DATE NIGHT Comedy In The Chemistry

DATE NIGHT

Comedy In The Chemistry

Directed by Shawn Levy
Starring Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg

With the release of the Bruce Willis schlub-fest Cop Out and the Gerard Butler-Jennifer Aniston love-in Bounty Hunter just weeks apart, it seems like the action comedy, that guilty pleasure-iest of movie genres, might be on the way to a comeback. Date Night is the latest of these to appear, and based on the cast – 30 Rock’s Tina Fey and The Office’s Steve Carell – it seems like the most promising of the bunch.

So what if director Shawn Levy’s previous credits include those famously shoddy remakes of Cheaper By The Dozen and The Pink Panther, and if the trailer somewhat ominously seems to give away all the best jokes? It has Liz Lemon! And Michael Scott! It can’t be that bad, right?

Date Night, as it turns out, is actually pretty solid and entertaining stuff, a mixture of comedy and thrills that goes as far as to shake off the guilty pleasure tag and become a legitimately good movie. Tina Fey and Steve Carell star as Claire and Phil Foster, a suburban Jersey couple who, after learning that some friends are getting divorced, become concerned that they themselves are going through the motions, romantically.

Phil’s solution is to sweep Claire up on a romantic dinner date in Manhattan, but when they can’t secure a table, they impersonate another couple, The Tripplehorns, to steal their reservation.  Unfortunately for the Fosters, the Tripplehorns are on the wrong side of the law, so it’s not long before two men with guns have burst in on their romantic dinner, a case of mistaken identity that will lead to numerous shoot-outs, car chases, slapstick gags and awkward stripper routines before the evening is out.

One of Date Night’s biggest virtues is its strong supporting cast – Mila Kunis and James Franco are hilarious as a pair of hopeless petty criminals, Mark Wahlberg is dryly funny as the defiantly shirtless security expert who helps the Fosters, and Gossip Girl’s Leighton Meester (just stop and say her surname a few times – it’s really funny) makes the most of a small role as a babysitter.

The leads are both great, particularly Tina Fey, who is unafraid to get dirty for a role – with her wild hair and grubby face, she actually looks like she’s been dragged through a hedge backwards (unlike Bounty Hunter’s Jennifer Aniston, who still looked like airbrushed perfection after that film’s many action sequences). Steve Carell is great too, bringing a touch of the bug-eyed lunatic to everyman Phil Foster.

Snappy and entertaining, Date Night is one of the better comedies of the year so far.

_ALASDAIR DUNCAN