This past summer Steve Carell starred in Evan Almighty. That film had its heart in the right place, but the execution was downright awful. When you consider how high the budget rose, it is hard not to look upon it as a failure, and by default perhaps think a little less of its star. Fortunately, Steve Carell is a talented actor who can get right back on the horse without missing a beat.

Of course, he doesn't have much of a choice, nor does anyone have a choice for that matter. What does this have to do with Dan in Real Life? Well, not much. Suffice to say Carell moved on from that debacle, and on to a project that takes advantage of his everyman charms and low-key demeanor in a film that seems a bit light on substance but has an aura of a slightly out of alignment reality.

Dan Burns is an advice columnist who is doing the best he can as the widower father of three girls: 17-year-old Jane (Alison Pill), 15-year-old Cara (Brittany Robertson), and the youngest, Lilly (Marlene Lawston). Each year the brood head out to Maine to meet up with the extended Burns clan at their parents' cabin to have some family fun, ending with the closing of the cabin for the season. This year is a little different as Dan's professional career could take a new step with potential syndication, his home life is taking a turn as his daughters are each having a crisis, and Dan has a chance encounter that could forever change his future, or at the very least, his present.

After arriving at the gathering it becomes clear to the audience that Dan is the odd man out in this family. He is the awkward brother who gets to sleep in the "special room" ... rather, the laundry room with an incessantly banging machine. Everything about Dan is summed up when his mother (Dianne Wiest) approaches him and says: "You do so much for your girls, but what do you do for yourself?" It is a good question. Dan tries to be the best father he can to his girls, pining for his deceased wife, whom we learn little about. The question also comes at a turning point in the evolution of Dan.