'Dan' the man

Steve Carell drew a nice crowd this weekend with his dramedy "Dan in Real Life." It came in second at the box office with $12.1 million behind the horror juggernaut "Saw XXIV." But "Dan" only showed on 1,900-plus screens, not the 3,000 the big films usually get, so the numbers are even more impressive. Will be very curious to see how word-of-mouth affects its ticket sales next week. And speaking of WOM, has their been a film in recent memory which really exploded thanks to it? Refresh my memory, and faith in WOM, if you please.
The weekend's smallest surprise came courtesy of "Jimmy Carter Man from Plains," Jonathan Demme's documentary of the ex-President's recent book tour. The film follows Carter as he visfaljf;laajfaujfafa -- sorry, I feel asleep on my keyboard. Ace critic Kyle Smith gives the gruesome details here.