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"Real Love Lets You
Sing Off-Key" |
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Directed by Peter Hedges
- Written by Peter
Hedges
Starring Steve Carell,
Juliette Binoche, John
Mahoney, Dianne Wiest,
Dane Cook
Distributed by
Touchstone - 2007 - 98mins - Rated
PG-13 |
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Let real love open the door... |
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I
learned two things while watching "Dan in Real Life," the latest
film from director and co-writer Peter Hedges (writer/director of
"Pieces of April" and writer of such scripts as "About a Boy" and
"What's Eating Gilbert Grape?").
First, I learned that Oscar winner Juliette Binoche is an amazing
actress who can turn even the most thinly drawn characters into
inviting, appealing and sympathetic human beings.
Secondly, I learned that Steve Carell, cinematic comedy's "Man of
the Hour" isn't quite ready for the dramatic big leagues yet despite
his winning supporting performance in "Little Miss Sunshine."
Oh, wait. I learned something else. I learned that Dane Cook still
can't act.
No surprises there, though.
In "Dan in Real Life," Carell plays Dan Burns, a popular advice
columnist whose wife died four years earlier and whose days are
filled now largely not following his own advice while raising three
spirited young girls, Jane (Alison Pill), Cara (Brittany Robertson)
and Lilly (Marlene Lawston).
As is family tradition, Dan heads off with his girls to an annual
Fall family reunion at his parent's Rhode Island home (Dianne Wiest
and John Mahoney). The next day, Mama Burns commands Dan to go off
for some alone time and, while at a local bookstore/bait shop he
meets and immediately strikes up one of THOSE conversations with the
charming Marie (Juliette Binoche)...you know the conversations. It's
the kind of conversation that feels timeless and never-ending and
replays in your mind over and over again. Alas, Marie must
eventually run off to meet her new boyfriend and, after innocently
giving Dan her phone number, they part.
A few minutes later, Dan arrives back at his parent's home where his
younger brother Mitch (Dane Cook) introduces his new
girlfriend...yep, it's Marie.
This simple storyline is played out with an almost unheard of
gentleness as Hedges portrays the Burns family with a high degree of
normalcy.
Dan, despite his obvious grief and even more obvious dysfunctions,
is deeply loved by his family.
Likewise, Mitch is a good guy who sort of looks up to his older
brother and professes to being in love for the first time.
Marie herself, the stranger of the bunch, quickly wins over the
family with her intelligence, wit and sensitive nature.
There are no bad guys here...simply authentic, honest emotions and
an incredibly awkward situation.
Many writers and directors would proceed to take the winning premise
and either go over-the-top with the comedy and sexual awkwardness,
paint someone as the bad guy or, most irritatingly of all, turn it
all into a greeting card with the all too predictable happy ending.
While "Dan in Real Life" does, indeed, have about the happiest and
most realistic ending one could expect from such a film, the script
from Hedges and Pierce Gardner never stoops to manipulative emotions
or unnecessarily dramatic situations to make its points.
Instead, Hedges trusts the inherent awkwardness of the simple
storyline as a family gathering plays out through games of charades,
family dinners, intimate discussions and more. While the notes that
are played are remarkably simple, they remain remarkably true to the
spirit of the film.
Carell is essentially playing a mix of his characters in
"40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Little Miss Sunshine," minus, of course,
the overt suicidal gesturing in the latter. Carell, as virtually all
of America knows, is a funny man and grounds his character in his
trademark vulnerable humor. Where Carell falls just a touch short is
in his inability to translate that vulnerability into more
believable expressions of love and regret where his children are
concerned. This is especially noticeable as the film winds down, and
as it becomes abundantly clear that his daughters are much wiser
than previously given credit. One can almost sense, at times, Carell
holding back and, perhaps, afraid of completely surrendering to his
character with the emotional vulnerability the film's late scenes
really require. It's a modest deficiency, at worst, but more
noticeable due to the remarkable vulnerability that Binoche reveals
in Marie.
Despite my respect for her acting, I've never really fancied myself
a fan of Binoche's work. Yet, Binoche takes the fairly one-note
character of Marie and allows her to blossom through her words, her
body language, her looks and even her moments of silence. Binoche's
Marie is utterly enchanting and beautifully realized.
In all honesty, Dane Cook offers one of his more solid performances
as the previously philandering and now in love younger brother. Cook
doesn't so much act, it seems, as he simply drops the act (at least
until the end. Dianne Wiest and John Mahoney offer their typically
dependable performances as Dan's steady and reliable parents, while
Pill, Robertson and Lawston perform nicely as his growing up
daughters (though Robertson's "I'm in love" shtick does wear a bit
thin by the end of the film).
The lovely Emily Blunt ("The Devil Wears Prada") is fine in a far
too brief supporting role as Ruthie aka "Pig-faced," and the rest of
the ensemble cast rarely rings a false note.
"Dan in Real Life" capitalizes wonderfully on the beauty of Rhode
Island, and the film's soundtrack from Sondre Lerche is a nice
accompaniment.
While "Dan in Real Life" lacks the emotional depth of "Pieces of
April," it is a tender, sincere and gently funny film that would
make a great family viewing as we enter the holiday season.
It pains me to think that this weekend the absolutely dreadful "Saw
IV" will somehow capture the box-office...Why not try something new
this weekend? Choose life..."Dan in Real Life." |
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© Written by Richard Propes -
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