Dan in Real Life

'A Surprisingly Enjoyable and Charming Comedy'

Steve Carell has seemed to get over his momentary lapse in judgment (Evan Almighty)and gone back to something he can do and do extremely well. What Carell can do is effortlessly portray a likable everyman.In 'Dan in Real Life', Carell is asked to do just that, he plays Dan Burns a man who is four years removed from losing his wife, yet still manages to raise his three daughters and write his weekly advice column. Currently, Dan is preparing to go on his family's annual weekend reunion. Meanwhile, two of Dan's three daughters are loathing him.

Meanwhile, at a local bookstore, Dan encounters the beautiful and charming Marie (Juliette Binoche). However, she factors into Dan's life in more ways than he thinks. The love triangle the film creates is not treading any new ground. We know from the first sign of trouble how the events will transpire.

Nevertheless, Dan in Real Life still manages to charm its way into our hearts because its performers are so good and its characters are not bad people. At heart they are good people, normal people. This film has drawn many comparisons to last year's 'The Family Stone' however I think that previous feature was handicapped by attempting to make its characters zany. Dan in Real Life allows its actors to portray real people. This is a welcome change for Dane Cook as Dan's brother, who dials it down to bearable in this film. This is essentially cinematic comfort food, it tastes good as its going down and leaves you with a smile.

Grade: B+

Beowulf (2007)

'I AM (slightly let down by) BEOWULF!!!'

It seems we have a new cinematic fad coming into fashion... the genre of mythological action. It began with '300' (a film I really enjoyed), and the first that stands to benefit from 300's success is Beowulf. Beowulf is the newest film from Robert Zemeckis. Zemeckis implements many of the same visual themes of his last project, the heart warming Polar Express, with varied success.

Beowulf tells the story of the kingdom of King Hrothgar (a delightfully campy Anthony Hopkins)which is currently being terrorized by a monster named Grendel (Crispin Glover). Help comes in the form of mighty Beowulf (Ray Winstone), who arrives with an army of 14 men and his right hand man, Wiglaf (Brendan Gleeson). It his his job to slay the monster. However, he must also deal with Grendel's mother (Angelina Jolie). Beowulf is opposed by Unferth (John Malkovich), and has also been paying close attention to the king's wife, Wealthow(Robin Wright Penn).

Perhaps the most surprising element of the film is its sly, wink and a nod, sense of humor. This can be viewed two ways. The first view is one of enjoyment and laughter. However, it is hard to comply when we are asked to feel or identify with these characters after so many scenes presenting them as mere caricatures.

As expected, Beowulf is visually stunning. I'd argue it is the one category where this film bests 'Polar Express'. The 3-D photography is shockingly good. It is a film I wouldn't want to imagine in the traditional two dimension format. I strongly advise anyone who is going to see this to view the film in 3-D. Without it, the film would be borderline un enjoyable. The highlight is by far the final battle scene,which just begs you to forget the film's past misdeeds.

Close, but no dice.

Grade: B