Anyway, let me give you a brief movie review. I did watch a movie on my day off this week.  Apparently, I should have been writing. But instead of writing I did housework and I watched Dan In Real Life. Brief synopsis: love triangle. This is another movie where Steve Carrell does some of his normal schtick, but not a lot of it. For another example of this, but to a lesser degree (less schtick), see Little Miss Sunshine - it's AMAZING.  It gets 5 ROWRS. But I digress...

Dan In Real Life also has Dane Cook in it. I'm not a big fan, but he's okay in this flick. It has a good ensemble cast and a good story. You may even cry. I'm not saying I cried, but I did. Wait, it's possible I'm confusing my crying from when I watched Rendition on Friday night. Yes, I should have been writing. I'll review Rendition later, but it has Jake Gyllenhaal - you know it's going to get five somethings, just for him - forget plots and stuff.

Oh, so Dan In Real Life get 5 renditions (not to be confused with the movie) of Let My Love Open the Door. That means 5 stars, for those of you who are sticklers for traditional rating systems.

I shall now go and read over what I have written today. Or, I will curl into a tiny little ball and cry in a corner. Or both.

ps - RIP Bob Yum - I wish I had met you

Dan in Real Life

I don’t know if it’s because I love Steve Carrell so much in The Office that I find myself laughing out loud in some of the scenes in Dan in Real Life. I think he is hilarious without even trying to be so.

In this movie, he plays a newspaper columnist giving advice to parents, but in real life, he is a single dad to three daughters, two of which are teenagers, and he doesn’t really know what’s the right thing to say to them. They go back home to his family for a vacation. He meets this lovely woman at a bookstore and they immediately like each other, but she admits that she has a boyfriend. When Dan goes back to his parents’ house, his brother introduces him to his girlfriend, the woman from the bookstore. And she’s staying with them for a few days. What could be more awkward than that?

Great words of wisdom from Dan Burns :)

Instead of telling our young people to plan ahead, we should tell them to plan to be surprised.

There's rightness in our wrongness.

(After his daughter Jane tells him: If you don't let me drive, I'll never learn.) But if I let you, you might not live.

Life... is full of disappointments

Other memorable quotes:

Marty Barasco: Love is not a feeling, Mr. Burns. It's an ability.

Marie: (about Mitch) It seems all his best lines were yours... this is unbearable.

Waitress

I think this is a smart, funny movie even though the theme is kind of sad.

Jenna is trapped in this unhappy marriage. She feels suffocated by her controlling and emotionally abusive jerk of a husband, Earl. But she is poor and can’t seem to muster the energy to leave him until she saves up enough money to enter this pie-making contest. And she can make damn good pies.

Then she finds out that she’s pregnant with Earl’s baby. At first, she didn’t like the idea of being pregnant. Then she meets her male OB-Gyn who’s attracted to her and makes her feel good about herself. And they start to have an affair.

I think it’s funny how Jenna comes up with these clever recipes and names for the pies that she makes, which is often influenced by whatever mood she’s having that day:

I Don't Want Earl's Baby Pie... You make a quiche of egg and cheese with a smoked ham center.

I Hate My Husband Pie... You take bittersweet chocolate and don't sweeten it. You make it into a pudding and drown it in caramel.

Earl Murders Me Because I'm Having An Affair Pie... You smash blackberries and raspberries into a chocolate crust.

I Can't Have No Affair Because It's Wrong And I Don't Want Earl To Kill Me Pie... Vanilla custard with banana. Hold the banana.

Pregnant Miserable Self Pitying Loser Pie... Lumpy oatmeal with fruitcake mashed in. Flambé of course.

It’s just too sad that Adrienne Shelly, the writer and director of the film, died (was murdered) before the film was even released.

My favourite quotes:

Dr. Pomatter: I want to talk to you, somewhere outside of here. Maybe we can have a coffee or something?
Jenna: I can't have coffee, it's on the bad food list you gave to me. What kind of doctor are you?

Jenna: Dear Baby, I hope someday somebody wants to hold you for 20 minutes straight and that's all they do. They don't pull away. They don't look at your face. They don't try to kiss you. All they do is wrap you up in their arms and hold on tight, without an ounce of selfishness in it.

