Date Night (2010)

Instant Favorite.

Fresh and Exciting

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Tina Fey was wonderful. The best thing I can say about Steve Correl was Steve Corell.

In New York City, a case of mistaken identity turns a bored married couple's attempt at a glamorous and romantic evening into something more thrilling and dangerous. Date Night mostly suceeds to Steve Carell's and Tina Fey's charm and chemistry but some of the laughs were a bit of a miss and hit. The cameos were also a bit on and off with me for example Wahlberg was good and so was Gal Gadot but some others? like J.B. Smoove, Mila Kunis and James Franco were weird and not even funny. Overall there are some nice chuckles, 2 great leads and some good cameos but it could have been better to be honest. (6/10)

What can I say?: It's a product.Some producers said, "Let's make a product and sell it." And they agreed to do so.What's specifically lacking in the flick? At times the writing flags. Normally, you can be in awe of the immense talent of the leads who mouth those lines; they make them believable. Here, some of the lines are so dumb that even the very talented actors have trouble breathing life into them.The scenario work varies from rather empty/cookie-cutter to somewhat engaging. One thing I had trouble believing was that thugs could muscle their way into a super-ritzy restaurant and bodily remove a couple--on the basis of their name. No one showed these guys photos of the targets? Gimme a break!And the flick ends with all the bad guys in cuffs, all the good guys scot free. Ho hum!Which, I suppose, highlights the core weakness of the enveloping story: It's not a big enough story to induce us to graciously excuse these scenario glitches.What's good about the flick? They put together enough money to hire quite a bevy of heavy hitter acting talent. The actual film/shooting/sound production technique is fantastic. The editing is fine.But the core idea--that hardship strengthens spirit, thence relationship-- is an old idea, and it doesn't feel particularly well- or uniquely-served in "Date Night".Skip it.

Date Night (2010): Dir: Shawn Levy / Cast: Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg, Ray Liotta, James Franco: Here is a comedy that exaggerates the memories of young love. Steve Carell and Tina Fey play a married couple who, in an attempt to cure their routine lives, go out on a date. When unable to gain entry to a high class restaurant they pretend to be another couple who are on the reservation list. Unfortunately the couple who failed to appear are targeted by a mob leader. From there it regards mistaken identities where they are both on the run. Director Shawn Levy gives us a great comic sight joke regarding two cars that must be seen to be believed. Prior to this Levy directed such comedies as Cheaper by the Dozen and Just Married. Carell and Fey have excellent comic chemistry as they struggle to figure out the mess they got themselves mixed up in. Mark Wahlberg plays a security consultant whom Fey knew during a house hunting expedition. They turn to him for help only to discover that he wanders about with no shirt on sporting a chiseled physic. Wahlberg also has a girlfriend whom doesn't speak English and interprets the visiting couple as swingers. Ray Liotta is unfortunately wasted as a mob boss. He basically barks orders while eating leaving viewers to assume what a waste of talent. James Franco and Mila Kunis play the strange couple for which Carell and Fey are mistaken for and they are amusing when they appear. While many films applaud adultery, here is a hilarious comedy that freshens the marriage experience into a new order of chaos and adventure. Score: 8 ½ / 10