Date Night (2010)

2.0

COMEDY/ACTION

U.S. Release Date: 04/09/10

Running Length: 88 Minutes

MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Profanity, Sexual Content, Violence)

Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Cast: Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg, Taraji P. Henson, Jimmi Simpson, Common, William Fichtner

Director: Shawn Levy

Screenplay: Josh Klausner

Cinematography: Dean Semler

Music: Christophe Beck

U.S. Distributor: 20th Century Fox

Review by: Carter Moulton

04/11/10

The moral of Date Night is as follows: don’t take somebody’s restaurant reservation. If you do, you’ll either be held at gunpoint, or you’ll find yourself inside of a mediocre movie.

Steve Carell and Tina Fey play Phil and Claire Foster, a married couple with a few children. Of course, by Hollywood’s—and more cynically, America’s—standards, this also means they’re despondent. The whole concept of a “date night,” a planned event where the kids are left with the sitter, is forced and depressing in the first place.

On one such night, Phil decides to take his wife somewhere upscale, somewhere special. It’s a spontaneous decision, and Phil failed to make reservations.

“Reservation for the Tripplehorns?”—Carell replies, “That’s us.”  Turns out, the real Tripplehorns are entangled in a blackmailing scheme—one with conspiring cops, mob bosses, and district attorneys (all of which are played by B-list celebrities)—all over a baseball card. Woops, that was Cop Out. In Date Night, it’s a flash drive. It’ll be up to Carell and Fey to save the day, both for the narrative's sake and the movie's. They’re successful at saving one.

Photo © 20th Century Fox

Date Night is loaded with cameos, much in the same way Director Shawn Levy’s Night at the Museum was. James Franco and Mila Kunis as the “real” Tripplehorns; Mark Ruffalo and Kristen Wiig as friends of the Foster’s who are about to get a divorce (and thus provide our protagonists with an inner conflict); Mark Wahlberg as a shirtless broski; Taraji P. Henson as a cop and Ray Liotta—has he ever played anything other than a gangster? None of them, save Franco, are effective at creating laughs.

There are a handful of laugh-out-loud moments in Date Night, mostly due to Carell’s undeniable persona—he says “Eff you” to James Franco—but the action and hit-or-miss comedy is severely out of balance. One minute Carell and Fey ponder their marriage, with both of them staring out of the car window; next thing you know, Carell is sprawled out on top of the car as it’s being chased by the bad guys—Fey, who’s driving, yells, “Honey, move your ass!”

Add Date Night to the ever-growing list of Shawn Levy films that should be better than they actually are—Night at the Museum, Night at the Museum 2, The Pink Panther, Cheaper By The Dozen to name a few. These films are certainly watchable and have their moments thanks to their casts, but Levy continually leaves these projects with an unrealized potential.

Even so, Date Night may serve its purpose on a date night. For a more memorable date, I’d suggest renting another Carell vehicle, Get Smart. It does everything Date Night does—action, comedy, slight drama—but it handles it with more confidence, consistency—and frankly, it’s funnier.