DAN IN REAL LIFE (2007)

Directed by: Peter Hedges
Written by: Pierce Gardner, Peter Hedges
Studio: Touchstone Pictures
Starring: Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche, Dane Cook
Rated: PG-13

About the film:
A widower who has taken his three children on a family vacation meets a woman who sparks his romantic interest. The problem is… she’s already dating his brother.

Movie Quote:
"Love is not a feeling. It’s an ability."
Dan Burns (Steve Carell) in Dan in Real Life (2007)

Bible Quote:
“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”
John 15:12 (KJV)

Commentary:
Love is often confused (as it is in this film) for a feeling. People who desperately desire love tend to mistake it for the first tingling sensation they receive. Lust, infatuation, fear, even hunger have all been confused at one time or another for man’s concept of love. The great reality of love is far richer and goes much deeper than any “feeling.”

Dan is superficially correct. Love is an ability. But he stops short at arriving at the truth. For although God granted all of us the ability to love, many of us never achieve it. Love is, above all else, a free-will choice. Each of us has the ability to choose to love or choose not to love. We can also choose to accept love or choose to reject it.

God defines love in a simple and straightforward manner. “And this is love, that we walk after His commandments.” (2 John 1:6) It is a choice that we make. It may not be signaled with a tingling sensation; it may not come in on floods of emotion; it may not even be reciprocated. But love, as God defines it, is the crux of creation. It is the meaning for our existence. And knowing that love is a choice that we make… applicable to any relationship we choose to enter… should change the way we approach those relationships.

Feelings come and go. Love can and should be a constant… in our hearts… in our minds… and in our lives.

Questions to consider while watching the film:
1. Is there such a thing as “love at first sight?” Why or why not?
2. If love is not a “feeling,” what causes the feelings we experience and how do we protect ourselves from their effects?

Michael Elliott
www.screensermon.blogspot.com