In the movie DATE NIGHT, Phil and Claire Foster (Steve Carrell and Tina Fey) are the typical mundane married couple from New Jersey. With kids that seem to get in to what is acceptable trouble, work that tires them both out and a home life that takes up their remaining time, things have begun to get a little stale. When another couple, their friends, decide to part ways because things have gotten too complacent, Phil decides that they need a special night out.
Now the Fosters have always had a date night each week. But their date nights are predictable to say the least. They order the same food, talk the same talk, and make fun of other couples trying to figure out what their story is. But it’s the same each and every time. This time will be different.
They head to the city, to New York, and a trendy restaurant that Claire read about called Klaw. But being a trendy restaurant in New York means obnoxious staff and little chance you’ll find a table on a Friday night. That is until Phil decides to take over for the Tripplehorns, a couple who don’t claim their reservation. But by posing as the Tripplehorns they get more than they bargained for when a couple of tough talking guys ask to speak to them in private.
The pair is looking for the real reservation couple and assumes the Foster’s are them. Seeking a missing flash drive, they kidnap the pair at gunpoint and escort them to Central Park where Phil tells them they can find the flash drive in an attempt to play for time. Once there, they somehow make a successful escape and head straight to the police. The only problem is that while talking to the officer in charge, they see the duo that kidnapped them in the precinct wearing badges.
With no one to turn to, their only hope is to find the real Tripplehorns and the missing flash drive. To do so they turn to one of Claire’s ex-clients (she works in real estate), a detective Grant Holbrooke (Mark Wahlberg) whose appearance alone is enough to inspire jealousy in Phil.
So by now you should get the picture. We have a couple far out of their league in the midst of the big city involved in something far bigger than they can handle. Well at least in the real world it would be more than they can handle. But this is the movies and of course their story turns towards humor rather than danger. Each and every step of the way something happens, they amazingly escape and at the same time bring out laughter while we watch.
The only problem is that with these two talented actors in the lead, I kind of expected more laughs more often. Both have been involved with some of the funniest things I’ve seen in recent years but here, it just feels contrived most of the time. I’ll give kudos where they are due, there are some truly funny scenes (especially involving the pair of them attempting to work a stripper’s pole) but these are few and far between. Instead we seem to rely on the tried and true method of inserting car chases, crashes and gunplay to fill out the length of the film.
I wouldn’t say that this is a bad movie and for a rental I’m sure you’ll get your money’s worth. It does offer some funny moments. But the heart of the story involves, well, heart. It’s about a couple that feels after all the years, with kids and responsibilities, that maybe they are missing something. Perhaps that old spark died out years ago and they want to make an attempt to find it again. The thing is that the spark was there all along and it never needed re-ignited. But that idea gets less on screen time than the car chases with perhaps one monologue from Carrell. It should have been front and center all along.
For a predictable comedy with two great leads, you’ll want to check this one out. Perhaps you won’t want to add it to your collection, but as I said, it’s worth a rental.
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