Posted in Movie Review, Romance, Writing, tagged beverly farr, clean romance, Dan in Real Life, dianne wiest, movies, romance, Steve Carell, sweet romance, writing on February 16, 2014|
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The movie Dan in Real Life has a flawed hero. I have watched this movie several times and there are a few scenes that make me cringe every time. SPOILER. When he tells his daughter that she can’t drive, I hear myself, worrying about my teenaged drivers. When he says something rude at the table to embarrass his brother, I think of rude things I’ve said. When he gets in a fender bender with a police officer and tries to make a joke, I remember my one and only traffic ticket. 
This movie works because it shows a basically decent man, who is still grieving the death of his wife, trying to raise three daughters, and suddenly finds himself falling in love with his brother’s new girlfriend. What a mess.
But there are moments that are very sweet, very romantic, and true to life. As with most PG 13 films, there is something rude/crude/vulgar that I wish wasn’t there, but overall, I like this film. One of my favorite parts is a conversation the mother, admirably played by Dianne Wiest has with her son Dan (Steve Carell). Dan has just said something rude at the dinner table that embarrassed/shamed/humiliated his brother, and his mother makes him wash all the dinner dishes. She knows and Dan knows that he was a jerk and doing all the dishes by himself is his punishment. It’s one of those film moments that rings true. Lovely. I also like the bit with the teenager telling her dad he’s a love murderer.
It’s one of the movies that I wish I had written.
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