Dan in Real Life

Steve Carell stars in the title role as a widowed newspaper columnist whose pithy advice endears him to readers but alienates him from his three daughters. While attending a family reunion at his parents' rustic home, Dan slips out to a local bookstore and enjoys a lengthy conversation with a beautiful fellow shopper named Marie (Juliette Binoche). When a newly infatuated Dan later rejoins the family, he sees Marie again—just arrived and introduced as the new girlfriend of Dan's younger brother Mitch (Dane Cook). Thunderstruck, Dan initially tries to hide his interest in Marie but eventually becomes his sibling's romantic rival. Carell is capable of taking the low comedy road, but his work here is considerably more adult, while Binoche makes an apt foil, and Cook offers a surprisingly restrained (and therefore more effective) performance. Writer-director Peter Hedges (who wrote the novel and screenplay for What's Eating Gilbert Grape and wrote and directed Pieces of April) also has a knack for creating good-natured humor, and there are some wonderfully endearing moments here between Dan and the daughters he's struggling to raise. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by writer-director Peter Hedges, 11 deleted scenes with optional commentary (20 min.), a 15-minute “Just Like Real Family” making-of featurette, “Handmade Music: Creating the Score” (10 min.), four minutes of outtakes, and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a solid film.] (E. Hulse)[Blu-ray Review—Apr. 1, 2008—Touchstone, 98 min., PG-13, $34.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2007's Dan in Real Life boasts a great 1080p transfer and fine uncompressed PCM 5.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio tracks. The bonus features on the disc are identical to the standard DVD release, which include audio commentary by writer-director Peter Hedges, 11 deleted scenes with optional commentary (20 min.), a 15-minute “Just Like Real Family” making-of featurette, “Handmade Music: Creating the Score” (10 min.), and four minutes of outtakes. Bottom line: one of last year's sweeter confections, Dan in Real Life looks and sounds wonderful on Blu-ray.]