Steve Carell plays Dan Burns, a popular, but still non-syndicated columnist who writes a feature of the same name as this movie. His columns are an inspiration to all who read them about how he, a widower, handles raising three young girls of varying ages. Every year, the four of them pack up and go back to his parents' house for a huge family reunion involving Dan's siblings and their children, and this year is no different. His oldest daughter, Jane (Alison Pill) has fallen madly in love with a boy from her school that she has only known for a couple of days and doesn't want to spend her vacation away from him. Meanwhile, the middle child, Cara (Brittany Robertson) is going through standard teenage issues. Dan's youngest, Lilly (Marlene Lawston) feels very much like your typical, bright young girl.
Anyway, when the quartet arrives back home, Dan gets in a big argument with Jane about how you can't fall in love with someone after only a couple of days with them and Dan's mother suggests he goes for a drive while everyone calms down. This simple act is what makes this particular annual visit so different. Upon stopping by the local Bate and Book shop, Dan runs into an extraordinary woman, Marie (Juliette Binoche), and the two click immediately.
The two spend the day talking and getting to know each other, but when Marie gets a call, she rushes off to meet her boyfriend, much to Dan's chagrin. Dan returns to his parents' place to be confronted with the whole family (including his brother Mitch played by Dane Cook) who has just introduced his new girlfriend; yup, you guessed it, Marie.
The rest of the movie is Dan coming to terms with the fact that he has fallen in love with a woman he just met (something he believes just doesn't happen), trying to avoid Marie, but not helping the fact that everything she does makes him love her more, and trying to figure out a way to distance himself from her when everybody is sharing the same house.
I know of a couple of people that didn't like this movie, and I think that is because it was touted as a comedy, but if it is, it is a romantic comedy, and heavy on the romance. It seems the marketing people pushed this film as a comedy simply because it had Steve Carell in it, but that simply isn't the case. There are humorous parts, but they funny are because of the very awkward situation that Dan keeps finding himself in. One such scene has Marie and Dan talking secretively in a bathroom, but when Jane pops in to have a girl-to-girl talk with Marie, Dan jumps into the shower. Jane wonders why Marie is in the bathroom, to which she replies she is taking a shower. When Jane starts to call her bluff, Marie gets undressed and hops into a shower. So here is Dan, fully dressed in a running shower next to the one woman he is trying to avoid who is naked, while his daughter is talking about her boy troubles. Like I said, awkward and pretty funny.
If you go into Dan in Real Life expecting your standard Carell film, you will be disappointed, but if not - you will like what you see. What I love about this movie is that it shows Carell can be more than just a funny man.
