This is a pleasant little romantic comedy with the ever reliable Steve Carell carrying the viewer along as we see Dan trying to cope with raising his three young daughters after the passing of his wife. There's plenty of disdain from the daughters as the over protective Father can't let go to give them the space they need and he starts questioning his parenting skills and life in general.
To get away from it all they take a trip to his parents house for the annual family gathering in Rhode Island where Dan meets the woman of his dreams at a chance meeting in a local bookstore. They swap numbers and he promises to give her a call. Back at his parents house however, and much to his surprise the woman, played with class by Juliette Binoche, appears out of the blue and we soon realise that she is in fact his Brother's girlfriend!
It's a neat plot device to garner plenty of amusement at the awkwardness of the situation and the conflict of relationships. Carell underplays his character wonderfully and the comedy and drama is never forced. However for me it didn't always come together, some scenes worked well while others didn't, so as a whole I found it to be rather uneven but it has a more intelligent and less cliched script than some romantic comedies out there.
To get away from it all they take a trip to his parents house for the annual family gathering in Rhode Island where Dan meets the woman of his dreams at a chance meeting in a local bookstore. They swap numbers and he promises to give her a call. Back at his parents house however, and much to his surprise the woman, played with class by Juliette Binoche, appears out of the blue and we soon realise that she is in fact his Brother's girlfriend!
It's a neat plot device to garner plenty of amusement at the awkwardness of the situation and the conflict of relationships. Carell underplays his character wonderfully and the comedy and drama is never forced. However for me it didn't always come together, some scenes worked well while others didn't, so as a whole I found it to be rather uneven but it has a more intelligent and less cliched script than some romantic comedies out there.