Date Night
You take a look at Date Night and you’re like “alright, Tina Fey and Steve Carell, yeah, this should be decent.” You don’t expect a whole lot more than that and this is good because you don’t get much more than that. What you get is a good movie that is definitely worth the AM Cinema price, maybe the full price, but that’s really it. Date Night entertains without convincing you that you’ll ever want to see it again.
Easily, Tina Fey is the highlight of this movie. As someone that rarely disappoints, she is extremely on, especially in one scene in particular–you’ll know which one I’m talking about. At times she’s almost a bit Liz Lemon-ish, but more like Liz’s socially apt sister. Steve Carell is finally not playing a character that’s painfully awkward. While I have no complaints about his previous work, it’s kind of nice to see that his entire existence as an actor isn’t based solely on being awkward, even if Michael Scott is his best work.
The appareances by James Franco, Mila Kunis, Common, Mark Wahlberg, Mark Ruffalo, and Kristen Wiig feel hit or miss. James Franco and Mila Kunis are kind of awesome, like you’d expect. But on the opposite end of the spectrum, if not for a running gag involving Mark Wahlberg’s character, he could be replaced by anyone. Actually, scratch that, the gag is funny, but anyone else could be just as effective.
For the most part, Date Night moves along pretty predictably, getting more and more outrageous as things progress. If you happen to be in a well established relationship and see Date Night with your significant other, you’ll find yourselves looking at each other more than a few times throughout the movie, commenting about how in a couple of decades that will be the two of you. While it may seem like a boring outlook on the future, you find that you aren’t really that disappointed by this…and this will feel odd to you.
For a movie that keeps you entertained and provides more than enough laughs, Date Night is worth the trip to the theater, but unless it’s playing on TV one day while you’re flipping through channels in a few years, you’ll probably be more than happy to leave it at the theater when the credits start to roll.
Rating: C+
