Narrative analysis of Dan in Real Life

Last Friday night I went with my family to see the new movie Dan in Real Life, starring Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche and Dane Cook. After reading chapter 16 and discussing narrative structure in class, I decided to take a closer look at the movie and analyze it according to the lessons in the textbook.

Dan (Carell) is the main character who is an advice columnist and a single parent of three daughters. He lost his wife four years ago and is doing a fine job of raising a family alone. This is the stable situation of the narrative. It sets up the story for what is to come next.

Dan takes his daughters on a trip to the family cabin for a weekend with their relatives. Dan ends up meeting an attractice woman named Marie (Binoche) at a bookstore and gets her phone number after spending an afternoon together. This is the first woman that Dan has had such strong feelings for since his wife passed away. He is feeling pretty good on his way home. Back at the cabin, Dan's brother Mitch (Cook) is excited for Dan to meet his new girlfriend that he is crazy about. Enter Marie and our disruption of the stable situation.

Now the narrative has its plot line. This disruption has the viewers making predictions about what happens next and how the film will end, which is just what the director wants to keep the audience involved. Understably, this conflict makes for some awkward and humerous scenes between Dan, Marie and Mitch. I don't want to give away the end of the movie, but there are other minor conflicts and a few smaller plot lines going on before the eventual resolution (stable situation 2).

Dan also goes under a character growth pattern that is outlined in the textbook and parallels the narrative structure. We see Dan as somewhat of a flawed character in the beginning, even though he is in a stable situation. Then his character experiences a problem, which is the same as the disruption. Next, Dan undergoes a series of tests a growth, which in the end makes him a better character during his stable situation 2.

Overall I thought this was a good movie. It followed narrative and character structures in a logical way that kept me as an audience member interested in the story. I really started to feel for Dan's character by the end. I would classify it as a romantic comedy. Carell and Cook excelled in their roles showing versatility beyond just comedy.