Where do Dan and Marie meet in the 2007 movie "Dan In Real Life"?

Dan and Marie meet in a bookstore in the 2007 film “Dan in Real Life.”

Dan Burns, played by Steve Carell, is a widowed advice columnist visiting his parents with his three daughters. While browsing in a local bookshop, he strikes up a conversation with Marie, played by Juliette Binoche, and quickly feels a connection.

The meeting becomes awkward when Dan discovers that Marie is the new girlfriend of his brother Mitch. The two must then manage their attraction while living under the same roof during a family gathering. Their bookstore encounter is therefore the film’s emotional starting point, even though the central conflict unfolds later at the family home.

The film was directed by Peter Hedges and released in 2007. A common mix-up is confusing the bookstore meeting with the later scenes where Dan and Marie talk at a bowling alley.