I love this movie, or any movie that empowers women, for that matter. :)

The Bucket List

With Jack Nicholson playing a billionaire and Morgan Freeman playing a mechanic, and the plot of two terminally ill men trying to cross off the items in their list before they kick the bucket, hence The Bucket List, you’d think that it’d just be a funny movie, but it was actually also a heartwarming one.

I think it’s a good idea to have a bucket list, so to speak. I’ve seen people do it. Once in a while I’d say to myself that if I have this kind of money, I’d love to go to Rome or Paris or Greece, you know, travel around the world. That would be in my bucket list, among other things. But coming back to reality, that would only be possible if I do have that kind of money. Maybe if I won the lotto or some kind of free trip to these places. Or if I have a wealthy friend like Jack Nicholson’s character in the movie.

My favourite quotes:

Carter: Even now, I can't claim to understand the measure of a life, but I can tell you this: I know that when he died, his eyes were closed and his heart was open, and I'm pretty sure he was happy with his final resting place because he was buried on the mountain, and that was against the law.

Carter: My pastor always says our lives are streams flowing into the same river towards whatever heaven lies in the mist beyond the falls. Find the joy in your life, Edward. My dear friend, close your eyes and let the waters take you home.

Edward: Here's something to remember when you're older Thomas - never pass up a bathroom, never waste a hard-on, and never trust a fart. (Only Jack Nicholson could pull off a line like that. :) )

Check out Sara's new review of "Dan in Real Life"

Blecch. Dan in Real Life is very blah. Let me just say, I love Steve Carrell. I loved him on The Daily Show, and I adore him in The Office. But I seem to have very lukewarm feelings about all of his films. To understand Carrell's performance in Dan in Real Life , feel free to take Steve Carrell's character Michael from The Office, make him really depressed to the point of being extremely uninteresting and then put him in a very big, also uninteresting, family. Voila! Let Dan in Real Life's plot ensue... read the rest of the review here

"Al! Open mouth, insert foot you fool."

I know I better stop while the whole is only yeah deep.

Let me first say this!  My wife is the least dramatic person I know.  She has a certain nack for keeping her emotions in check (which, if you have ever been pregnant or lived with a woman who is/was, you know is extremely difficult).  Well, my wife is certainly no drama queen, and I love that about her.  I'm not sure I would have married her if she had been one. 

I'm a man who is sensitive, in touch with his feelings, and certainly not afraid to allow other people to see this side either.  I just didn't like lots of drama in my life.  I like people to tell me like it is, without the situation being enhanced or exagerated by drama.

Have you ever seen the movie "Dan in Real Life?"

Well, if not...

Rent it! 

If so, then you'll laugh with me at this...

There's a point where his middle daughter is upset, becuase Dan discovers that her boyfriend has paid a surprise visit to her during the family vacation.  Well, Dan kicks her boyfrie sends her boyfriend back to his own parents, very nicely and politely.  She hugs the boy through the window, and chases after the car as the boy is ushered away.

The next line is golden.  She says, "You are a murderer of Love!"

Oh Yeah!!! Exactly what I am not hoping for.

See, it seems anyways, that boys are lot less dramatic.  I love the thought that I know what to expect for the most part from my 2 boys.  I know it's perfectly normal that they develop an interest in certain body parts of their own, and at some point later in life of the opposite sex.  I can understand their thinking...not approve of it, but I get where their coming from.

Girls are a bit more foreign to me I guess.

I say all of this to broadcast to the world that

I am the proudest father to be of a darling baby girl!

From the guy who always said he would never have a girl; the same guy who gets it wrong some times.  I am so excited that my wife will no longer be completely overwhelmed by the testosterone in the house.  She will have someone to teach the finer qualities of womanhood to.  She will have a little princess to mold into a lovely woman. 

And I will finally know what it's like to have your heart outside of your body.  This delicate, little girl that will grow up before my eyes,a nd some day be a woman.

Wow how we change throughout our lives.  I know I have, have you?

What are some things that you thought you had nailed down, but then found you were way off?

Livin' Out Loud,
Al

It's Movie Madness time again folks and I'm back with a couple more of my humble reviews.  Well, I do happen to think pretty highly of my taste in movies but then again, don't we all?

First up is not much of a review.  Sweeney Todd

DO NOT SEE IT!  Unless of course you love seeing people's throat's slit over and over and over and over and their bodies being dumped on their heads over and over and over and over.  Totally gross.  I know it was the whole premise of the movie.  And I actually enjoyed the music... little catchy parts of the songs are all permanently stuck in my brain... but the gore and depression of the movie was just a tad too much for me.  But maybe it's your cup of tea.. 

Just realize,it pains me deeply to say this about anything Johnny Depp does, because I love him dearly.  Ever since 21 Jump Street.  And who can resist his quirky charm in "Benny and Joon?  Or his valiant attempt to hold his family together in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape"?  His fatherly role in "Nick of Time"?   Let's not even discuss his "charms" in "Chocolat"!  And his endearing drunken swagger in the "Pirates" movies.  I can't stop without mentioning his role in "Finding Neverland", I think it's my fav.  Or at least one of my top.  

I'm sorry Johnny.  I usually dig your funky roles but I just couldn't hang with Mr. Todd. 

But the next movie I watched was much better.  Dan In Real Life

This movie is about Dan (Steve Carell) trying to figure out how to move forward in his life and relationships after the death of his wife.  Sounds depressing I know. But there are great awkward moments of humor in true Steve Carell fashion.  I think he did a fabulous job in portraying his character.  Very convincing.  I also love Dane Cook.  He played Dan's younger brother.  And while this wasn't his best acting role, I still loved him none the less.  A few scenarios are a bit far fetched but not sooo far that you can't reach with it.  It's all do-able.  And very entertaining.

For more movie madness be sure to check out Daily Mish Mash.  RUN! Don't walk!

Ideas floating all around. The coffee is kicking in but in a fleeting moment all track of preceding thoughts is lost and the glass is empty again. After months of planning today I finally managed to drag my derriere out of the house have a coffee/lunch at a cafe on a Sunday, my idea of a perfect Sunday here, anywhere. So I woke up and looked at the watch, time for some father's day wishes, yup I am the cliched don't-forget-to-wish-papa-on-15th kinda person. Certain things are bigger than my strict non conformance to cliches

Rambling on, I packed some stuff including a lappy and the gun seller - I can't believe its taken me this long to read it...how lazy I can get even about things I seem to be so fanatical about, this time the thing being Mr. Laurie. It’s amazing he hasn't had even the slightest mention on my blog yet; I think I am gonna save him for a later post - and decided to walk to the city centre aka the CP of Baku.

Thirty minutes of chit-chatting with Dinkaa later in which I found out that that my parents have bought a fictitious dog just to humor Chinki far away in the big apple because she thinks it’ll help mom get over her daughters. In what messed up world can a dog be a replacement for not one not two but three (awesome) daughters?

I watched Dan in real life the other day. An ok movie which I mean as a compliment considering I’ve seen a million movies with the same theme as a kid and have hated them even as a kid but the guy’s a writer, is kinda philosophical et al and yours truly is almost always drawn to such wounded people who need to be mended again House being on top of the list. Juliette Binoche says in the movie that her perfect day would be a day in a country where no one knows her.. where she doesn’t speak the language.. where she’s completely out of her element. OK I couldn’t stop myself from empathising here for very obvious reasons. I don’t know if I am having a perfect day everyday here in this strange country but definitely anonimity is very valuable for me. After spending every day of the week talking to the same bunch of people about the same kinda shit and then going out in the evening with the same people again talking about the same kinda crap again none of which I enjoy at any time; I have started valuing the solitude of my apartment a lot more than I used to three months back and spending a Sunday afternoon in a café where noone knows me except for the waiters since I am a “regular” here is simply put, nice. Which reminds me of what I wrote approximately a year ago and it still makes so much sense /*proudly smiling*/. That’s the biggest drawback of working; each day is the same as the previous and the next one. Which brings me to the name of this page and it still makes so much sense if not more as it did last year /*proud smile extending*/. So I do agree with binoche a little though I can think of a lot of better things for my perfect day.

Just to expand the readers’ movie horizons (assuming there’s more than one), I did see Sex and the city, the movie and I couldn’t have been more disappointed. Nah, that’s not true…it could’ve done a lot worse considering the plot. When you follow a series for six years religiously, it stands up for something, means something and the movie totally killed its essense for me which is a lot of damage. But still I HAD to watch it even though I knew this would happen.

I guess its time to ask for the check and leave and to end this almost perfect day I think I’ll buy season two & three of House as a sort of return gift for P’s birthday! Believe it or not, its one of those very few series where the re-runs are almost as exciting as the first time. More on it in my next post, or the post after that.

But it turns out that all of my initial reactions would be wrong and I would end up loving this movie! In fact, it has even made me want to be in a relationship again. How bizarre.

One of the things that I love about this movie is the way that it was shot. Everything feels so comfortable and at home. You follow the story of Dan Burns (Steve Carell) and his trip to spend time with his family at their family cabin. Dan's wife died a couple of years ago and he is left with three children. As you spend more and more time with the family, you never feel like you are watching a staged movie. You actually feel like you are just another member of the family, enjoying the ride. I have never watched anything so cozy.

All of the characters are also lovable. This is very hard for me to say, because Dane Cook is in this movie, but even his character is very likable. It's one of the first times that I've seen him not be a tool, who knew he had it in him. The chemistry between Dan and Marie (Juliette Binoche) is also fantastic. The way that they played their relationship together is part of what makes this movie so lovable. It's not a traditional romantic comedy by any means.

I'm giving this movie a 5 out of 5. If you are waiting to see this movie, I don't know what you are waiting for. Dan in Real Life is the perfect movie when you are down in the dumps to pick yourself up. It's also great for a date movie as well. Give it a shot, it may help you deal with your relationship angsts if you've got them.

Carrell plays Dan, who works for a newspaper as an advice coloumist - who actually needs the help himself, and must raise three daughters after the loss of his wife. While the opening moments of the movie do lend themselves to the lovable comedy route, the film takes a more reasonable and serious turn. Don't worry, the trailer tells us this much, that Dan falls in love with Ann-Marie (Juliette Binouche) who is currently dating his brother Mitch (Dane Cook). Cook (whom I feel no affinity for) is perfectly cast as the asshole-dirtbag-brother who you love-to-hate. As for the rest of the family, they seem to be overly involved in Dan's life, and haven't quite grasped the fact that Dan is an adult. At several points it seemed as though the family was treating Dan like a child, a plot theme that went nowhere and wasn't ever resolved. Teenage girl dialogue is sometimes unbearable, but makes sense considering how ackward the teenage years are.

Overall I really enjoyed the movie, especially when its seen as a serious romantic movie with comedic elements. Dan's family seems very real, as do their issues and reactions. At no point was anything done over-the-top to the extent that it seemed unnatural - which was very welcome. By the end of the movie I really cared for Dan, and Carrell fits this role very well. He's a talented actor, and such a role proves this - he's not a one-trick-pony like some comedians. Even though I was expecting something different I was pleased; touched even. Its a wonderfully sweet movie about the nature of love, as well as having to deal with maturing children, and the dysfunctional caring of a family who's only trying to help. Dan In Real Life beams with a good-natured sense of humor and seriousness, and its worth watching - even if its not some laugh-out-loud romantic comedy.

As we may have mentioned, we at the Office of Undergraduate Research are showing you all a free film to you all at a time of our choosing within the next seven weeks or so. First, though, we need your feedback on which movie you want to see.

Here are our final choices:

• Juno
• Transformers
• Lars & The Real Girl
• Dan in Real Life
• Superbad
• Knocked Up

.

Let us know what you think! You're deciding this, everyone. I think Dr. Blockus and others will be passing out sheets with these choices and you'll be able to vote that way. HOWEVER, you can also comment here and make your voice known. Your votes here may even count for more! Who knows.

Picks of the Week

Juno - The indie darling of this year that's much better than the now-naysayers would like you to think. Any Juno backlash should be counteracted by a) Ellen Page's amazing performance as well as the turns from Michael Cera, Allison Janney and JK Simmons, b) The whipsmart script that never gets too enamoured with itself, and c) the fact it features Cat Power singing 'Sea of Love' and Michael Cera and Ellen Page singing at each other at the close. Lovely.
AND...
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - Just the most moving and honest piece of cinema to be released over here this year. Julian Schnabel's adaptation of Jean Dominique Bauby's memoir written while suffering from locked-in syndrome is an astonishing achivement of acting, writing and cinematography. Also, Max von Sydow as Bauby's father delivers the most crushingly emotional scene of the year and yet, never once is the film mawkish. Brilliance.

