Get Date Night On Your Calendar by: Ben Hayle, NMTV NBC’s comedy duo of Tina Fey(“30 Rock”) and Steve Carell (“The Office”) team up in Date Night a new film by Shawn Levy(Night at the Museum). This film is one part action and two parts comedy which as it turns out is a great recipe for a happy audience. True to its name Date Night will make for a perfect night out.
Phil and Claire Foster (Carell and Fey) are a suburban married couple who live a very routine life filled with kids, book clubs, and the arbitrary weekly date night; always at the same restaurant with the same tired conversation. Sparked by the divorce of close friends the Foster’s decide to shake things up with an evening in the big city, in this case New York City. They decide to have dinner at one of the most exclusive restaurants in town; they of course do not have a reservation and are out of luck. Until, Phil decides to take the reservation of a couple that did not show up. The Foster’s assume the identity of the Tripplehorn’s; but little do they know that the Tripplehorn’s are on the run from one of the biggest mob bosses in New York. After the mob bosses goons catch them at the restaurant, the rest of their night is turned upside town as they are chased all over the city. Date Night is simply a hilarious film; I am not sure the last time that I laughed this hard in a theatre. Fey and Carell work great together, they have a good mix of on screen chemistry and comedic timing. They seemed to be playing off of each other well, at times their ability to improvise took over and it really made for some funny moments. Good writing paired with a good director who knew when to let his stars just take over really made this film stand above many other recent comedies. While Fey and Carell got most of the laughs the supporting cast also had some hilarious moments. Mark Wahlberg had a great role as an always topless security expert, James Franco and Mila Kunis were great as the real Tripplehorn’s, and Ray Liotta was a good mob boss. Shawn Levy did a great job bringing all these actors together and making the comedy and action work together. The film does have an underlying message that speaks to the consequences of letting a relationship get stuck in a rut. The message does make its way into the film through a few breaks in the fast paced action and comedy, and I thought the message was a nice addition to the film. It gave the film somewhat of a deeper meaning instead of just being a comedy. Date Night is sure to make you laugh for 90 minutes and you will leave the theatre with a smile on your face. If you are looking for a fun night out for you and your significant other or for a group of friends that make sure you have a Date Night soon. I give Date Night 4 out of 5 stars.