Dan in Real Life on DVD
Excellent Bonus Features Add Depth to Film Starring Steve Carell
DVD bonus features enhance this thoughtful romantic comedy starring Steve Carell.
Half humorous, half melancholy, Dan in Real Life tells the story of Dan Burns (Steve Carell), a newspaper advice columnist and single father of three young daughters. Although his insightful columns about relationships inspire others, he still struggles with his own family: His oldest daughter wants to drive; his middle daughter wants to date; and his youngest daughter wants more attention.
Looking for Love
What does Dan want? A new love, of course. Yet he views his late wife as “winning the lottery,” so he holds out little hope of ever finding a suitable replacement. While attending the annual weeklong family reunion at his parent’s lakefront home, he meets an exotic foreign woman (Juliette Binoche) at the bookstore in a nearby town. After a mistaken identity introduction (similar to the set up in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds), the couple finds they have good chemistry and similar attitudes.
The problem arises after they part, when they discover that she is the girlfriend of his youngest brother (Dane Cook) and will be sharing uncomfortably close quarters for the next week. He and she try to fight their mutual attraction and hide their interest through childish games, such as openly flirting with others on the dance floor and speaking to each other in hostile tones while in front of the family.
All About the Family
With parents (John Mahoney and Dianne Wiest) this attentive, however, the hidden relationship can’t stay hidden for long. Awkward and embarrassing moments – endured mostly by Dan – prove too much for him and he cracks under the pressure, alternately revealing his attraction and expressing his frustration in counterproductive ways. While his large, supportive family wants him to find love, they don’t want him to find love with his brother’s girlfriend.
Many situations seem familiar and predictable here. You may be able to accurately guess the plot points as the story plods along. What keeps things fresh is Carell’s charismatic performance and that of his supporting cast. The story bogs down with too much family sentimentality at times, and viewers may wonder if there are any inhabitants in the nearby town other than strategically placed storekeepers and one hot-shot cop with nothing better to do than give Dan tickets. Even so, the warm performances and occasional laughs make Dan in Real Life a film worth watching.
DVD Bonus Features
The featurette “Just Like Family: The Making of Dan in Real Life” provides illuminating commentary on the central ideas behind the film. Likewise, “Handmade Music: Creating the Score” offers information about the unusual soundtrack by Sondre Lerche, who also appears near the end of the film. A lengthy series of deleted scenes (with and without commentary) shows many fine scenes that were cut due to time constraints or being deemed as “lovely but unnecessary.” Outtakes include several funny flubs with Binoche laughing loudly over and over again both on and off camera.
- Dan in Real Life
- Director: Peter Hedges
- Run Time: 98 minutes
- Rating: PG-13 (sexual innuendo)
- DVD Bonus Features: Just Like Family: The Making of Dan in Real Life; Handmade Music: Creating the Score; Deleted Scenes; Outtakes; Audio Commentary with Writer-Director Peter Hedges.
For more reviews of romantic comedies on DVD, read Across the Universe.
