Dan in Real Life

I went to see this movie because I liked the previews and because my friend Terri said it was cute. I liked it a lot. It's derivative, sure, and predictable, but that's not a deal breaker in my film world. What made this so fun was that Steve Carell and Julia Ormond are the most adorable couple ever - I can't recall ever rooting so completely for two people to get together. Not sure why the critics are being so hard on this sweet little gem. It's not a classic, and it won't get any award nominations, but it's entertainment as pure as you can get, and often that's more than enough to ask from any movie.

As an aside, it reminded me, for several reasons, of The Family Stone - a deeply flawed but still watchable movie with Sarah Jessica Parker that came out last year. Same somewhat contrived Weekend With The Extended (Loving but Dysfunctional) Family, and same partner switching, but in Dan, the family and the partners were much more appealing, IMHO.