My Review: Date Night (7/10)

¨ He turned the gun sideways! That's a kill shot! ¨

(7/10) Tina Fey and Steve Carell are great comedians and both have the funniest shows on TV at the moment, Fey starring in 30 Rock and Carell in The Office, so when I heard they were going to make a film together I knew it was going to be worth the ticket price. This is a movie you won`t want to miss because these two actors are probably the smartest comedians around and can turn any bad script into something funny. Shawn Levy directs Date Night and he is used to working with great comedians as he has worked with Ben Stiller in the Night At The Museum movies and with Steve Martin in Cheaper By the Dozen and The Pink Panther. He is not known for making memorable movies, but they are entertaining nonetheless because he always works with a talented cast. The same can be said with Date Night, it is an enjoyable movie, a good date movie because it mixes comedy and action with a little bit of romance, but it is not a great film, it will just be remembered for the great cast and good chemistry between Fey and Carell. Is it better than what they do on TV? Probably not, but it is still worth the watch. The script, written by Josh Klausner (who wrote Shrek the Third) is not the strongest part of this film, but the way every actor delivers each line with comedic excellence is what makes Date Night a fun movie to watch for the entire family and the supporting cast is just great as well.

Phil (Steve Carell) and Claire Foster (Tina Fey) are a married couple living in New Jersey with two kids. Their married life has become a routine which pretty much consists of waking up early to make the kids breakfast and then head off to work. They manage to have a date night once a week although it also has become a routine since they always end up doing the same thing. They also have a book club where they spend time with their friends Brad (Mark Ruffalo) and Haley Sullivan (Kristen Wiig) who just confess to the couple that they are getting divorced because their married life has turned into just being good roommates. This serves as a wakeup call for Phil and Claire who decide to do something different for their next date night. Phil decides to take Claire to the city to eat at a fine restaurant. The problem is that they don`t have reservations so Phil suddenly decides to take another couple`s reservation when he hears they haven`t showed up. The couple are really enjoying the meal together when all of a sudden two men named Collins (Common) and Armstrong (Jimmi Simpson) interrupt them and ask them to step out. They pull a gun at Phil and Claire mistaking them for the couple who had really made the reservation, the Tripplehorn`s, who happened to have stole from a mob boss named Joe Miletto (Ray Liotta). This is where the action begins and the routine ends for the Foster`s as their lives are at stake.

Date Night combines action with comedy very well thanks to Fey and Carell who have great chemistry together. They both are really good actors, but the supporting cast is also excellent. Some of the funniest scenes come from the small roles played by Mark Wahlbergh playing a security agent who is a friend of Claire`s, James Franco and Mila Kunis who are really the true Tripplehorn`s. The scenes with these characters are probably the funniest ones in the movie. I really enjoyed Date Night although it won`t be one of those memorable movies that I will want to watch over and over again or that I can take something out of, but it is a fun movie to watch with your date or family. It is also good to see Fey and Carell working together and hopefully they will continue to work together because these are two of the most respected actors in comedy. Their chemistry together was great. Hopefully next time they will do something less light, but for now it was just good to see them on screen together. Date Night isn`t a must see movie unless you really appreciate Tina Fey and Steve Carell, but it isn`t bad either. It will entertain you and that is pretty much the goal for most moviegoers and it will make you laugh.