The Emancipation of Dan

Advice columnist Dan Burns is full of advice, but like most people who are in the business of helping others, he hardly ever takes any for himself.

Peter Hedges’ Dan in Real Life is a movie about a broken man struggling with the unexpected opportunity to piece his life together, to become whole again. Steve Carell plays Dan with that everyman charm for which he’s well-known and well-liked, and gives an effective performance that elevates an already enjoyable dramedy into something of substance: his and his character’s awakening.

Evan Almighty notwithstanding, this is Carell’s first significant role since his subdued turn in Little Miss Sunshine. It allows him to show the proverbial range that most comedians never get to show – and it’s great to see.

(Yes, his breakthrough in The 40-Year-Old Virgin is certainly worthy of praise, too.)

Ever since his wife died, Dan has been going through the motions, putting his three daughters’ needs way ahead of his own. He’s become consumed by fear, and he’s afraid that if he lets go of the memories he will lose sight of that on which he thinks he should focus. And his daughters couldn’t feel more overwhelmed by his devotion to them, and his family couldn’t encourage him to move on, already.

But that he begins to do when, while on a family vacation, he meets Marie (Juliette Binoche), a striking woman who approaches him in a bookstore. The two hit it off immediately, and end up having one of those great first dates you can only have when it’s not an actual date. But as fate would have it, Marie is on her way to meet…Dan’s brother, Mitch (Dane Cook).

Lovelorn, Dan spends the rest of the weekend quietly building up the strength to allow himself to live and love again. In the process, people get hurt, but they get over it because they know that Dan deserves what he wants.

And although you can see this unfolding the way it does even before it actually does, Dan in Real Life remains a good option. It’s cutesy, yes, but it also is grounded and relatable enough to warrant an entertaining watch.

My Rating ***

Photo: Touchstone Pictures.