Sunday, May 2, 2010

MOVIE REVIEW ... DATE NIGHT

MOVIE REVIEW ...

DATE NIGHT


poster American laugh-makers Steve Carrell and Tina Fey have benefited from the current trend in idolising comedians.  It’s understandable given Carrell has made the U.S. version of The Office watchable and Fey's esteemed stint on Saturday Night Live.  One can see the appeal in uniting them in the hope of doubling the laughs.  Reasonably succeeding with Date Night, it utilises their inventive comedic skills in its skewering of marital life.


Mundane routine seems to rule the lives of Phil (Steve Carrell) and Claire (Tina Fey).  Devoid of the romance which united them, they decide to fix this by going to a swanky restaurant.  Taking the place of some no-shows, their enjoyable dinner is rudely interrupted by a pair of thugs.  Mistaken for the missing couple, they become confused when demanded the return of a valuable flash drive.  Learning a dangerous mobster wants it they make a hasty escape and find themselves on the run.  With bullets whizzing past, they ponder how their romantic night out could turn into the ultimate date from hell.

DATE NIGHT
This amiable nonsense wrings a lot out of its brisk running time.  Which is just as well as the whole enterprise relies heavily on  Carrell and Fey's talents.  Their gift for improvisations elevates what is on paper a fairly vanilla offering.  As a couple desperate to put the spark back into their marriage, the actors ground their one dimensional roles with genuine believability.  This comes in handy as the plot spins wildly out of control as each ludicrous situation piles on the other.  When the obligatory city wide car chase arrives, the film sets to autopilot with only their chemistry seeing things through.

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There's plenty of laughs to be had with an initially 'family friendly' tone giving way to some very adult antics.  Apart from the leads other performers such as Mark Wahlberg as a computer genius and James Franco as a petty thief get into the spirit of things with some spot on comic timing.  Perhaps they knew the film wasn't much chop and so decided to overplay their caricatured roles.  This adds to the overall fun as Date Night never takes itself seriously and features some amusingly sly digs at the institution of marriage.

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Whilst Date Night's story isn't anything new and sticks to pure formula, it's an affable enough time waster which showcases Carrell and Fey's abilities well.  As a fable on the need to re-energise any partnership, hopefully couples won't go to the extremes levelled at Date Night's hapless duo.


Movie Review Rating 6 / 10

Movie Review by Patrick Moore

DATE NIGHT released in Australia on Thursday 29 April 2010.

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