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Dan in Real Life
Touchstone Pictures


6.3

based on 34 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 114 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

Pieces of April

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for some innuendo

Starring Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche, Dane Cook, Norbert Leo Butz, John Mahoney, and Dianne Wiest

Advice columnist Dan Burns is an expert on relationships, but struggles to succeed as a brother a song and a single parent. (Touchstone Pictures)

GENRE(S):	Comedy \| Drama \| Romance
WRITTEN BY:	Pierce Gardner Peter Hedges
DIRECTED BY:	Peter Hedges
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: March 11, 2008 Theatrical: October 26, 2007
RUNNING TIME:	95 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Dan in Real Life fires on so many circuits that at times it's actually shocking how good it is.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

A nimble and supple and moving comedy.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Carell shows a whole new side to his talents.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

As a director Hedges is smart enough to allow his actors to share the frame and interact and let the material breathe.

Premiere Glenn Kenny

A smart, sweet, and thoroughly disarming ensemble comedy that isn't afraid to wear its humanism on its sleeve.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Dan offers the most pleasing kind of unforced charm as it uses a terrific plot device to examine the conflicts between family and romance as well as the joy and pain of being in love.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

Provides Steve Carell and Juliette Binoche with comic roles that fit them like designer threads.

Variety Joe Leydon

Deftly interlaces heart and humor in a witty, warm and well-observed comedy about the unexpected and inconvenient blooming of romance at the weekend gathering of an extended family.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

Novelist-turned-writer/director Peter Hedges follows up his "Pieces Of April" debut with a comedy that's at once overstuffed and surprisingly subtle.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

If the film has a flaw, and I'm afraid it does, it's the Sondre Lerche songs on the soundtrack. They are too foregrounded and literal, either commenting on the action or expounding on associated topics. In such a laid-back movie, they're in our face.

TV Guide Ken Fox

Watching Binoche dithering about an American comedy takes some getting used to, but she's a believable soul mate for the hangdog Carell. The rest of the family, however, has got to go.

New York Post Kyle Smith

The anti-Ben Stiller comedy: There's humiliation aplenty but no mugging, no abuse to the crotch region, no straining to be outrageous.

Time Richard Corliss

In a brief review in Time magazine this week, I gave Dan a gentleman's B-. Let me try to remember why. Because the pressure of keeping his ardor secret turns Dan pleasingly cranky.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

There's nothing groundbreaking about Dan in Real Life -- it's a picture that could have been made 10 or 20 years ago -- and yet its easygoing, affable nature is exactly what makes it pleasurable.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

Dan in Real Life is neither wildly farcical nor mockingly cruel, but rather, for the most part, winningly gentle and observant.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

In the end, the commercial necessity of wrapping up a family comedy in less than 100 minutes seems to have trumped anything real about Dan's life.

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

Dan in Real Life is basically a slightly less-sappy version of "TheFamily Stone."

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Sweet it is. Remotely connected to real life, however, it is not.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

Almost reflexively, the filmmakers skirt Dan's messier conflicts. But it is the moments when they don't dance around the awkward issue of a brother falling for his brother's girl that Dan is the most poignant.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Cook has as much depth as a coaster, so it's impossible under any circumstances to imagine Binoche falling in love with him. Her complicated, heartfelt performance is the reason to see the film: When she's around, she pierces the soothing gray nothingness with shafts of sunlight.

Village Voice Robert Wilonsky

Dan in Real Life steals from that line in "Virgin" about Carell kinda looking like Luke Wilson, since here Carell is, after all, playing the Luke Wilson role from "The Family Stone."

Film Threat Rick Kisonak

On its own terms, the picture is at least as contrived as it is charming and its characters in many cases bear less resemblance to flesh and blood human beings than those in a Farrelly brothers farce.

Empire Ian Nathan

A small but sweetly formed comedy of romantic misfortune that can’t quite keep Hollywood at bay.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

The cozy, lived-in atmosphere created by the ensemble and the unlikely chemistry of Carell and Binoche are so genuine that you wish the rest of the film was just as effortless and authentic.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Beneath its aw-shucks, wants-to-be-liked exterior, this is a bankrupt motion picture. It's cloying, artificial, and not the least bit romantic.

USA Today Claudia Puig

Dan in Real Life takes a pleasant premise and calls upon the talents of engaging actors and generally squanders both.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Pleasing moments don't add up to a feature film, even though this one strives desperately for substance and coherence by slathering its slender story with treacly family values.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

All goes according to course, and that's exactly the problem with Dan in Real Life.

Christian Science Monitor Robert Koehler

Bad movies invariably stem from bad ideas, and the worst of the several rancid ideas packed inside of Dan in Real Life is that Steve Carell could be the new Alan Alda.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

Filmgoers haven't seen a family this neurotically enmeshed since the last Diane Keaton movie.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

There's a great movie to be had in the notion of a busybody whose advice keeps blowing up in his face, but Dan in Real Life merely sets it up and walks away.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

The setup of this comedy by director-cowriter Peter Hedges (Pieces of April) and some subsequent twists may be contrived, and the laughs aren't very plentiful, but much of the behavior seems real, and the able cast makes the most of it.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

With all its cloying, tone-deaf attempts at genuine emotional warmth, all it really deserves is to be avoided.

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

I could see people enjoying Dan in Real Life, I guess -- the scenery is nice and the people are pretty and the songs are cute little emotion substitutes. But Dan? Buddy? It's not all about you.

The average user rating for this movie is 6.3 (out of 10) based on 114 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Shannon gave it a10:
I loved it! Great storyline, clean humor, very heartfelt... definitely one to add to the family collection.

Kathy E. gave it a10:
I loved this movie. It is warm and clever and funny, with so many little intricate touches contributing to the story line, the character development and the feel-good feeling of it. No, the family was not realistic, but the individuals in it were, as you got a glimpse into each of them in "just three days". I still feel great and hopeful even 24 hours after watching it.

Matt L gave it a0:
Got this movie from the rental video and actually stopped watching halfway thru the movie.. I couldn't stand; 1) The cheesy feel good family scenes 2) The whole family falling head over heels over Juliette Binoche's character.. which I feel is totally NOT realistic 3) Juliette Binoche's character's labeled as pretty, beautiful etc.. which I can't see it at all.. I'm totally baffled in what they see in her?!?! Throw her in the mall and I bet ya that you wouldn't give her a second look.

Vauhgn L. gave it a2:
Quite possibly the most boring movie I've ever seen. The characters are boring, the story is boring and the comedy falls flat.

Anne M. gave it a10:
I loved this film! I'm not really sure why so many people found it disappointing. It really seems to be genuine and heartfelt, and achieves just the right balance of comedy, drama, and romance. And the chemistry between Steve Carrell and Juliette Binoche is sparkly and fun... they really make the film work. It is so refreshing to see a romantic comedy without gratuitous sex and unnecessary adult language that people of all ages can enjoy. Two thumbs up!

D'kotah G gave it a1:
Terribly formulaic, two-dimensional characters. The dance/music scenes were excruciating. It felt like an 80's movie that everyone forgot about, justifiably. Carrell was Ok though. The "family" dynamic was entirely unrealistic. Not recommended for anyone who like good things.

Patrice D gave it a9:
This movie was actually a sweet, poignant look at family and love, and was very entertaining as well. If you are a cynic, it is not going to work for you. If you know that some families actually love each other, you will be touched. It is like a wonderful summer vacation with your best friends.

Dan in Real Life Touchstone Pictures

Dan in Real Life
Touchstone Pictures