"Dan in Real Life" is a romance film starring Steve Carrell. Carrell's character, named Dan Burns, is a widower who has been left with 3 daughters. Playing the role of a single parent for four years has left Dan very unhappy and in need of a significant other. Ultimately, while on vacation visiting his extended family, he meets and falls in love with a nice lady at a book store. Later it is revealed that this lady is indeed the girlfriend of his brother. This film does many things right. It creates a main character that one can root for, and it creates instances that many families can relate to.
Dan, the main character, is a lovable character. In the beginning of the film, the viewer is made to somewhat pity Dan because of how hard he works keeping up with his three daughters. His daughters, on the otherhand, dislike him for being to overprotective. No matter how hard he works toward making his life better, it seems like there are roadblocks in his way toward his happiness. He yearns for a life love and wants to have the full affection of his daughters. Later in the film, Dan does a few jerk-like things that makes the audience cringe. Although he does some dumb things out of attempts to impress a the girl of his dreams, the audience is still conditioned to root for him as a character after witnessing the trials he has had to conquer.
There are many events in the plot of this film that allows the viewer to see correlations between the film characters and their own families. The middle daughter is quite rebellious, being in her early teenage years. This is seen in almost every family that has a teenager. Many family members in the real world forgive other family members when they wrong them. This is also seen within the movie. The brother repeatedly forgives Dan for misfortunate events created by Dan. This shows family forgiveness. The family members tease each other multiple times throughout the film. Dan is rediculed by members of the family about an upcoming date and her "hog-like" features. This can also be seen in many American families.
The film "Dan in Real Life" is a great movie that creates realistic family scenarios and characters. The audience will find itself rooting for Dan to find true love, and the viewer will see correlations between the family onscreen and the family in their own life.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Zombieland Review
"Zombieland" is a film about a world where a crazy virus that turns humans into zombies has taken over the globe. Before I watched this film, I had very low expectations for the quality of this movie. I was very surprised. This film is very captivating, uses humor well, and creates great character relationships.
This film is very captivating because at every given second of the movie, the viewer is expecting a human-hungry zombie to jump out and start attacking. There are moments earlier in the film where zombies surprise the main characters, and this sets the tempo for the rest of the movie. I was captivated and on the edge of my seat for a large portion of the movie because I kept expecting an oncoming attack. This approach allows the audience to be attentive at all times throughout the plotline.
The humor is used very well within this film. Everything from well placed one-liners, a hardened zombie-killer who has a weakness for twinkies, and the accidental killing of Bill Murray works together to create a funny view. The humor, however, does not overwhelm the danger of the zombies. Although jokes are made about the evil creatures that are in pursuit of the main characters, the plot still allows for tense moments to arise to keep the audience on their seats.
The film does a great job of establishing lovable relationships between characters within a ninety minute feature. The main four characters slightly dislike one another when they first meet, but they slowly begin to form lasting bonds with each other. This is fueled by humorous scenes where the main four joke around with each other. In the end, the gruff, zombie killer establishes a "father-like" bond with the young girl played by Abigail Breslin, and the nerdy college student establishes a romantic bond with the cute older girl. This makes the audience root for the main characters even more while they continue their fight against the zombie menace.
"Zombieland" was a great view. The captivizing nature of the film, humor, and character relationships add different elements to this film that makes it entertaining for many different types of movie-goers.
This film is very captivating because at every given second of the movie, the viewer is expecting a human-hungry zombie to jump out and start attacking. There are moments earlier in the film where zombies surprise the main characters, and this sets the tempo for the rest of the movie. I was captivated and on the edge of my seat for a large portion of the movie because I kept expecting an oncoming attack. This approach allows the audience to be attentive at all times throughout the plotline.
The humor is used very well within this film. Everything from well placed one-liners, a hardened zombie-killer who has a weakness for twinkies, and the accidental killing of Bill Murray works together to create a funny view. The humor, however, does not overwhelm the danger of the zombies. Although jokes are made about the evil creatures that are in pursuit of the main characters, the plot still allows for tense moments to arise to keep the audience on their seats.
The film does a great job of establishing lovable relationships between characters within a ninety minute feature. The main four characters slightly dislike one another when they first meet, but they slowly begin to form lasting bonds with each other. This is fueled by humorous scenes where the main four joke around with each other. In the end, the gruff, zombie killer establishes a "father-like" bond with the young girl played by Abigail Breslin, and the nerdy college student establishes a romantic bond with the cute older girl. This makes the audience root for the main characters even more while they continue their fight against the zombie menace.
"Zombieland" was a great view. The captivizing nature of the film, humor, and character relationships add different elements to this film that makes it entertaining for many different types of movie-goers.
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