try and avoid the inevitable.
This is also a good "family" film, in that it stresses the importance of family, and that for the most part, it's pretty clean. Dan has three daughters that he takes care of on his own, and he is somewhat overprotective, but is generally a good father. The film shows their relationship with their father and where they don't always see eye to eye. If I have one gripe about the film, it's that the resolution isn't fleshed out more, when the ongoing theme of the film seems to be family.
Overall, this is a good natured dramedy that probably doesn't stand out too much within the genre. I liked the fact that this was an adult dramatic comedy that isn't filled with a deluge of toilet humor, though I wouldn't take the little ones.