Movie: Dan in Real Life

This film may not be the typical love story I am used to; on the contrary the ending is rather cliche and rather rushed. The plot is rather simple, but creative. Dan (Steve Correll) meets a woman named Anne-Marie at a bookstore and at his family gathering finds out she's his brother's girlfriend. So the trouble ensues when they have fallen for eachother but do not want to humiliate the family. He's a widow and has three girls; two teenagers and one fourth grader. Throughout the film he faces the reality that he has fallen for his brother's girlfriend whom he (the brother) adores mind you, and battling with the fact his eldest daughters are resenting him for treating them as young children. I like that this movie is practical, it's easily a realistic plot. I feel it could have been more believable however, say if the two had been high school or college sweet hearts before Dan's marriage to his now deceased wife. The pair continuously find themselves in awkward scenarios which is comical, but rubs the wrong way, giving a slight sense of cheap flirtation despite his brother's love towards Marie. Now here come the throw backs. The mother tends to favor Dan's brother more than Dan, which honestly is rather threatening to me. Perhaps because Dan is depressed during the film, it seems he should be the pittied character. He never smiles, basically comes depressed and remains that way till the last five minutes of the movie. I feel there should have been more sympathy towards him and less feeling of abandonment. However Steve Correll acts well in this movie, I prefer him in this role as compared to "The Office." So for a good just-barely-there heart warming film, give this one a try. Rating: 7.8 out of 10.