Date Night
Ok, I officially must start watching “The Office” & “30 Rock.”
You know, the world would be an automatically funnier place were Steve Carell and Tina Fey to actually be married, but I’ll settle for their first film together, which takes two old conventions- the couple in deep and the long, dangerous night in the streets- and makes them funnier than they have any right to be.
Carell and Fey star as the Fosters, a happily married suburban couple whose marriage is all too routine. One night, they take a chance in the city, take another couples reservation, and find themselves on the run from the mob and corrupt cops the rest of the night.
With another pair, this would be as entertaining. Actually, there are times when Carell and Fey are hard-pressed to make it work under the direction of Shawn Levy (“Night at the Museum,” “Cheaper By the Dozen”), but these two generate laughs so effortlessly it’s hard not to have fun when they’re together. But it helps when they have onscreen help, and when Mark Wahlberg is onscreen as a former client of Fey’s, it’s hard not to get a few laughs in. Same with James Franco and Mila Kunis as low-level blackmailers whose reservation they stole. But let’s face it, Carell and Tina could make the phone book funny. Thankfully, they have better material here, though it’s not as good as they’re capable of themselves.
