By Gregg Shapiro

Contributing writer

In theaters:

Dan In Real Life (Touchstone/Focus)—In the sweetly manipulative “Dan In Real Life,” advice columnist Dan (Steve Carell, in his ongoing quest to become a romantic comedy star) is a widowed father of three daughters. Jane (Alison Pill) is of driving age and making plans to go off to college. Middle daughter Cara (Brittany Robertson) is boy crazy, plain and simple. Lily (Marlene Lawston), the precocious youngest daughter, is, as you might have guessed, wise beyond her years.

The family of four piles into Dan’s car to leave New Jersey for a family gathering at the Rhode Island home of his parents. Dan, who is being courted for syndication, has more than that on his mind, including Cara’s meltdown over being separated from boyfriend Marty (Felipe Dieppa). They arrive safely and after a good night’s sleep, Dan’s mother (Dianne Wiest) sends him into town to buy newspapers, thereby giving him a little space from his kids. At the bookstore, he has an unusual encounter with Marie (Juliette Binoche) that spills over into an impromptu coffee date in which they get to know each other better. Armed with her phone number, Dan returns to his parents’ house bursting with his good news, only to discover that Marie is there, on the arm of Dan’s younger brother, aerobics instructor Mitch (the all too ubiquitous Dane Cook). Hilarity and heartbreak ensues, with the family blissfully unaware of Dan and Marie’s complicated state of affairs.

Even with director and co-writer Peter (“Pieces of April”) Hedges skillfully navigating the predictability and potential for disaster a movie such as this portends, there are a few moments when it’s hard not to roll one’s eyes. Ultimately, this is Carell’s movie. He meets the challenge through the combination of his elastic facial expressions, his gifts as a physical comedian and his ongoing development as an actor and leading man. Oh, and the Sondre Lerche soundtrack is marvelous.

Limited runs:

Beverly Arts Center, 2407 W. 111th, presents a screening of “Young Frankenstein,” Mel Brooks’ affectionate and zany homage to the Frankenstein films, starring Gene Wilder, Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman and the late Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman and Peter Boyle, Oct. 31 at 7:30 p.m. Call (773) 445-3838.

The Alfred Hitchcock film series at Block Cinema in the Pick-Laudati Auditorium at the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, 40 Arts Circle Drive, on Northwestern’s Evanston campus, presents Cary Grant Week with screenings of “Suspicion” (with Joan Fontaine) at 8 p.m. Oct. 31, “North by Northwest” (with Eva Marie Saint) at 8 p.m. Nov. 1 and “Notorious” (with Ingrid Bergman) at 9 p.m. Nov. 2.

Director Tony Kaye (“American History X”) examines every angle of the abortion issue, shying away from nothing, including graphic imagery not for the faint of heart, in his documentary “Lake of Fire,” screening through Nov. 1 at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State.

Sam Weller, author of “The Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of Ray Bradbury,” the authorized biography of Ray Bradbury, leads a discussion of “Fahrenheit 451” following the screening of the 1966 film version of the sci-fi classic (directed by Francois Truffaut, starring Julie Christie and Oskar Werner) at the Beverly Arts Center, 2407 W. 111th , Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. Call (773) 445-3838.