Date Night – 2010
**½ Out of ****
Strong performances in an otherwise average to mediocre movie are often touted as that films saving grace, bringing gravitas and charm to material that is simply, limp. What you hear discussed far less is how comprehensively a hack script can drag down its talented lead actors. Steve Carell and Tina Fey must battle with the screenplay for most of the running length; a tug of war that never ends.
Pretending Date Night would be void of laughs without Carell and Fey would a somewhat narcissistic claim, yet it most certainly would have been more tedious. Date Night is directed by Shawn Levy, who is no stranger to generating this laborious plot structure. His past projects, including the Night at the Museum franchise and The Pink Panther remake, have their guffaws however any charm that can be wrung from the script is strangled by extended periods of mirthless slumber. This latest endeavour tips more towards the watchable side to be sure, but the balance remains unlevel.
30 Rock meets The Office in Date Night with two of televisions biggest stars gracing the big screen together for the first time. They star as The Foster’s. Phil (Carell) and Claire (Fey) are happily married but are stuck in a fatigued routine between work, the kids and all the other challenges a marriage entails. Venturing into the city for one their sporadic date nights, The Foster’s fatefully nab a reservation from a no-show couple. Let the case of mistaken identity commence. Confused for ‘The Tripplehorn’s’ they are perused by gun toting thugs (who may not be who they initially seem) and enlist the help of a plethora of acquaintances to survive the night.
What’s that you ask? Are there oodles of wacky characters they meet along the way? Why yes there are! Among Manhattans eclectic citizens we get a buff and shirtless Mark Wahlberg as a former client of Claire’s with more then a few gadgets at his disposal and James Franco and Mila Kunis as a spaced out couple named Taste and Whippit (Whip it good!). Filling out the ensemble in smaller roles are as follows: Common, Kristen Wiig, Mark Ruffalo, William Fichtner, Taraji P. Henson and Will i Am as himself. This collection of talented actors at least keeps the plot fluid and funny as chance-meeting to late-night-visit begin to stack up.
Unfortunately, wedged amongst the laughs are a number of action sequences. While they are competently realized (as far as pointless action sequences go) they serve as little more then an abrupt halt to the comedy. One disastrous sequence finds The Foster’s in a bizarre car chase and both drags on for far too long in addition to being flat out dumb. Smatter in some gunfights and chase sequences and you are left with the crippled younger brother of a Pineapple Express or Tropic Thunder. Date Night is mostly funny when it’s trying to be funny and surprise surprise when it isn’t, it isn’t.
One refreshing element present in Date Night is The Foster’s do not hate one another; they are not estranged, divorced or separated, not forced to face life-affirming challenges through a life or death encounter (cough, Bounty Hunter). Here, they are in love but just in need of a boost and it is admirable to see less bickering and more teamwork again in a movie such as this.
Like with the leads and the script, many may find themselves torn between the strong and weak elements of this zany night out. A theatre experience is certainly not essential but a toss in the DVD player is far from unforeseeable. Here is to hoping Carrel and Fey team up yet again and next time perhaps wielding one of Fey’s screenplays. But hey, at least Date Night it isn’t in 3D.
