Film

Dan in Real Life takes a sad, even pathetic premise and makes the mistake of pretending it’s funny. On a break from a family getaway, widower Dan (Carell) falls for Marie (Binoche) in a bookshop. The attraction is mutual, but when he goes home, he learns that Marie is in fact his brother’s new girlfriend. Rather than talk it out like an adult, he insists on suffering in silence—specifically, on suffering through the family talent show, through being forced to watch Marie’s tush during group aerobics and through a lame-ass misunderstanding that involves hiding in a shower.

Not so much a comedy of errors as an erroneously conceived sitcom, Dan marks another discourse on family values from director Hedges (Pieces of April). Lesson learned: Don’t embarrass your brother at the dinner table, or you’ll be forced to do the dishes. Each scene is rigged to maximize Dan’s embarrassment. With little space in a crowded Rhode Island house, our protagonist is relegated to the laundry room, where relatives come and go at the lousiest of moments.

The title of the film is also the title of Dan’s newspaper advice column, which—irony alert—may soon go into syndication, even though he can’t give good advice to himself or his three daughters. Judging from the film, it’s possible Carell’s agent took advice from someone just like Dan.