Review: ‘Dan in Real Life’ nails reality of family relationships

Directed by: Peter Hedges

Starring: Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche, Dane Cook, John Mahoney, Dianne Wiest

Rated: PG-13

Peter Hedges has a short but very impressive list of film projects under his belt.

In 1993, he wrote the screenplay (based on his novel) for “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.” The film was directed by Lasse Hallstrom (“My Life as a Dog”), starred Johnny Depp and got a 19-year-old Leonardo DiCaprio his first Oscar nomination.

He debuted as a director with “Pieces of April,” a film that, like “Gilbert Grape,” explored the intricacies of a dysfunctional family.

“Dan in Real Life” is his sophomore effort as a director. It, too, features Hedges’ favorite theme – dysfunction – but isn’t as dark and is more mainstream than his previous work. This isn’t meant to disparage the film in any way.

Hedges has assembled a great cast here. Juliette Binoche, whose French accent is undetectable, is not only radiantly beautiful but an A-list actress; John Mahoney and Dianne Wiest are veterans; and Dane Cook is, well, extremely popular for some reason.

The title character is played by Steve Carell, who has a successful TV career with “The Office” and made a jump to the big screen with comedies such as “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” and his breakthrough starring role in “The 40 Year Old Virgin.” He played it more serious but with comedic overtones in “Little Miss Sunshine.” “Dan in Real Life” provides Carell with his most sophisticated and complex role to date.

Dan Burns is a newspaper advice columnist whose bailiwick is parent-child relationships. And what’s that old expression? “Physician, heal thyself”?

Dan is a widower, the father of three young girls. He’s still in the good graces of 8-year-old Lily, but Cara, 15, doesn’t understand why Dan is against her seeing her “true love,” a boy she’s known for three weeks. The oldest, Jane, is 17. She’s upset because her dad won’t let her drive.

Dan still misses his wife and hasn’t had a relationship in the four years since her death. The girls wish he would find someone and maybe take a rest from hovering over them so closely.

Dan and the girls take off for the yearly family reunion at his parents’ house, a big, homey place by the ocean in Rhode Island. It’s a good thing the house is so big, because the Burns clan is a large one. It’s clear these people love each other. It’s also clear, like in real life, that most of them have some problems.

The first day there, Dan is being so uptight with his kids that his mom tells him to get lost. He goes into the local bookshop and, while perusing the stacks, a beautiful woman (Binoche) thinks he works there and asks him for help.

After his charade is uncovered, Dan and Marie begin chatting, and the chemistry is obvious. There’s one problem, though. Marie has recently become involved with someone and is on her way to see him. We get the feeling Marie is not 100 percent happy with the relationship. She gives Dan her phone number, just so they can talk again sometime.

Back at the house, Dan’s brother Mitch (Cook) wants to introduce him to his new girlfriend, whom he refers to as Annie. Of course, in walks the woman from the bookstore. Her name is Ann Marie, but she goes by Marie and Mitch calls her Annie.

From here, the weekend gets complicated in ways you’d expect, but Hedges and co-writer Pierce Gardner never resort to a paint-by-numbers formula.

There are many lightheartedly funny scenes, and as many touching romantic ones. The entire family gets involved in a number of the key scenes.

“Dan in Real Life” is a sophisticated romantic comedy rising above many in the genre because of the talents of a great director, a great script and an equally great cast. As its title suggests, one thing that makes the film work so well is that in so many ways, it has the ring of “real-life” family relationships.

Jim Wunderle owns Wunderle Sound Services and is a Springfield freelance writer and musician. He can be reached at info@wunderlesound.com.