Dan in Real Life, is really boring.

I saw Dan in real life on DVD the other day and it astounded me, I would never have guessed how tolerant I was against boredom until I saw this film. It's not a brilliant appraisal when, because the remote control is out of reach, you consider blinding yourself rather than watch the last half an hour of a movie. I decided not to though. I felt that, in hindsight, I would have regretted the permanent loss of my sight no matter how much relief in gave me in the short term, sort of like having a really dangerous asphysixiation wank: no matter how much you may want it, it's best not to go down that road. The film stars Steve Carrell as Dan Burns, doing a passable impression of Charlie Brown, and Dane Cook, surprisingly believable as a human being(which is no mean feat) The film is a fairly contrived play where Dan falls for Mitch's (Cook) girlfriend, Marie, while the Burns family is on a vacation at their parent's beach house. The Burns family is weird. They appear to enjoy each others company and seem to fill their vacations with games and odd group aerobic sessions, when really they should fill them with bitterness, recrimination and drinking like the rest of us. After Dan falls for Marie, nothing happens. Literally. I actually paused the film by mistake and it took me ten minutes before I even noticed. The film is understated to the point where, as opposed to underplaying their roles, the cast just look bored, as if in between takes they were forced to watch rough edits of the finished film. The acting is o.k. and I didn't hate Dane Cook until I remembered he was Dane Cook, which took almost ten minutes, which is a triumph of sorts. It's obvious the film makers wanted to recreate a low key European vibe throughout the film and credit to them for resisting a more over the top approach that countless other American films(meet the parents) would have taken, a move which is especially difficult when you have Dane Cook in the film. It just feels they went too far the other way and, in trying to maintain an understated tone, they sapped the film, and characters, of any life or interest they may have had. It's not helped by a grating Sondre Lerche soundtrack and an interminably slow pace. So while it's not terrible, and it's intentions are good, it's just really, really, dull. Dan in real life? Dud in real life more like.