DAN IN REAL LIFE (USA, 2007). Wednesday, 11th February 2009DAN IN REAL LIFE
USA, 2007. Directed by Peter Hedges from a screenplay by Pierce
Gardner and himself. Photography (Colour): Larry Sher. Music:
Sondre Lerche. Certificate: “PG”. Length: 99 minutes. Leading
Players: STEVE CARELL (Dan Burns), JULIETTE BINOCHE
(Marie), DANE COOK (Mitch Burns), ALISON PILL (Jane
Burns), DIANNE WIEST (Nana), JOHN MAHONEY (Poppy),
EMILY BLUNT (Ruthie), BRITTANY ROBERTSON (Cara
Burns), MARLENE LAWSTON (Lily Burns), AMY RYAN (Eileen).
When I set out for the press show of this Hollywood comedy I had no idea of how beguiling it would prove to be. On paper it seemed questionable. That was because it was directed and co-written by Peter Hedges known previously for the independent movie Pieces of April which, although applauded by many, had not greatly appealed to me and because the leading player was Steve Carell whose performance in a comic role in Little Miss Sunshine had left me surprised that he should be popular for his supposed comedic skills. Furthermore, much as I admire Juliette Binoche and had recognised her ability to bring off English language roles in films made outside of France, I found it difficult to imagine her being altogether at ease in comedy.
However, the press notes provided were encouraging in that they already carried a quote. It came from a review for the magazine Total Film which awarded the film four stars and described it as “touching, tender and laugh-out loud funny”. Of course, I might have disagreed with that verdict, but when I emerged from the cinema in great good spirits I was ready to concur. In the circumstances, I was much surprised when the reviews that greeted the film on its opening some weeks later were in many cases disappointing or downright hostile. One has to acknowledge that nothing divides opinion in cinema as much as comedies: what one person regards as hilarious, the next viewer may find the least funny movie of all time. Consequently, despite the number of requests that the Eastbourne Film Society receives for comedies to balance our heavier films, it’s not impossible that Dan in Real Life will prove the most controversial film of the season when it comes to assessing its quality.
I should make it clear that I do not take the view that Dan in Real Life is a flawless masterpiece. It belongs to a genre, that of the romantic comedy, which rarely aspires to that, and there are times when the screenplay by Hedges and Pierce Gardner despite creating something inherently closer to life than the average rom-com succumbs to moments of exaggerated comedy and to elements that are clichés of the genre. But regardless of these minor flaws, I find the film immensely appealing and I would not hesitate to describe it as a triumph for its casting director Bernard Telsey. It’s not often that a film is so spot on in the choice of players for every single role.
Given my enthusiasm for the piece, is there any explanation for the disdain felt by certain critics for this film beyond the issue of tastes in comedy differing? I think that I may have found one, but before going into that I must describe what the story-line is. Like many another comedy Dan in Real Life is built around a family occasion – not this time a wedding or even a funeral but a weekend gathering on Rhode Island where four grown-up children are visiting their now relatively elderly parents and in some cases bringing their own families with them. The father is
played by John Mahoney, whose very presence adds something to a role not particularly memorable, while the mother, an altogether more individual figure and a source of wisdom, is portrayed by the splendid Dianne Wiest.
As for the visiting children, two of them, Clay (Norbert Leo Butz) who arrives with his wife Eileen (Amy Ryan) and Amy (Jessica Hecht) are relatively subsidiary figures, but the two remaining brothers, Dan (Steve Carell) and Mitch (Dane Cook), are central to the story. Dan is a journalist and an accomplished one who already has a regular column entitled “Dan in Real Life” in which he dispenses advice to his readers. Indeed his future looks even brighter since this column is likely to become syndicated. But, if his work is going well, in other areas he has been unlucky. Although only in his forties he has been a widower for four years, but he does have the compensation of having three daughters all of whom are present for this special weekend. There’s the reasonably level-headed Jane (Alison Pill), the difficult Cara (Brittany Robertson) who is rebellious yet perceptive and, by far the youngest of the three, eight year old Lilly (Marlene Robertson). Dan’s brother Mitch in contrast arrives with only one companion in the form of his girl-friend Marie whom he wants to introduce to his family. This is the role played by Juliette Binoche and the crux of the plot lies in the fact that en route to the family home Dan has encountered her in a bookshop and without expecting it has experienced something akin to love at first sight. Only afterwards is he introduced to her as his brother’s girl and therefore tries to persuade himself that what he has felt on their first encounter is something less.
In talking about their film the writers have stressed that they wished to avoid the cliché of the dysfunctional family which is so often featured in films today. To my mind, they realise this aim admirably. Although the role quickly settles, it is possible to feel that in her first scene in the bookshop Marie comes across as being a bit too zany. But, if this is a role that comes right, the other characters convince from the outset. Dan’s three children, for example, are all very believable figures, well contrasted and at times surprising and you feel that in portraying family life Hedges and Gardner are dealing with something they really know. Creating characters who care about each other could lead to scenes of cloying sentimentality but not so here and it is typical of the film that the mother, believing in the desirability of Dan marrying again and unaware of his feelings for Marie, should set up for him a blind date with a neighbour, Ruthie, which proves disastrous. This scene featuring Emily Blunt is one of the film’s highlights.
It is as a human comedy that Dan in Real Life appeals to me, and it is at its best when at its least artificial. As for Carell, he seems to me to be just right here because Dan is essentially a serious character even when his behaviour becomes comic. As for asking Binoche to play comedy, I can only say that happily the gamble pays off in spades and in this film she is positively radiant. She is an ideal partner for Carell and together they bring truth and feeling to the comedy. Despite having some flaws, Dan in Real Life is an unusually lovable film.
I could quote from Heat Magazine which gave it four stars and described it as delightfully funny and utterly charming, but I prefer to end with the culminating paragraph of Lisa Mullen’s disapproving review in Sight & Sound because this above all persuades me that some critics are so jaundiced about family life as they have experienced it that they can only enjoy a portrait of it that is critical. But judge for yourself from this assessment: “This isn’t a love story but a profoundly conservative paean to the nuclear family with the clan held up as paragons: mutually supportive, entirely free from conflict and hermetically sealed against the ravages of modern vices such as divorce and consumerism. Moreover they wallow happily in the simplest of pleasures – adults and kids muck in together to play charades, do crosswords and go for walks on the beach; they put on a little talent show and sing songs round the piano. Dan in Real Life is a calculated fantasy, soothing escapism for the frizzled over-forties, and as such it works perfectly.” Yes, she hated it: will you?
Programme Note by Mansel Stimpson.
