Steve Carell is a rare kind of comic actor who, even though he makes us laugh, always has a certain sort of sadness behind his characters. Think about it. In his breakthrough role in
The 40-Year-Old Virgin, he played a sheltered and lonely man who had a hard time with almost any kind of relationship. In
Little Miss Sunshine, he played a brilliant yet depressed man who had recently attempted suicide, and seemed to spend most of the film contemplating why he couldn't go through with it. He had a rare misstep with his last film,
Evan Almighty, that stuck him in a generic "sitcom dad" role. He seemed uncomfortable with such a shallow character, and it showed, giving us his worst performance to date. With
Dan in Real Life, a heartfelt and crowd pleasing comedy-drama, Carell is once again playing a character that matches his unique blend of humor and pathos. His performance, and the film itself, is a lot more complex than what you'd expect to find in a Hollywood romantic comedy.
Dan Burns (Steve Carell) writes an advice column for a local newspaper, but seems like he could use some advice with his life most of all. Since his wife died four years ago, Dan has been struggling to raise his three daughters (Alison Pill, Brittany Robinson, and Marlene Lawston), and is having even more trouble now that two of them are well into their teens, and are starting to bring up issues Dan would rather ignore such as dating and driving. The entire family gets in the car to visit Dan's parents (Diane Wiest and John Mahoney) for the annual family reunion. Early on, Dan decides to go to a nearby bookstore, where he has a chance encounter with a lovely young woman named Marie (Juliette Binoche). There is instant chemistry, even though she states early on that she's already in a relationship. They share breakfast at a local diner, and before he knows it, she has walked out of his life, as she had to be somewhere suddenly. Dan is certain he'll never see her again, until he returns to his parents' house, and finds Marie there as the new girlfriend that his brother, Mitch (Dane Cook), has invited to introduce to the family. The two are now forced to spend the entire week together, hiding their emotions from each other and the rest of the family.
Dan in Real Life is a surprisingly emotional and honest struggle between two characters who know that they are perfect for each other, but at the same time, know they can never be together. This is, for once, not the case of the Idiot Plot at work. These characters are not kept apart by stupid decisions or contrived plotting, but because they respect one another and the people they are around. Dan is someone with the weight of the world of his shoulders. He must not only deal with his own problems, but his daughters and their growing need for independence, as well as the numerous problems that are mailed to him everyday for his column. When he meets Marie, we can plainly tell that it's the first time he's been truly happy in a long time. He smiles a lot and he has a sharp sense of humor around others, but underneath it all, we know that Dan is only pretending when he's around everyone else, but truly smiles and laughs for Marie. Since he gives advice to others and tries to make everyone happy but himself, maybe that is why he doesn't say anything when Mitch "introduces" him to his new girlfriend. Mitch has had a long string of girlfriends that never worked out, and he seems so happy with Marie that Dan finds he just can't say anything. This becomes harder the more time he's forced to spend around Marie. Everyone in the family loves her and is drawn to her, and Dan is forced to withdraw himself. Marie goes through a similar crisis, as she obviously has feelings for Dan that she cannot find in Mitch, and becomes torn between what she wants versus the safest route that would not lead to confrontation.
This emotional conflict at the center of the film is engaging, and dealt with in a mature fashion that never feels simplified and dumbed down. These are two complicated people, and the accompanying performances of Carell and Juliette Binoche are up to the challenge. Carell earns his laughs with his line delivery and quick wit, but just like his best film roles, we sympathize with him as well. He comes across as someone who uses humor as a weapon to battle his own depression, and he lets us clearly see that sometimes Dan is fighting a losing battle. Carell has a certain "everyman" quality that I've always enjoyed about him, and he gets to exploit it here. Juliette Binoche is also winning in her performance. She is sweet, yet intelligent, and often seems to have a calmer head about the situation than Dan does. The real surprise, though, comes from Dane Cook. He is an actor who I have not particularly admired, but now I'm wondering if maybe he was just paired with the wrong material in films like
Employee of the Month and
Good Luck Chuck. Here, he is very low key, subdued, honest, and I liked him a lot. He gives his character of Mitch a lot of personality, and does a good job of showing the wide range of emotions his character must go through. In fact, I would have liked to have seen him do more personal scenes with Carell, as the two actors have surprisingly good chemistry during their time together.
This, in a way, leads me to my main problem with
Dan in Real Life. As enjoyable as it is, I was left wanting more. The inevitable family confrontation when Dan and Marie's relationship is finally brought to light is almost non-existent, and seems to be glossed over. We keep on waiting for certain moments that are sure to come, but they never do. The movie is roughly 100 minutes long, and this is one case where I think a longer running time would have been more beneficial in order to flesh out these complex characters even more, and give them the climax they deserve. The ending we do get for the characters is fine, but there seems to be some scenes missing. Slightly lower on the annoyance scale is the screenplay's occasional dip into sitcom territory. It doesn't happen so often that it ruins the mood the movie tries to provide, but a running gag involving a police officer gets old pretty quickly, and a scene where Dan must hide in a shower then escape outside a window without being seen seems to be lifted right out of a TV comedy, minus the laugh track. Fortunately, most of the laughs this movie does hold are genuine and smart, and there are some big ones, too.
