Amanda FooFor 2 deadpan funny people with so much in common, they’re both alums of the iconic Saturday Night Live, as well as Chicago’s breeding ground for top improv comedy The Second City, they write for and star in NBC’s award-winning sitcoms, it’s a wonder no Hollywood genius has thought of pairing Steve Carell and Tina Fey in a movie until Date Night.
The results make you want to go for another date, and another and another…
You’d expect no less of the marriage of comedic royalty: Fey has won 3 Golden Globes for comedy series 30 Rock and picked up a whopping 7 Emmys for that, and her work as actress and head writer on SNL, while Carell’s been nominated for Best Actor 4 times for the Emmys and 5 for the Golden Globes for his role in workplace comedy series The Office (2 episodes of which he even wrote).
As Phil and Claire Foster, a plain as tap water couple from New Jersey, Carell and Fey hit Manhattan for a swanky dinner in a bid to spice things up after years of hum drum salmon and potato skins at the same diner.
The Fosters pretend to be the Tripplehorns, in order to hijack their reservations of a coveted table at Claw, a trendy New York seafood restaurant that half the world wants to eat at.
Lest you try that trick yourself, they are interrupted mid-risotto by detectives Collin (rapper Common) and Armstrong (Jimmi Simpson) and accused of blackmailing a mobster. And that’s when, as they say, everything goes to hell.
There are car chases and crashes, a screaming cab driver and Tina Fey as a prostitute.
Date Night is the sort of comedy that is effortlessly and brilliantly funny without having to resort to slapstick humor precisely because the stars are effortlessly and brilliantly funny. It makes you split your side with laughter simply because while the plot is reminiscent of the Bourne trilogy, the Fosters’ reactions are unpredictable and delightfully insane.
There are gems like:
“Are you breathing?”
“Only in.”
or
“I am going to ask you a question and I don’t want you to judge me for it, but what is a flash drive?”
We can give you many more memorable quotes, but then we’d be sued for illegally reproducing the script.
Carell and Fey did a remarkable job of bringing the Fosters to life. Every so often, when a celebrity is too famous, their personalities or, in this case, their beloved portrayals of Michael Scott, Liz Lemon or Sarah Palin, threaten to overshadow the characters they’re playing. You don’t have to worry of that happening with these 2.
The Fosters are wonderfully real, even during the most far-fetched moments of the movie. There are tender sequences too, amid all the humor, and you don’t find yourself wishing for it be done with just so you can get back to cramping your side with uncontrolled laughter.
It may be unfair to the other cast members to give all the credit to Carell and Fey, but the duo deserves it. They have armies of dedicated fans simply because they are that good.
Okay, so Mark Wahlberg can be highlighted for being the eye candy of the movie, playing a security expert that the Fosters run to for help dealing with the mess they have gotten themselves in. After all, there is something to be said for a man who has abs taut enough for you to do your laundry on.
Date Night is the kind of movie you should catch in the middle of the week, inconvenient as that may be precisely because there’s work the next day. The non-stop laughing will refresh you and relieve you of your stress and your boss, if not your date, will be grateful for that.
Release Details:
Title: Date Night
Opens: Apr 8
Duration: 87 mins
Language: English
Rating: NC-16
Genre: Comedy
Director: Shawn Levy
Cast: Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg