Perhaps it will be more than a few years from now before college students start identifying with Phil and Claire Foster's marital problems. Shawn Levy's new film Date Night, however, balances its look into the struggles of a long-time couple with more than enough hilarity and spunk to satiate the appetites of viewers of all relationship statuses.
The film opens on a pretty typical married couple. Phil (Steve Carrell) is a bank employee; Claire (Tina Fey) is in real estate. They are consistently woken up hours before any decent person should be by two young kids hungry for breakfast. Confronted with the unsettling news that two of their good friends are separating because of boredom with their humdrum, predictable lives as parents, the two embark on a night on the town in New York City to bring some excitement and - let's be honest - sex, back into their lives. But as often happens in comedies, their plans for a glamorous night go absurdly awry - think Pineapple Express, but with older, better-dressed characters and without copious amounts of marijuana.
The biggest plus of Date Night is the generous number of recognizable faces. If you have starred in a funny movie during the last three years, you probably found yourself among the cast of this film. James Franco, Mila Kunis, Mark Wahlberg, Mark Ruffalo and Kristen Wiig all make appearances in small but delightfully quirky roles.
It would have been easy for the stars of the picture to get overpowered by the star-studded supporting cast, but Steve Carrell and Tina Fey hold their own, doing what each knows best. Carrell as Phil brings a level of humor similar to his role in 40-Year Old Virgin - usually a bit awkward, sometimes surprisingly poignant and always earning a laugh. Fey's take on Claire perfectly complements Carrell with a goofier, yet intelligent humor - very much like her 30 Rock character, Liz Lemon.
Another perk of Date Night is that it accomplishes what many films fail to do, particularly those from filmmakers like Judd Apatow. At a refreshingly brief 88 minutes, the film moves along speedily and wastes no precious time. No more wondering how much longer all this crazy stuff can keep happening - the movie ends at exactly the right point.
Despite its brevity, Date Night is definitely inspired by the Apatow comedy handbook. The characters are real, honest people with heartfelt problems and who have wacky things happen to them. The ending also is somewhat overdone and a bit contrived, wrapping up with a few unanswered questions. For example, recall the street confession/wedding scene in 40-Year Old Virgin or the diner recap scene in Pineapple Express.
But is that really a problem in a comedy? If the film makes you laugh, the characters are believable and the story is - for the most part - well thought-out, does it really matter you have no idea how they sort out and solve their mess of problems at the end? If you enjoyed Pineapple Express, your answer is probably no. The same applies for Date Night. Even with a relatively unstable ending, the film shines. Carrell and Fey show off impressive chops, and the bundle of other enjoyable characters make nearly every turn of the plot something to laugh about.
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