Also out:

Curb Your Enthusiam Season 6 - Still delivering great moments here and there but this one's time has passed and the genius of the first three season broadened to create just a very good sitcom rather than a work of misanthropic art.
Cloverfield - I mentioned this last week but it is a decent little monster movie and worth a watch even if the cast bland it to the max.
The Edge of Heaven - Can't wait to see this, Fatih Akin's follow-up to Head On looks like just wonderful.
Dirty Harry Collection - Full box set of all the terrific Harry Callahan films including the truly masterful original.
Dan in Real Life - Decent if deeply unspectacular Steve Carell vehicle in which he is good despite having to share the screen with Dane Cook.
War Inc - No cinema release for this little one starring John Cusack and seemingly some sort of comment on the war-as-business debate. Looks pretty uninspired.
Jesus Camp - Excellent if one-sided portrayal of a Christian camp for young children that features some truly satisfyingly horrifying scenes for us atheists.
Battle for Haditha - Nick Broomfield's outstanding semi-documentary piece on Iraq's My Lai.
Tony Jaa 2 Pack - Ong Bak and Warrior King in one handy boxset for those days when all you want to do is watch someone kick someone else really, really hard. No plot but the kicking, oh, the kicking.

Region 1:

Jumper - Shitty, Hayden Christensen starrer saved fully in my book due to the presence of Rachel Bilson.
The Bucket List - Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman celebrate being old with hilarious/cringey results.

Cloverfield. What have I got to say about this movie? On the positive side the film works a lot better on the small screen than it does at the cinema but unfortunately it is still not as good as some would have you believe. Whilst the concept of a monster movie as recorded by a citizen journalist is intriguing the film suffers from breaking the rules of the format (the camera man claims that he wants people to know 'how it all went down' but frequently ignores the 'great big once in a life time you ain't seen nothing like this event' in favour of the unconvincing domestic drama - in fact if you want to see this type of thing done really well check out Spanish horror film Rec. when it hits DVD in early August). I've said it before and I'll say it again - this is originality as defined by the self obsessed YouTube generation and maybe that is where it should have stayed.

Of the new releases that I have not yet had the pleasure of watching I am most intrigued by The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and River Queen. The first relates the story of a man who became paralysed everywhere apart from his left eye and used this one way of communicating to dictate a memoir and the second concerns a family in 1860's New Zealand who find themselves caught between opposing Maori and Colonial factions. Whilst both of these films sound slightly on the dour side of life they have both been highly praised for their bold visuals and compelling subjects.

Also released are the Eva Longoria starring Over Her Dead Body and Dan in Real Life (featuring Steve Carell) - the most interesting nuggets of info I can find about these two is that the former was, apparently, originally titled Ghost Bitch and the later features a nice performance from Juliette Binoche.

Bastards.

In truth they are a great couple and their wedding was a genuinely moving experience. I’d wager that there was more than a tear or two in Davy boy’s eyes during the vows and ring exchange, which was great to see – you just know in your gut that they are going to have a long lasting and fruitful marriage. Photos to come.

Back to my coldness. We are apparently in line for a healthy snow dump tomorrow, so school could be canned. I get to make that call (every child’s dream I guess, but in reality a logistical nightmare to arrange and authorise) and am hoping like a 12 year old that I will wake up and everything will be white.   

Added to the playlist:

White Blood Cells – White Stripes

When Incubus Attacks Vol 1- Incubus

Cast & Credits

Directed by Peter Hedges. Written by Pierce Gardner and Peter Hedges. MPAA: Rated PG-13 for some innuendo. Runtime: 98 min.

Bumbershoot, Seattle's Music and Arts Festival, takes place from August 30th to September 1st.

Mp3: Sondre Lerche & Regina Spektor - Hell No

OK UPDATE:

Tuesday - I believe I blogged already about my horrible day of syncope and near syncope experiences and the moron doctor. After running the EKG and reviewing the holter moniter he concludes that it's not my heart but my brain doing this - more specifically likely dysautonomia or seizures or something to that affect. In all honesty, I think this case is so out of his ballpark it scares the crap out of him and he was just trying to get me out of his office.

