On DVD: Dan in Real Life

 

Directed By: Peter Hedges

Starring: Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche, Dane Cook, John Mahoney, Dianne Wiest, Alison Pill, Marlene Lawston

 

Dan, played by Steve Carell, is a well intentioned but overly protective widower of three girls. During the annual family vacation in a beautiful waterfront home in Rhode Island he meets Marie, (Juliette Binoche). The only problem is that she is already seeing Mitch (Dane Cook), his brother. Grab a plot out of the Giant Stock Movie Plot Book but fill in the blanks with top notch actors and top notch dialog mix some cliché and originality film it artistically in a beautiful waterfront home in Rhode Island and you get Dan in Real Life, recently released on DVD by Buena Vista Home Entertainment

 

The Movie

 

The movie starts with the waking of Dan a clever allusion to the film actually. We watch Dan go through the domestic chores and we get introduced to his three beautiful daughters, played wonderfully by  Alison Pill, Brittany Robertson and  Marlene Lawston. Jane the oldest is unhappy with Dan because he won't let her drive, even though she's the best in her driving class and her instructor has dubbed her “highway ready”. Cara the one in the middle is unhappy with Dan because he can't believe that she's in love with her new boyfriend that she's know for a whole three weeks. Lilly's not upset with him but even she's taking her sisters side informing him that. “Your a good father, but sometimes a bad dad”.

 

Today is the day they are leaving for the annual family vacation. When I say family I mean the whole extended family, grandparents, John Mahoney and Diane Wiest, aunts and uncles, including Dane Cook, and all the cousins. The morning after they arrive Dan's mother informs him that he and the girls need a little time apart and tells him nicely to “get lost”. Dan wonders about town and visits the book and tackle store. That is my new goal, to live in a town that has a book and tackle store. In the store Dan meets Marie (Juliette Binoche), and after a contrived but charming meet cute, they end up sharing a coffee and muffin and really hit it off. In the middle of their conversation Marie gets a phone call and has to leave suddenly. When Dan tries to get her number, she informs him that she has just started a new relationship, but Dan manges to wheedle the number from her.

 

When Dan returns to the vacation house he tells his brother Mitch (Dane Cook) about the girl he met. The whole family starts to razz him about meeting a girl and arguing about when he should call her. Mitch calls over his new girlfriend who he has brought up to meet the family to get her advice and guess who she is. You guessed right she's Marie the woman from the book and tackle store.

 

Fifteen minutes into this movie I didn't like it. I don't have a big problem with formula, but cliché kinda gets on my nerve and there just seemed to be too much. The chaste, over protective widower, the vacation with the extended family which happens in a beautiful waterfront home in a sleepy little Northeastern town, the overly cute meet cute, I could go on but you get my drift. Even from the beginning though the charm of Carell and his movie family with the help of Sodre's score and the wonderful acting kept me watching and about halfway through the movie, I didn't really notice the clichés anymore.

 

7/10

 

The Video

 

The video is presented in widescreen and it looks great. This is a good thing because this is a beautifully shot film for a romantic comedy. It's nice and crisp without a hint of grain. The color is fantastic, deep blacks and reds and blues. I never noticed any blooming or aliasing.

 

8/10

 

The Audio

 

The audio is presented in Dolby 5.1 in English, French and Spanish with English, French and Spanish subtitles. The mix is excellent, the Sondre Lerche soundtrack weaves musically around the dialog never overpowering.

 

8/10

 

The Packaging and Bonus Features

 

The DVD comes in the standard DVD case with an embossed slip cover.

 

The cover art sums up the movie nicely. There is a good selection of extras. Deleted scenes, outtakes, a making of featurette, and an audio commentary by the director and co-writer Peter Hedges. The commentary is excellent and the making of featurette is worth watching just for the story of how Peter and Sondre worked together on the score.

 

8/10

 

It's a beautifully shot movie from the beginning to the end. It took a while to grow on my but I really enjoyed it. The score alone is almost worth the price of the DVD. Plus it's Steve Carell, he's becoming one of those actors that just seeing his involvement is reason enough to watch.

  

Overall (Not an Average) 8/10

The Review

The Movie 7/10

The Video 8/10

The Audio 8/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features 8/10

Overall (Not an Average) 8/10

 

-Mike Young