Dan in Real Life (2007)
Directed by Peter Hedges
Advice columnist Dan Burns is an expert on relationships, but somehow struggles to succeed as a brother, a son and a single parent to three precocious daughters. Things get even more complicated when Dan finds out that the woman he falls in love with is actually his brother's new girlfriend.
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What critics compared Dan in Real Life to
I don't know that she'll ever be able to anchor a film on her own--and her turn here reminds me of Marilyn Monroe's performance in The Misfits: it's a pretty good try, but that's all it is.
He’s the son of writer-director Peter Hedges, no stranger to sensitively told tales of life among the emotionally crippled (“Pieces of April,” “Dan in Real Life”).
The rest of the ensemble is like an explosion of talent, with Samantha Morton (2002's " Minority Report "), Michelle Williams (2008's " Deception "), Catherine Keener (2008's " Hamlet 2 "), Hope Davis (2008's " Charlie Bartlett "), Emily Watson (2002's " Punch-Drunk Love "), Dianne Wiest (2007's " Dan in Real Life "), Jennifer Jason Leigh (2007's " Margot at the Wedding ") and Tom Noonan (2008's " Snow Angels ") all delivering knockout supporting performances that stay with the viewer.
More south of true but ultimately only just a slightly more grown-up version of Hedges' picture, Jonathan Demme's Rachel Getting Married finds wealth in similar (this time Connecticut) trappings.