REVIEW: "Dan (wouldn’t quite make it) In Real Life"

It wasn’t an essential on my to-do list for the weekend, but it was for my fiancé, so he managed to talk his way out of work early one night and instead of catching the rest of Game Three, we headed into town to check out the newly released “Dan in Real Life”, starring Steve Carell and Juliette Binoche.

If you’re not familiar with the title, here’s what happens: Widower Dan Burns (Carell) is struggling to raise his three girls while working toward syndication of his family advice column. Spending the weekend with the extended family for their annual reunion, Dan is sent out of the house to give everyone some breathing room. In town, he encounters Marie (Binoche), a beautiful stranger who hesitantly gives Dan her number as she’s called away. Dan returns home and everyone realizes something has happened, but before he can say more than “I’ve met someone,” his brother’s new girlfriend shows up and surprise, it’s Marie. It’s not hard to imagine the chaos, jealousy, fighting, hilarity, and eventual happy ending that follows.

Reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes gave “Dan in Real Life” an average rating of 6.2 out of 10. Although in my opinion that’s a bit low, I don’t know that I’d give it any more than 7. Granted, it’s got some great moments and one leaves the theater with an overall warm-fuzzy feeling, it’s hard to pin-point what the warm fuzzies are for. In a word, this movie was forgettable. I didn’t even realize how forgettable until I sat down to write this review and had to look up other reviews to refresh my memory!

I do remember, though, that although I do not care for Dane Cook and his brand of humor, I didn’t mind him at all in the role of Dan’s brother Mitch. The pair’s rendition of “Let My Love Open the Door” was actually quite pleasant, and the scene in which it appeared and the way it was worked into the plot was probably the most life-like scenario of the entire film. However, aside from the eldest girl Jane, the interactions between Dan and his daughters were too stereotypically dramatic and, while sweet, the romanticism of Marie’s character went over the top as well.

FINAL VOTE: Overall, it’s a decent flick but nothing special.

Photos borrowed from Internet Movie Database.

REVIEW: Will Marfori, a funny guy who happens to be disabled

On Friday night, as I am often known to do, I headed down to Salem to spend the weekend with my fiancé. Oddly enough, he’d spent most of the day up in Portland visiting family and wasn’t back by the time I got there. But I didn’t mind … I was missing Game Three, but I knew the time would be well-spent with one of my best friends.

I headed to her place and surprised her a bit by showing up on her doorstep without much warning. She and another friend were heading across campus to see a comedian, and invited me to join them. It was free, so I agreed.

His name is Will Marfori, and he has cerebral palsy. It was hard at first to get used to his slurred speech and stilted, shaky movements, but of course he was prepared for that and did his best to make the audience comfortable. “I’m going to be disabled all night, better get used to it,” he reminded us.

Repeated jokes about his disability and people’s reactions to it were a mainstay of his performance. Although it admittedly felt odd to be laughing at something like that, at the same time it was “okay” because one could tell he was perfectly comfortable with himself, too. Between the wise cracks, he slipped in bits and pieces about his true life that helped the audience understand his background and the difficulties he’d overcome, without encouraging a sense of pity that often accompanies such “success stories”.

All in all, it was an enjoyable way to spend an evening: laughing with friends, getting a glimpse into another’s life in a unique way, and burning plenty of calories My only complaint was the crude language that came so naturally to him. I know swearing isn’t seen as a fault by many in our society anymore, but personally I think it’s unnecessary and crude, and detracts from the overall quality of the performer.

Still, I’m thankful for the time spent with my friend, and then the late night movie with my man was even better!

Illustration above by Lisa Jeffries, borrowed from Will’s Pictures.

2007 Marks Seventh Series Win for Red Sox

I have to be honest … while I do enjoy both playing baseball and watching it in person, I just can’t seem to get into the game if it’s only on TV. My fiancé on the other hand, is absolutely devoted to the Boston Red Sox in any form even though he’d never played organized sports or attended a major league game until college. I learned this quickly when we first met, and so when the Sox won the ALCS earlier this month I knew I’d have to watch the World Series.

Game One, I watched on my own in between cleaning my room and packing up a few things to send off to Goodwill. And to my astonishment, I found myself enjoying it and actually paying more attention than I’d expected (it shocked my younger brother too – check it out in my other blog). Then I had to watch Game Two and make sure my Sox kept up the winning streak (yup, now they’re my team too). Somehow I missed it when Ellsbury stole second to win the country free tacos, but I watched the dugout exchange between Crisp and Clayton, and the painfully stiff interview with Taco Bell’s COO afterward (I blogged about that the next day, too). Sadly, during Game Three I had other things to do (attending a comedy event with girlfriends and then a movie with my man), and then I was driving home from Salem during the majority of Game Four, but as soon as I walked in the door I checked the score! And although I wasn’t quite as bouncy as my future husband, I still woohoo‘d when I saw that Boston had earned their seventh World Series title during the 2007 match-up.

As I reflect on the way I’m gradually developing a greater love of baseball, it makes me contemplate other differences in my life and tastes and preferences as well. It seems as soon as I hit a quarter-of-a-century (in some cases almost literally on the day), I changed in a lot of ways. But I think that’s a topic for a whole new blog.