Dan in Real Life
- Steve Carell (THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN, TV’s THE OFFICE), Hollywood’s leading funnyman, stars in the hilarious comedy that’s bursting with charm — a movie you’ll watch again and again. Advice columnist Dan Burns (Carell) is an expert on relationships, but somehow struggles to succeed as a brother, a son and a single parent to three precocious daughters. Things get even more complica
Product Description
n/aAmazon.com
Steve Carell’s best film performance to date can be found in the fitfully engaging Dan In Real Life, where his long-suffering persona suits a character who lets his long-dormant hopes rise for a moment, only to be shot down again. Carell plays Dan Burns, a newspaper columnist who writes about family issues and relationships. As a widower with three growing girls to raise, however, the difference between Dan’s printed wisdom and his struggles with fatherhood and loneliness is often vast. He’s put to a severe test when he packs up the kids for a cabin holiday with his parents and siblings, then falls for the exotic, if elusive, Marie (Juliette Binoche) during a solo excursion to a bookstore. Stirred by a woman for the first time since his late wife, Dan is shocked to find that Marie is actually dating his brother Mitch (Dane Cook), and that she’ll be spending the vacation with him in the midst of his family. From that point, the script, co-written by director Peter Hedges (Pieces of April), pretty much becomes a parade of difficult circumstances under which both Dan and Marie have to keep their attraction to one another secret. Certain scenes work better than others, but there is an overall monotony to the movie that isn’t helped by a lack of onscreen chemistry between Binoche and Carell. Both actors are fine on their own terms, but whatever is supposed to be clicking between Marie and Dan isn’t compelling enough to make one truly care that they get together somehow. Still, this is a film with plenty of moments to like, especially when Carell gets to broaden his previous range of emotions in a movie. –Tom Keogh
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I won’t comment on what this movie is about, as others have done that quite well. I also won’t comment on Amazon’s service, as that has always been outstanding for me. The movie itself, I enjoyed, but …..
The movie I ordered & received was the Blu-ray version, but the picture quality doesn’t appear to be much better than a VHS tape.
This Blu-ray DVD is 1080p, and my Blu-ray DVD player & HDTV are both 1080p. I know what good-quality Blu-ray DVDs look like. I know what regular DVDs look like, when upconverted & viewed through my Blu-ray player onto my HDTV. I also know what 720i HD broadcasts look like. But the picture quality of this supposedly HD DVD doesn’t even come close to any of those. As a matter of fact, the picture quality of this supposedly HD DVD looks like it was recorded off of standard broadcast TV, and then burned to Blu-ray DVD.
There is 1 redeeming thing that I like about this DVD, though, and that is the aspect ratio of it. On my HDTV, I leave the picture setting at its “native” setting, and this is one of the only HD DVDs out of approximately 30 Blu-ray DVDs that use the full screen area of my HDTV, without any black bars at the top/bottom or sides. :-)
Anyway, am I the only one that feels the picture quality leaves much to be desired? Or are my eyes going bad with my old age? :-)
Just my 2-cents’ worth, for what it’s worth.
Rating: 1 / 5
Dan in Real Life
pure, unadulterated cinematic garbarge. granted, to make such a bold statement requires valid reasoning…which i have. the following is a brief assessment of the movie:
the characters are a bunch of yuppie scum who spend time on family talent shows, battle of the sexes crossword style, and lawn aerobics. the daughters (with the exception of the youngest) are snotty brats. the older one is a smart-mouthed know-it-all with a brain the size of a peanut. the other is a trashy little tramp with a promising future in the escort service industry. the brother is played by america’s favorite joke-thief, dane cook, who once again fails miserably while simultaneously adding to his fanbase of pimply preteens and pathetic college student dorks. the love interest is beautiful, mensa-status smart, funny, perfect and completely unconvincing (and unwatchable). the rest of the cast can be summed up as nauseating jerks.
i sat through the movie waiting for something interesting to happen and, tragically, it never did. it was the most overrated and uninventive vomit-inducer i’ve seen in a while. do yourself a favor and watch something else, anything else.
Rating: 1 / 5
Dan in Real Life
Man this was really a low point in Steve Carell’s career. I think he’s a fantastic actor and I usually love his work, but boy did he make a mistake in taking on this piece of garbage. I’m guessing the movie was going for the whole artistic depth thing but frankly, I just don’t understand it. The humor was forced and the plot was boring and ridiculous at the same time. Skip this one if you’re not forced into watching it.
Rating: 1 / 5
Dan in Real Life
coming out of this movie, i felt something i had felt before. i thought that the movie had good acting, some funny moments, the plot wasn’t all that bad…but i HATED it. it made me want to sink down in my seat and cover my eyes(which i did in several parts). it was just so AWKWARD. every scene seemed to just be another situation that made me cringe. at one point, my friend turned to me and said “this movie’s killing me”. sadly, the only part that wasn’t horribly awkward was the ending, which i literally foresaw every moment of from halfway through the film. the film also overused irony to the point of absurdity, and while most of the writing is decent some of the lines are just so bad they will stick with you all day. spare yourself the time and money.
Rating: 2 / 5
Dan in Real Life
Dont let your wife force you to watch this piece of garbage. It may be the worst romantic comedy I have ever been forced to watch. I would much rather have watched an episode of sex in the city. Dane Cook, in addition to having a stupid first name has no business being on t.v. much less co-staring in a movie. He is extremely irritating as a comedian, and only mildly less so as an actor. Steve Carell should fire his agent.
Jon Cremin ( dictated by his wife)
Rating: 1 / 5
Dan in Real Life