Steve Carell and Tina Fey star as Phil and Claire Foster, a nice
couple from suburban New Jersey who maintain a tradition of date nights, where
they leave the kids with a sitter and go spend some quality time for themselves.
Instead of spending date night in Jersey, like they normally do, they go into the
city to try and see if they can get in Claw, an exclusive new restaurant.
When they’re unable to get a table, they take a reservation that belongs to a
no-show couple, and pat themselves on the back for being so daring and inventive.
But their plan backfires when a pair of thugs show up, demanding that they go
outside with them.
Thinking they’ve been busted by restaurant security, the Fosters allow the men
to escort them into an alley, where the guys suddenly stick guns in their faces
and demand to know where the flash card is. And they’re off! In the best
tradition of The Out Of Towners, and Martin Scorsese's
After Hours, Carell and
Fey’s overly innocent, upscale suburbanites find themselves stuck in the mire of
the seedy underbelly of New York City. Getting help from the police is not an
option, since the two thugs who’re chasing them turn out to be cops, so Carell
and Fey ham it up as they try to stay alive while also trying to survive on the
mean streets without any cash or ID.
I normally avoid mainstream Hollywood comedies like this, but the fact
that Fey stars in it made me want to see it. I’ve had a major crush on the woman
since first seeing her in Mean Girls some time ago (I’ve never seen 30 Rock, and
don’t care to; I’m not a big fan of TV shows that deal with show business), and
while her presence does help elevate the dopey premise somewhat, I can’t help
but wonder how much better this would be if Fey had a hand in writing the script.
She wrote Mean Girls, and that was a biting, savvy satire of high school life
that was still genuinely funny.
Unfortunately Date Night relies heavily on the sophomoric humor without the wit,
with some scenes being so unfunny that they’re almost painful to watch. The
saving grace of the film is the great cast, led by Carell and Fey, whose
chemistry as an overly neurotic couple obsessed with little worrywart things is
perfect. Their performances are so charming, and funny, that they make you
forget the silliness and gaping plot holes in the script. I wasn’t surprised,
when watching the outtakes, to see that their stuff was mostly adlibbed. Date
Night is a fun romp, just as long as you switch off your brains and enjoy it as
the mindless entertainment that it aspires to be.
--SF
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