DATE NIGHT (2010)

Steve Carell and Tina Fey play the Fosters in Date Night, a movie I am calling the funniest comedy of the year. That’s a bold statement to make you say? Is it though?...

The Fosters head out one evening for their weekly, predictable date night. Normally they are found at their friendly neighbourhood eatery, chowing down on potato skins while making fun and doing impressions of other couples who are out and about. However, both Claire and Phil are terribly bored by this regiment and attempt to do something different. They head into the city to the newest, hottest restaurant and ask for a seat. After the maitre d’ scoffs at their request for not booking a seat sometime in the 1970’s, the Fosters take a reservation from a pair of mysterious no shows called the Triplehorns.

A beat or two later we (the viewer) and the Fosters find this to be a bad idea as they no sooner are ridiculed for taking someone’s reservation before having guns shoved in their faces. They soon find themselves on the run from another pair of bad guys who don’t know how to aim at a running target or can’t seem to keep people in their grasp. The best part about this usually-terrible movie cliché? Somehow we believe it! Whether it’s the fact we absolutely adore the two most talented actors on TV, or whether it’s the fact the movie doesn’t take itself too seriously, you soon find yourself rooting for the Fosters and laughing almost uncontrollably.

There is a lot to be said about a PG-13 comedy that keeps the laughs going without resorting to toilet humour or having every funny part being shown in the trailer. Although a lot of the dialogue is definitely written by two quirky comedians, real truths are revealed in the film that no matter what type of situation a person is in, most would honestly be thinking about as they are being chased around Manhattan with a gun. Exempli gratia, climbing up a fire escape to break into an apartment, Tina Fey’s character notes to her husband that he should remember – everything he is doing, she is doing in heals. Random - but funny because it’s true.

Mark Wahlberg, Mark Ruffalo, James Franco, Kristin Wiig and Mila Kunis also appear randomly throughout this film, and are there to serve a purpose, but definitely don’t overstay their welcome. The thing that concerned me walking into Date Night, was that Tina Fey and Steve Carell would constantly be vying for center stage. Either that or one or the other might accidentally upstage the other, as both are stars and can carry their own. It does not happen. In fact, they play well enough off of each other one could only hope to see them paired up again soon in something else. Their chemistry is divine.

The door is open for date night, not only because it’s a funny and witty comedy that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but because it’s well written and it’s a movie that proves that clean comedy still exists. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy swears and gore as much as the next person if it applies to a film, but too many comedies rely on cheap laughs nowadays that’s it’s nice to see something that’s worth your $10.

*Stills courtesy Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation