Last night, my friend, Rick, and I went to see Dan in Real Life. It was a fantastic movie about a widower and father of three daughters, Dan. Dan also wrote an advice column geared towards parents and family issues. So picture a nice, quiet guy with a number of deep insights and rather sensitive side. (No, he wasn’t gay.)

While spending time with his parents and siblings, Dan ends up meeting an intelligent and good looking woman, Marie, with whom he strikes up a conversation. After managing to get her phone number despite her admission that she’s in a relationship, Dan returns to his parents house and begins to tell one of his brothers about the girl he met. Of course, as in most closely-knit families, the news starts to travel fast and they even call on the new girlfriend of another brother to offer insight on how soon is “too soon” to call a woman. Of course, imagine Dan’s surprise when said new girlfriend turns out to be — you guessed it — the lovely Marie herself.

I have to admit that I’m not a huge fan of Steve Carell (or at least not The Office, for which he is best known). However, he plays the role of Dan in this movie extremely well, and makes his character believable. The movie is absolutely fantastic (though I have to admit it may have hit a bit closer to home than I cared for), and it’s a touching, despite being slightly cliche in some places. (For example, I saw the ending of the bowling alley scene coming from a mile away.) But in the end, I was moved and even shed a few tears, so I’d say it was a great movie overall.