Whatever it is that Dan falls for in Juliette Brioche is never made very clear here, so the film lacks heat in its love connection between the principles. Still, there are a few tearjerker moments that make this confection worthwhile viewing. You won't laugh, but you will cry - a little.

Steve Carell shows some acting talent and charm, his beautiful smile lights up the screen, and he can also convey loneliness and confusion as a widower raising 3 unappreciative girls the best he can...until later in the movie he morphs into the "Steve Carell" he is famous for, and the movie started falling into clicheland. (The shower scene , which other reviewers have already described, was sooooooo dumb and contrived. )

Juliette Binoche is gorgeous and womanly conveying her usual warmth in a blank role that bordered on idiocy; we never had a clue why she felt she loved Steve Carell's character.
I was sorry to see the master thespians Dianne Wiest and John Mahoney completely wasted as child like brain dead parental sidekicks ( Dianne's every scene was either in the kitchen or the laundry room) ( thank goodness for HBO's" In Treatment " where I could see those 2 brilliant people shine, along with Allison Pill who happens to play the oldest daughter in this movie) ..

The girls playing the 3 daughters are good actresses but were stuck in the usual Hollywood rut stereotypes, the smart big sister, the sex pot tween, the heart string pulling little one, all beautiful blondes...but if you dont think too hard or too critically, and just accept this as a light and entertaining little story, with beautiful Rhode Island as a star in itself, and you check it out for free from the library as I did, it is worth a couple hours to escape.

Apparently the Cannes Film Festival is full of violent and nasty movies full of people doing horrible things to each other. And I have to admit, I love those movies. I saw The Evil Dead when I was a kid. Last Exit to Brooklyn (An Evergreen book) is one of my favorite books and I've seen The Wire: The Complete Series all the way through twice and plan on watching it many more times. However, I am a sucker for a movie that's exactly the opposite.

At face value, this is a rom-com with a slightly different demographic as the main character is a widower in his forties. It has all the elements of a rom-com. The characters meet and they hit it off. There is a hinderance in the form of another man. About 10 minutes before the ending, the characters are separated but eventually one goes and runs to the other one and they get together. In that way, there's not much of a surprise.

But what distinguishes this movie from the average rom-com is the sweetness that runs throughout the movie. The main character is part of a family that genuinely cares for each other. The titular Dan and the new love actually try to do the right thing. Even Dane Cook comes off as a genuinely sweet character and he's the role that would usually be the heel. Most romantic comedies that have another man who works as an impediment take the copout and make that other man into a total jackass. Definitely, Maybe (Widescreen) worked on that principle but the movie was supposed to be a mystery where you don't know who ends up with Ryan Reynolds. Dan in Real Life is much better for not falling into that copout because it has no extra reason not to.

This isn't one of the best movies ever. But it is a genuinely sweet movie full of genuinely nice people who like each other and care about each other. And sometimes that's so much better than cool cynicism and nastiness. In fact, it will make you wonder why you've been watching so much horribleness recently.

Such a disappointment. Started out strong enough, but once they hit the beach house it became bad sitcom writing, where people do things that are completely out of character just to get a laugh. The only time I felt like I was watching real people was when the two lead characters were flirting in a book store - that felt real! But then the movie falls apart into cliches and stupidity, and I couldn't get through more than 30 minutes of it. Such a shame to waste the talents of Juliette Binoche, who I've been a big fan of since 'Blue'

First, Steve Carrell. Next, Juliette Binoche. Then, Emily Blunt. Finally, Dane Cook. Can you say "chemistry?" I LOVED this film. I rarely buy DVD's cause I rarely watch movies twice, but this one I'm buyin'! Kisses to the whole cast, the director, and especially those four charismatic, totally adorable actors. I was sitting around with nothing to do, feeling lousy, decided to give this one "a chance." Changed my attitude, my whole day for the better. The laughter sneaks up on (from within) you.