After the fiasco that was “Evan Almighty,” Steve Carell really needed redemption. His fans were disillusioned, many questioned his future as a comedic star, and Carell really hit a slump. “Dan in Real Life” isn’t that film that will plug him as a bonafide comic star again, but you know what? It does plug him as a versatile actor worth of dramedies. The problems with “Dan in Real Life” really aren’t with Carell who strictly gives his best as Dan who is an aspiring columnist who is seeking his own syndicated series of columns. But first he gets a heavy dose of real life and his own psychological dilemmas when he drives to a family reunion with his three perpetually obnoxious daughters in tow. Carell makes this character, which is better suited for a sitcom, sympathetic and worth rooting for from the beginning.

“Dan in Real Life” is a gentle drama bordering between sweet comedy and soft drama that works well enough, and Carell’s chemistry with Cook is a highlight. Their relationship is of mutual respect, and Dane Cook is for once a bearable character with a downplayed personality that is thankfully entertaining, especially when he’s set as the basic conflict for Dan’s character once he realizes he’s in love and can do nothing about it. Juliette Binoche gives a great performance; I love the scenes between her and Carell, and as Marie, she’s an admirable love interest that I wanted to learn more about.

In all honesty and Frank admission, “Dan in Real Life” is pretty much in the same vein as “The 40 Year Old Virgin” except serious and never as hilarious as it could have been. The sad fact with Hedge’s dramedy is that it’s so centered on banal themes of family and family dysfunction that it never attempts any sense of originality. All symbolism and subtext and undercurrents of irony are lost in a sea of rehashed sub-plots, and endless clichés that are both corny and excruciating. There’s the large family that plays games in almost every moment of their introduction, hell they even play a big game of hide and seek! There’s no focus on anyone else, and Hedges wastes the talents of the likes of Dianne Wiest and John Mahoney by turning them into these horrid role models who really do nothing but hover around their children spouting words of wisdom and advice like fortune cookies. Never do they grab a moment to shine. Prior to their introductions,

Dan’s own life is equally cliché and sitcomish as we’re introduced to three daughters who seem to jump out of a mediocre sitcom and really contribute nothing to the overall story. It’s hard to believe this is all from the man behind “Pieces of April.” The conflicts set for Dan’s three daughters are cliché; the oldest wants to drive to establish her independence, the middle child is an angsty whine pouty brat wanting her independence and bawling over a boyfriend the entire time, and the youngest is a bright eyed cute girl who reveres her father and is too smart for her own good. Did the writers go through a manual of clichés to create these characters? To top it off, his daughters are insanely annoying and coldhearted shrews who berate and belittle Dan at every turn. And the predictability adds to the formulaic story as we’re suddenly introduced to Marie who seems too good to be true, and guess what? She is. Dan’s brother is dating the woman he has a wonderful conversation with; even without knowing the plot ahead of time, I would have seen this coming a mile away. “Dan in Real Life” is just stuck in a perpetual state of trite storytelling.

It’s sadly just a mixed bag of hits and misses. As much as I wanted to love “Dan in Real Life,” it’s just filled with clichés, rehashed sitcom conflicts, and supporting characters that are tritely drawn, but Carell is sublime, Cook pulls in a good performance for once, and it’s a generally pleasing little film that won’t break ground but satisfies.

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