While the animated clan provides an engaging backdrop of familial love, we root for Carell even as he drifts through the movie, basically reprising his Little Miss Sunshine performance.

This is the second writer/director project from Peter Hedges (who co-wrote the script with Pierce Gardner) who made the shtickier Pieces of April - which had characters that had more edge and personality than they do in Dan in Real Life. Still, he directs with unforced enthusiasm, peculiarly keeping Dan secluded in the foreground of the frame, with the rest of his large, boisterous family is separated off in the background. Indeed, the plot emulates sitcom, but the film is a winningly good-natured and funny.