Dan In Real Life Reviews

[Highly rated reviewer]

Vile and sisnister movie

A guy tries to steal his brother's girlfriend, whilst all his family is having a get together. Hmm, lovely! Tries to be cute about it, whilst ticking off all the boxes of what a 'cute' film should do, but there's naer a good performance to be seen and the whole thing just made me feel genuinely uncomfortable.

A real feel good movie!

I quite enjoyed this film, despite finding Carell very irritating.( He seems to only ever know how to act as one persona) It 's your typical feel good movie, a bit OTT in places but good to watch once. In a nutshell, it's the difficulties a widowed dad of three girls faces when his younger brother brings home a much older woman who happens to be Dan's (widowed dad's/Carell's) ideal woman.

Will or won't they end up together? You'll have to watch the film to find out, but it shouldn't be too hard to figure out!

[Highly rated reviewer]

Dan In Real Life

I love Steve Carrell but this was a real let down.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Quite entertaining

Not typical Steve Carrell for me, he plays a charachter who is a little mour dour and unfunny than his usual portrayals. Thats not to say this has no humour at all, it is funny in places and funny-sad in others, but in general this is a much heavier movie than I expected. I expected something a but fun and fluffy, but this tackles the break up/relationship scenario a tad more seriously. Juliette Binoche is perfect (as always) though and adds an extra dimension that this film would have lacked without herthere. As really does the underrated (to me) Dane Cook. All in all not as much a giggle as I expected, but definately worth a watch.

If you prefer the Wayans to the Coens then give this one a miss

I knew this film would polarise the masses due to the casting of its leading man. Essentially, if you thought you may give this film a whirl because you enjoyed Evan Almighty or 40 yr old virgin then you should probably give this film a miss. Alternatively, if you have an attention span and enjoyed Carell’s performance in Little Miss Sunshine then you are in for a treat.

The vitriol this film has received in Internet-land seems to be entirely based on the fact that Carell doesn’t gurn or pratfall in a role essentially written for Ben Stiller or Jim Carrey. The film itself is not flawless, it is sort of Wes Anderson-lite. Personally, I really rate Carell in this sort of a role and Jim Carrey proved that you can make the silly films and also take on more challenging roles also. I don’t mean to sound patronising about those who enjoy the sillier films (I enjoy them myself on occasion) I just don’t think people should slate a film or performance because they were expecting something less engaging.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Heartwarming stuff

A lovely, lovely movie, that can pretty much be summed up by the scene in the bookstore between the two main characters. All the things Marie is looking for in a book will be presented to you exactly as she wishes - but that doesn't stop the film from hitting all the right notes without any of the Hollywood schmaltz you may expect.

Steve Carrell is brilliant, as ever, this time playing a slightly awkward but entirely earnest widower - me and friends have discussed why we like Steve Carell so much in this type of role, and it's the honesty that always comes through. He's just got one of those faces you can't help but like, and a nervous charm that wins the day.

The entire supporting cast are uniformly brilliant, with special notes going to Juliet Binoche, Dane Cook (and I never thought I'd say that) and the three girls who play Carrell's daughters. The writing is sharp, not quite as ground breaking as it could be but the film has such charm that a cliche every now and then doesn't hurt, and a few standout scenes will really leave an impression. Carrell and his brother's impromptu karaoke session stands out as a nice heartwarming scene that takes a turn into heartbreaking and emotional with just a few extra seconds. Softies like me will melt.

Comparisons to Little Miss Sunshine are entirely unfounded - save for Steve Carrell and a bittersweet approach to the material, there are few similarities. What this is a warm blanket of a movie - it'll undoubtedly be forgotten amongst a mass of more propular rom-com guff, but it's got far more heart then any of them.

Slow

Avoid, this is slow and boring !

Excellent & Funny

This was a great movie. Really funny, and great romantic comedy. Different and fun

Poor mans "Little Miss Sunshine"

This explores similar territory as 'Little Miss Sunshine', which was Steve Carrels breakthrough straight role. The cast isn't quite as impressive as in that feature although Juliet Binoche is as impressive as always. The comic touches and awkward moments are quite succesful, however, the characters don't really behave in a believable manner and everything seems to resolve itself in an all to convenient and pat manner. Kills a couple of hours though and as I said before it has a few pretty funny moments.

I agree, a feel good movie

Nice way to spend an hour or so