By Jordan Berry
Phil and Claire Foster (Steve Carell and Tina Fey) are a married couple from New Jersey whose domestic life has become mundane and routine. He is a tax advisor, and she is a realtor. They have a weekly “date night” at the local steakhouse, where they play a game that involves them making guesses on surrounding couples’ stories.
They learn during a book club meeting that their best friends, Brad (Mark Ruffalo) and Haley (Kristen Wiig), have become bored by their marriage and are getting a divorce. Many of the reasons they give to Phil and Claire mirror the Fosters’ own marriage.
So, in an effort to spice up their romance, Phil takes Claire to a trendy, hard-to-get-into Manhattan seafood restaurant — aptly named “Claw.”
Phil decides to take a reservation from the Tripplehorns, who have decided to no-show. Halfway through their meal, two men named Armstrong (Jimmi Simpson) and Collins (Common) take the Fosters out back to question them about a flash drive they believe Phil and Claire stole from mob boss Joe Miletto (Ray Liotta).
After being threatened at gunpoint and not seeing any other way out of their predicament, Phil decides to assume the identity of the Tripplehorns and lead them to the flash drive.
Phil’s only plan is to fly by the seat of his pants, and as a result, the script gives the rest of the film’s story a fly-by-night feel. The film’s humor quickly disappears at times. This rarely happens, though, when Steve Carell and Tina Fey are on-screen.
Even if they had no chemistry, Carell and Fey are masters of their comedy craft. That they have the ability to make viewers like the Fosters and root for their seemingly simple quest of enjoying a nice date night only adds to their scenes and the story.
However, the movie is very uneven– so much so that at certain times, I was thinking, “Just shut up already,” immediately after a round of boisterous laughter. With some of the talent director Shawn Levy (“Cheaper by the Dozen” and “Night at the Museum”) has at his disposal, it is a real shame he could not make a more solid film.
Surprisingly enough, “Date Night” has its share of story logic. That is, the film does its best to avoid suffering from moments that do not follow from the actions or the personalities of the characters. But the unevenness comes from those instances where it fails to do so.
Those scenes shoot themselves in the foot by allowing their middle sections to spiral out of control or to go over-the-top. During the chase scene, it seemed like loud noises were the only constituent. Whether it was due to the volume of the sound in the theater or the obnoxious yelling and effects from the film itself, the potential of the chase scene fizzled out in less than twenty seconds.
Outside of their own mastery of the material, our leads are subjected to scenes and characters that derive their humor from some external source. The humor rarely comes from the story. Rather, it tries to be the result of some contrived mess of circumstances that con us into laughing. But the good moments do follow from the effort Carell and Fey put forth in staying true to their characters.
Great comedies often times have come from outlandish circumstances, and “Date Night” has these. But those great comedies do not lose themselves or their focus in all the mayhem. Instead, its characters drive it home, and more often that not, “Date Night” has stretches where there is no one behind the wheel.
**1/2 of **** (2.5 stars out of 4)
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 88 minutes.
Bottom Line: “Date Night” is too uneven to take full advantage of its cast, allowing many over-the-top scenes to spiral out of control. Steve Carell and Tina Fey are comic masters, but they can’t make this movie great on their own.
