While there may be fans of "The Office" flocking to see Steve Carell's latest film, hopefully they realize that this isn't the Steve Carell they are used to. We've come to love the wackiness that Carell has given us throughout his career and now we get to see his serious side in "Dan In Real Life." Now the real question is: Will it work?

Dan (Carell) is a newspaper advice columnist who has been raising three young girls by himself since his wife died four years ago. In the midst of their various dramas, Dan gathers up the girls for their yearly family get-together in Rhode Island. While taking a break from his large family on the vacation, Dan talks with a girl, Maria (Juliette Binoche), in a bookstore and immediately falls in love with her. Upon returning to the family's cabin, he meets his brother's (Dane Cook) new girlfriend, who just happens to be the girl he fell in love with only minutes ago. Throughout the ensuing week, he must deal with trying to balance his wacky family, his dramatic daughters and the new love of his life who is dating his brother.

The production company, Focus Features, has a number of notable films under its belt where it has taken actors famously known for their comedic work, such as Jim Carrey, Bill Murray and Will Ferrell, and put them into dramatic roles for greater effect. Those movies are "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," "Lost in Translation" and "Winter Passing." The formula that drove those films to be successful is not damaged here.

While those movies were worked on by the likes of Charlie Kaufman and Sophia Coppola, this movie is Peter Hedges' first work since "Pieces of April." He brings a much more wholesome and family-friendly picture to the table than found in those movies previously mentioned.

The heart of the plot has been seen before throughout the movies: a man falls in love with an unattainable girl and struggles with that fact. The emotions of the characters in the movie feel somewhat forced at times, and it seems a bit odd that Maria would love Dan and vice versa. Regardless, the movie chugs along with that notion and it works well enough to bring the plot to fruition.

Carell and Cook do a solid job in a genre new to them. They both bring home great performances as dramatic actors and do nothing to stunt the growth of this plot.

All in all, this is an innocent family-oriented comedy about finding love and it has some great moments along the way. If you can gather up your family, going out to see this movie isn't a bad little vacation to take on an autumn day.

{M3'Dan in Real Life"

Staring:{M3 Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche, Dane Cook, Dianne Wiest, Emily Blunt, John Mahoney

{M3Director: {M3Peter Hedges.

{M3Running time: {M31 hour, 35 minutes

{M3Rated:{M3 PG-13, for some innuendo

{M3Now playing at: {M3Crossroads, College Square

3.5 stars out of 5