Stealing someone's dinner reservations seems like a simple social indiscretion but as Claire and Phil find out, it can lead to much more. Out for date night the two soon find their simple impersonation of another couple to acquire their dinner reservation has landed them in the middle of a criminal power play.
Steve Carell (Phil), Tina Fey (Claire), Mark Wahlberg (Holbrooke), Taraji Henson (Detective Arroyo), Jimmi Simpson (Armstrong), Common (Collins), William Fichtner (Crenshaw), Leighton Meester (Katy), Mark Ruffalo (Brad), James Franco (Taste), Mila Kunis (Whippit).
Date Night starts off a bit slow but once the comedy and thrill show up things move a bit faster. The plot is fairly simple and really doesn't require much thought to follow. What we are waiting for is the comedy and considering Carell and Fey are paired up it should have showed up much sooner and much stronger. Instead the comedy is a bit flat and unoriginal. Wahlberg and Fichtner were actually funnier than Carell and Fey most of the time.
Acting was decent with Carell and Fey delivering solid performances despite the weak comedy. Wahlberg, Fichtner, and even Kunis however were hysterical and brought the laughs we expected. Henson felt a bit out of place while Simpson, Common, Ruffalo, and Franco all did nicely.
Camera work, sets, and backgrounds were all solidly done, big budget cinema fodder. Action was pretty good with amusing if quite unrealistic car scenes. Dialogue was mediocre and just didn't provide the comedy that was billed for the film. Sound and soundtrack were good.
Overall Date Night is a mild comedy that could have been much more. This one is a good choice for family movie night with younger teens providing mild entertainment for everyone.
With mild sexual and crude references, some foul language, violence, and drug references this should be fine for teens and above.
Date Night is no longer showing in any Littleton, Colorado movie theatres.
Released: 2010
Reviewed: 7.20.11
Star rating: 3 out of 5
copyright ©2011 Dave Riedel
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