Directed by: Peter Hedges
Starring: Steve Carrell, Juliet Binoche, Dane Cook
Rating: PG-13

Steve Carrell, Juliet Binoche, Dane Cook in Dan in Real Life. (Courtesy photo)

In the ranks of unlikely movie romances, Steve Carrell and Juliet Binoche must be pretty high up there. Not so magical as Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon in Harold and Maude, not so laughable as David Spade and Sophie Marceau in Lost & Found. That Carrell and Binoche actually make their romance convincing is a credit to both actors. That they do it in what is otherwise an all-too-predictable story is even more impressive. Dan in Real Life is not a groundbreaking romantic comedy. And by the time it wraps up all-too-neatly, we’re left with a decidedly curtailed emotional experience. But for much of its brief 97 minutes, Dan in Real Life really hums with honest, messy moments. It presents us with one of those movie families that is far more thoughtfully portrayed than usual, yet somehow exposes its artifice by doing so. But the most important measure of romantic comedy is how much you laugh and how hard you root for the boy and girl to end up together. Dan in Real Life, for all of its near-missed opportunities, measures up quite nicely.

Carrell plays Dan Burns, a widowed advice columnist with three teen and pre-teen daughters. Dan and the girls meet up with the extended family at their summer home on the Rhode Island shore. Amidst the myriad siblings, nieces, and nephews, Dan proceeds to frustrate everyone with his overbearing parenting style (the widower part, you see). Mercifully sent into town, he meets the captivating Marie (Juliet Binoche), and before they know it the two have talked the morning away. They reluctantly go their separate ways, only to meet up moments later when she is introduced to him as the girlfriend of his brother, Mitch (Dane Cook). Dan battles nobly to suppress his intense attraction to Marie—the first woman to tug at his heart in the four years since his wife’s death. The rest of the family is falling in love with Marie, too, and in the crowded summer house it’s impossible to get away from her.

There’s plenty to drive away the more demanding moviegoer, however. The family gets along far too well and is constantly engaged in some sort of activity—charades, touch football, family walks on the beach. You know, just like your twenty closest relatives do when they get together. And many scenes feel inevitable—when Dan has to hide in Marie’s shower; when Mitch and Marie accompany Dan on a blind date arranged by his parents (John Mahoney and Dianne Wiest). Yet these scenes are welcome and amusingly played out. It doesn’t hurt at all that the aforementioned blind date is the marvelous Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada). Dan in Real Life is kind of a low-key cross-pollination of Meet the Parents and The Family Stone. Director and co-writer Peter Hedges (Pieces of April) has a good feel for family interaction. Even at its most idyllic, this movie world resembles our own enough to resonate. And while it is far too pat, the script does nicely contrast Dan’s travails with those of his three daughters.

Steve Carrell is turning out to be such a good actor—he’s really more actor than comedian—he’s worth seeing in almost anything he does these days. Juliet Binoche compares very well to Ingrid Bergman, another actress who carried a heavy melancholy into even her brightest roles. Binoche seems so much more amiable in English-speaking films (The English Patient, Chocolat) than in any of her French roles. She and Carrell truly prop up the film through its wobbliest moments. They’re helped by veterans like Mahoney (Frasier) and the great Wiest (Bullets Over Broadway), who apparently gave birth to Dan when she was 14. Dane Cook (Good Luck Chuck), whose star trajectory threatens to be the briefest of parabolas, proves quite capable in a genuine role. He isn’t great, but Cook is undeniably charismatic.

Even though Dan in Real Life isn’t a great movie, it’s hard to understand why more people didn’t embrace it this weekend (except, of course, that we Red Sox fans do span the nation). It is, by the way, suitable for just about any audience. More baffling is that Hedges rushes past the toughest, most delectable scenes before they even come into focus. An additional five minutes of juicy altercations might have elevated this movie to keeper level. Instead, Dan in Real Life will have to settle for being a very worthwhile diversion in these dreary times at the multiplex.

Alex Manugian lives in Sherman Oaks, California, and works for the Cartoon Network. He grew up in Groton and has reviewed movies for Harvard residents for many years.