Life can be so cruel. Dan Burns’ wife died four years ago. He’s raising three girls on his own, two of whom are rebellious teenagers. Now the advice columnist has met a woman he completely adores, but has no idea how to handle the situation because she’s dating his little brother.

Dan in Real Life has an innocent truthfulness that makes it immediately likable, and only the hardest of hearts wouldn’t pull for Dan (Steve Carell) to end up happy by film’s end. But what an uncomfortable situation: He briefly meets and becomes enamored with Marie (Juliette Binoche) at a bookstore, then learns she’s dating his brother Mitch (Dane Cook). Worse, they’re all spending the week together at Dan and Mitch’s parents’ (Dianne Wiest and John Mahoney) home in Rhode Island, which leads to a lot of awkward glances between Dan and Marie, who reciprocates his affection but also genuinely likes Mitch.

Far too often the daughters in these kinds of stories are mere accessories, but each girl in this film offers a nice perspective into Dan’s life, particularly Cara (Brittany Robertson), who calls him a “murderer of love” after he refuses to allow her boyfriend to visit. To make matters worse, the family thinks Marie is wonderful and couldn’t be happier for Mitch. In a lesser movie, writer/director Peter Hedges and co-writer Pierce Gardner would’ve made Mitch a jerk, which would’ve given Dan a clear avenue to live happily ever after with Marie.

But the script is more challenging than that. Mitch is a loving, caring guy who doesn’t deserve to be on the downside of this unlikely situation, and Cook plays him with an honest sincerity that makes him just as likable as Dan. Mitch does not, however, engender the sympathy that Dan does and, because Mitch is so genial it’s easy to assume he will not have much trouble finding someone else.

A number of scenes are both touching and very funny, including a family talent night and a double date that perfectly displays Dan and Marie’s latent feelings. After Dan’s parents set him up with an old childhood friend named Ruthie “Pigface” Draper (Emily Blunt), Mitch volunteers himself and Marie to join them. During drinks and dancing, Carell and Binoche do a great job of showing Dan and Marie’s true colors (i.e., jealousy) with piercing glares and faux signs of indifference, and it is subtle moments like these that make the movie a real treat.

If only it didn’t sell out with a Hollywood ending. The film prides itself on being grounded in this charming, difficult reality, yet it concludes with the same melodramatic “go get her, dad!” nonsense that plagues all romantic comedies. The story both needs and deserves a better, more grounded resolution.

That the movie succumbs to this fate is not a great surprise, but it is disappointing. Yet because it’s the journey and not the destination that really matters, it’s hard to deny the pleasures that most of Dan in Real Life offers.