DVD Reviews

Date Night – DVD Review

By Jeff Swindoll Aug 11, 2010, 16:40 GMT

After mistaken identity, married couple must survive night. ...more

Need something to spice up your marriage?  Why not spend an evening running through the city that never sleeps being chased by murderous thugs?  Heck, it worked for Steve Carrell and Tina Fey’s marriage.

Phil (Steve Carrell) and Claire (Tina Fey) Foster are a married couple from Jersey.  They appear to be happily married, but their relationship has grown repetitive and stale.  The tired couple even forgets that the sitter is coming and it is their scheduled date night.  Even that break from the kids has a similarity. 

The duo tries to add more spice into their marriage when they learn that a supposedly happy couple (Mark Ruffalo and Kristen Wiig) are secretly divorcing thanks to their mutual boredom with their marriage.  This revelation shocks the Fosters into trying to inject come excitement into their lives. 

Claire dresses up sexily and Phil decides to take her into New York to try a trendy new restaurant that she’s read about called Claw.  His plan of showing up early and without reservations is derailed by a traffic jam. 

They don’t make much of an impression on the prissy maître d so they are going to wait at the bar in hopes of getting in.  Phil, in a move to show his daring side, decides to snag the reservations of the “Tripplehorns” when they don’t answer the multiple calls of the hostess.
  
They snicker trough their lavish meal and surroundings at their sneakiness.  However, it’s not laughing matter when a pair of thugs (Common and Jimmi Simpson) takes the couple into the alley behind the restaurant.  They demand the “Tripplehorns” turn over a flash-drive. 

At first the Fosters think they’re with the restaurant and it’s about the reservation pilfering.  It’s not until the thugs pull out guns that the Fosters take notice that they mean business. 

Now they have to use their wits to outwit the villains and will cause them to run into a vicious gangster (Ray Liotta), an honest cop (Tarija P. Henson), the city’s district attorney (William Fichtner), and Claire’s sexy ex-client and ex-military guy Holbrooke Grant (Mark Wahlberg).  Talk about speed dating.

If trying to keep the spice in your marriage wasn’t enough there are also the times that you’re put into James Bond-like intrigue.  I hate it when that happens!  Third time this week!  Actually this madcap adventure in the vein of the Out of Towners puts Steve Carrell and Tina Fey’s comedic talents in the bulls-eye. 

People who saw the 88 minute cut in theaters will find there’s some footage that they didn’t see as the DVD has been extended to 101 minutes.  I didn’t have a date night with the film (too busy saving the world… again!) so I don’t know that has been added. 

Date Night really doesn’t put too much thought into its plot it’s a pretty standard madcap adventure.  The Fosters get into all sort of over-the-top mischief and just happen to know a Jason Bourne-type to move the plot along too.  You know, plot devices just for the sake of having plot devices.  So the onus of the film lies on Carrell and Fey. 

They milk their comedic repertoires and actually do get some laughs out of the film with their well-established styles.  Although other laughs are provided by minor characters, J.B. Smoove as a harried cab driver milks some laughs out of an action set-piece involving conjoined cars.  So is the movie one you’ll take home to meet your parents?  Perhaps not, but it is good for a nice evening.  

Date Night is presented in widescreen (2.35:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions.  Special features include the 2 minute “Alt City” that collects a series of alternate lines to scenes in the film, the 21 minute “Directing 301” with director Shawn Levy taking us behind the scenes, the 3 minute “Directing Off Camera” has him discussing his directing style, a 6 minute gag reel, 2 minutes of fake commercials done in a public service announcement style, the 2 minute theatrical trailer, and previews of other Fox products.  

You may not want to marry Date Night, but it does show you a good time.  You may be hungry an hour after watching it, but the comedy team of Carrell and Fey make a nice appetizer.  

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