Date Night

Date Night is a 2009 film that stars Steve Carell and Tina Fey as average working couple Phil and Claire Foster, who put aside a certain day for 'Date Night's', where they go out together to the same restaurant and talk about pretty much the same thing. Spurred by the news that their close friends (Kristin Wiig & Mark Ruffalo) are getting a divorce, Phil and Claire decide to take a break from the norm and attempt to get into the upmarket restaurant Claw. In order to get a table, they steal another couple's reservation and soon get involved in a mafia blackmail plot.

It's an okay film. It was by no means brilliant, and with Carell and Fey both involved I did expect to laugh more than I did. A lot of the humour came from the set-up part of the film; the parts that show the average life of the Foster's, with book clubs and children running around everywhere. Once the action starts the humour somewhat dies down, although the action is most definitely tongue-in-cheek. The one scene that made me almost want to fast forward was when Claire and Phil pose as strippers in order to access the person that is being blackmailed; for me the scene wasn't funny-it was just cringeworthy

Carell and Fey have good chemistry in the lead roles, and are believable as their characters. The other cast members are all pretty underused; Mark Wahlberg appears as a James Bond-type security expert but does little other than not wear a shirt, Mark Ruffalo has just about three lines in the film, James Franco as the real Tripplehorn also appears for about a scene; the only cameo performances that make much impact are Mila Kunis as the real Mrs Tripplehorn who proves that she can do some acting and Ray Liotta as the mafia boss (who appears to be wearing purple eyeliner).

All in all, Date Night is an okay film. I wouldn't rush out and buy it on DVD, but it's pretty short, less than 90 minutes, so it would be worth watching if it came up on television or something.