Movie Review: Date Night

When two big TV stars team up to headline a movie, the result can be horrific, something to be approached with extreme caution. Luckily, Steve Carell of “The Office” and Tina Fey of “30 Rock,” actors in two excellent shows, were able to leave their primetime characters behind and create a sweet and funny story in Date Night, opening this Friday.

Carell and Fey are the Fosters, a couple about ten years into a lifetime marriage marathon -- they’ve hit the wall and haven’t yet achieved the marathon runner high. Take two kids, add Claire’s (Fey) real estate career and Phil’s (Carell) job at a bank, and the result is exhaustion that makes their weekly date night feel more like a burden than an escape. They’d much rather sink into bed to sleep than to canoodle. When dear friends, who always seemed fine, announce their split, the Fosters decide to up their game. She trades her mommish clothes for a chic dress and he trades the usual steak restaurant for a night at the hot spot in New York City.

It seems a good plan, but Phil isn’t very good at planning, as Claire frequently reminds him. Starving, without a table or a reservation, Phil bogarts the reservation of a no-show couple. The Fosters become the Tripplehorns and gleefully enjoy an overpriced bottle of wine.

The only problem? The absent Tripplehorns aren’t the Tripplehorns either, but a criminal couple named Whipit and Taste. They have something belonging to a mobster, whose heavies come a-callin’ between the entrée and the dessert. The Fosters find themselves in trouble with people scarier than the snobbish maitre d’.

Carell and Fey are evenly matched and develop some great chemistry. They play their roles as smart (unlike Carell on The Office) and loving, although a bit disconnected. Couples with careers and kids will recognize themselves in the Fosters. They’re helped by a clever script that cultivates jokes over time in addition to a few zingers. The chuckles, as well as a few belly-laughs, come from insight into relationships and contrasting the Fosters with this dark underworld they’ve entered.  Plenty of gun packing bad guys and car chases provide enough action to keep the film moving.

An excellent support cast increases the laughs and the action. James Franco as Taste and Mila Kunis as Whipit have a brilliant five or so minutes on screen. Their relationship issues mirror the feelings of the Fosters, although they vary greatly in detail. After all, even petty thieves want to be loved. Taraji P. Henson interjects gravitas as a police detective. Mark Wahlberg is hilarious as a swinging bachelor, former client whom Claire remembers a bit too well for Phil’s comfort. To add insult to injury, he refuses to put on a shirt to cover his bulging biceps.

The film is rated PG-13. Although it has a family vibe, some sexual references and a goofy scene at a strip club will be enough to justify keeping kids away. There is very little swearing. In fact, the film plays up Phil’s squareness when he pulls a gun on a bad guy and says “F you,” causing incredulous laughter from the tough guy.

This film works because Fey and Carell convince us that the Foster’s marriage works. Life may be exhausting and infuriating, but their love and commitment can easily weather these trials. Apparently, it can also withstand being chased through Central Park by big guys with guns. For Phil, it was always Claire. And vice versa. They may be on mile ten of the marathon, with the finish line still out of sight, but neither wants to stop running and neither regrets choosing to jump into the race. It sure beats sitting on the sidelines. Good for Tina Fey and Steve Carell for exploring on film what so many of us feel.