I can easily forgive any faults, because for the most part,
Dan in Real Life has a very low key and quiet appeal to it, kind of like the character of Dan himself. We find ourselves identifying with the characters, laughing with them, and it doesn't take long until we are attached to them. It's very subtle in the way that it grows on us. It starts out as a fairly standard romantic comedy, but we slowly start to realize that it has a lot more to say. It hits a few bumps along the road, but the destination it arrives at is one that doesn't seem overly calculated or forced. Much like most of the film, it is honest and leaves us in a good mood as we walk out of the theater.
0 comments
Steve Carell is a rare kind of comic actor who, even though he makes us laugh, always has a certain sort of sadness behind his characters. Think about it. In his breakthrough role in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, he played a sheltered and lonely man who had a hard time with almost any kind of relationship. In Little Miss Sunshine, he played a brilliant yet depressed man who had recently attempted suicide, and seemed to spend most of the film contemplating why he couldn't go through with it. He had a rare misstep with his last film, Evan Almighty, that stuck him in a generic "sitcom dad" role. He seemed uncomfortable with such a shallow character, and it showed, giving us his worst performance to date. With Dan in Real Life, a heartfelt and crowd pleasing comedy-drama, Carell is once again playing a character that matches his unique blend of humor and pathos. His performance, and the film itself, is a lot more complex than what you'd expect to find in a Hollywood romantic comedy.
Dan Burns (Steve Carell) writes an advice column for a local newspaper, but seems like he could use some advice with his life most of all. Since his wife died four years ago, Dan has been struggling to raise his three daughters (Alison Pill, Brittany Robinson, and Marlene Lawston), and is having even more trouble now that two of them are well into their teens, and are starting to bring up issues Dan would rather ignore such as dating and driving. The entire family gets in the car to visit Dan's parents (Diane Wiest and John Mahoney) for the annual family reunion. Early on, Dan decides to go to a nearby bookstore, where he has a chance encounter with a lovely young woman named Marie (Juliette Binoche). There is instant chemistry, even though she states early on that she's already in a relationship. They share breakfast at a local diner, and before he knows it, she has walked out of his life, as she had to be somewhere suddenly. Dan is certain he'll never see her again, until he returns to his parents' house, and finds Marie there as the new girlfriend that his brother, Mitch (Dane Cook), has invited to introduce to the family. The two are now forced to spend the entire week together, hiding their emotions from each other and the rest of the family.
Dan in Real Life is a surprisingly emotional and honest struggle between two characters who know that they are perfect for each other, but at the same time, know they can never be together. This is, for once, not the case of the Idiot Plot at work. These characters are not kept apart by stupid decisions or contrived plotting, but because they respect one another and the people they are around. Dan is someone with the weight of the world of his shoulders. He must not only deal with his own problems, but his daughters and their growing need for independence, as well as the numerous problems that are mailed to him everyday for his column. When he meets Marie, we can plainly tell that it's the first time he's been truly happy in a long time. He smiles a lot and he has a sharp sense of humor around others, but underneath it all, we know that Dan is only pretending when he's around everyone else, but truly smiles and laughs for Marie. Since he gives advice to others and tries to make everyone happy but himself, maybe that is why he doesn't say anything when Mitch "introduces" him to his new girlfriend. Mitch has had a long string of girlfriends that never worked out, and he seems so happy with Marie that Dan finds he just can't say anything. This becomes harder the more time he's forced to spend around Marie. Everyone in the family loves her and is drawn to her, and Dan is forced to withdraw himself. Marie goes through a similar crisis, as she obviously has feelings for Dan that she cannot find in Mitch, and becomes torn between what she wants versus the safest route that would not lead to confrontation.
This emotional conflict at the center of the film is engaging, and dealt with in a mature fashion that never feels simplified and dumbed down. These are two complicated people, and the accompanying performances of Carell and Juliette Binoche are up to the challenge. Carell earns his laughs with his line delivery and quick wit, but just like his best film roles, we sympathize with him as well. He comes across as someone who uses humor as a weapon to battle his own depression, and he lets us clearly see that sometimes Dan is fighting a losing battle. Carell has a certain "everyman" quality that I've always enjoyed about him, and he gets to exploit it here. Juliette Binoche is also winning in her performance. She is sweet, yet intelligent, and often seems to have a calmer head about the situation than Dan does. The real surprise, though, comes from Dane Cook. He is an actor who I have not particularly admired, but now I'm wondering if maybe he was just paired with the wrong material in films like Employee of the Month and Good Luck Chuck. Here, he is very low key, subdued, honest, and I liked him a lot. He gives his character of Mitch a lot of personality, and does a good job of showing the wide range of emotions his character must go through. In fact, I would have liked to have seen him do more personal scenes with Carell, as the two actors have surprisingly good chemistry during their time together.
This, in a way, leads me to my main problem with Dan in Real Life. As enjoyable as it is, I was left wanting more. The inevitable family confrontation when Dan and Marie's relationship is finally brought to light is almost non-existent, and seems to be glossed over. We keep on waiting for certain moments that are sure to come, but they never do. The movie is roughly 100 minutes long, and this is one case where I think a longer running time would have been more beneficial in order to flesh out these complex characters even more, and give them the climax they deserve. The ending we do get for the characters is fine, but there seems to be some scenes missing. Slightly lower on the annoyance scale is the screenplay's occasional dip into sitcom territory. It doesn't happen so often that it ruins the mood the movie tries to provide, but a running gag involving a police officer gets old pretty quickly, and a scene where Dan must hide in a shower then escape outside a window without being seen seems to be lifted right out of a TV comedy, minus the laugh track. Fortunately, most of the laughs this movie does hold are genuine and smart, and there are some big ones, too.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home