Wednesday - I got to work because he never said I couldn't. Yeah, people object when I get there. "You shouldn't be driving around until you know if you're not going to black out!" Well, duh, but what choice do I have? Now really? I know for a fact they won't call in a sub last minute. They just won't. But all is well, for the most part. I do have a tiny moment while sitting on the gym floor. My heart begins to race and so I excuse myself to the bathroom and get drink of ice water from the fountain. I sit down and take some deep breath and just close my eyes. It's very cold in the hall way and thankfully, it passes quickly. I still feel a little strange, but never get worse. Later that night I'm sitting on the couch watching Dan in Real Life - a funny, lighthearted romantic comedy movie. The kids are over to their aunts. The house is quiet. My husbands on the computer. And I'm watching the movie, enjoying it and relaxing when all of a sudden my heart starts racing very fast, and I feel like I'm being pulled down. It takes about ten minutes to pass and I feel like I could literally white out twice during the whole episode but don't. My husband makes me finish the movie from our bed, since lying down seems to be the only thing that helps.

Thursday - A few episodes where my heart started racing or I felt a little light headed but that was it.

My husband e-mailed me yesterday and asked me if I was having a good day. I replied to him: "Yes. I haven't passed out!" He replies that normally someone wouldn't answer that question like that, but seeing as it's coming from me, that's a very appropriate answer. Given the week I've had, if I can say I haven't passed out, then that is good.

NETFLIX SYNOPSIS:  Advice columnist and widowed father of three Dan Burns (Steve Carell) has met someone new. Marie (Juliette Binoche) is beautiful, she's smart -- and she just so happens to be the girlfriend of Dan's brother Mitch (Dane Cook). With a publicly recognized moral compass, Dan finds himself torn between reaching for happiness and keeping the peace in his family. Dianne Wiest and John Mahoney co-star in this romantic comedy from director Peter Hedges.

REVIEW:  Steve Carell is Dan, a widowed dad of 2 teenage brats and a tween wise beyond her years who pens an advice column.  Juliette Binoche is the free spirited, improbable  new girlfriend of his dopey brother ( Dane Cook!!! Ugh!!!).  After meeting cute at a rhode island book shop, the two show up at his parents country home for a big family weekend and the whole truth comes out - Dan is in love with Juliette, Juliette is in love with Dan but they don't figure this out right away and the usual rom com shenanagins ensue, hurt feelings come to the surface midway and in the end.. well, you'll have to see it.  Or not.. Carell is decent and Binoche is her usual good self but there are crater like plot holes in the script and I really expected more from director Peter Hedges as I loved Who's eating gilbert grape and Pieces of April.  A big disappointment.

2.5 stars
Cheryl

*********************************************************************************************

The title "Dan in Real Life" is somewhat ironic, seeing as how there's not one single moment of anything real throughout the whole movie. This is the kind of family that only exists in sitcoms - at a family gathering everybody gets along just peachy, they play charades and (gag!) have a talent show and support one another in times of crisis and everybody forgives each other and blah blah blah. The youngest kids are, of course, far wiser than any of the adults. At one point Dan's little daughter tells him: "You're a great father, but sometimes you're not a very good dad." (Dan doesn't believe she came up w/that line and neither do we in the audience.) "DIRL" has a serious case of cutesy-poo-ness and several "oh-isn't-that-just-so-precious" moments that had me reaching for the FF button on the remote (as when Dan & his bro sing during the talent show - double gag!).

2 Stars (for the acting)
Harold

It stars Steve Carell, who is good in it. Dane Cook is also in it. A lot of people can't stand him. He doesn't bother me. He doesn't really affect me either way. He doesn't do much in this movie, he's just kind of in it.

For the entire middle of the movie I felt super tense, which is not an enjoyable feeling. I rented this movie to mindlessly relax, not to get anxiety from Steve Carell and Juliette Binoche falling in love but not knowing what to do because she's dating his brother (Cook).

It's drawn out for a while, until finally Binoche dumps Cook. Then she and Carell make out at the bowling alley and get caught by his entire family, followed by Cook punching Carell in the face.

Then Cook goes off to bang some ho bag, which morally frees up Carell and Binoche to be together. His three daughters (the mother is dead) are psyched; they love Binoche; she's great. The movie ends with Carell and Binoche getting hitched.

(Spoiler alert).

How is this a satisfying ending? Wouldn't it bother Carell that his wife used to date his brother? Wouldn't it bother Cook that his brother stole his girlfriend and made her his wife? What the heck is going on? This movie is not relaxing at all.

I rented this movie from iTunes. Renting movies from iTunes is fantastic. Will I rent from iTunes in the future?

Answer: Yes.

Rating for Dan in Real Life: one and a half stars.

Rating for iTunes movie rental service: four stars.