As is common these days with comedies, the end credits are punctuated with outtakes. Often these are more amusing than anything that precedes it. Here they show numerous clips of Tina Fey and Steve Carell improvising. It’s something the pair is clearly gifted at and it suggests that perhaps the film might have benefitted from allowing them to extemporize even more than they did. Regardless, the two make a great comedy team and, based on the success of their pairing in the frequently hilarious Date Night, it won’t be the last time they’re seen together on screen.
Billed more as an action comedy than a conventional romantic one, there are nevertheless some tender moments, which result in Date Night possessing as much heart as it does humour. There are also a number of fun cameos from a star-studded cast, most notably Mark Wahlberg as millionaire Holbrooke Grant who, despite his wealth appears unable to afford a shirt. His bulging pecs provide the film with one of its many running gags as Phil Foster (Steve Carell) continually implores Grant to cover his rippling muscles, which are obviously less of a problem for his wife Claire Foster (Tina Fey).
The Fosters are, by their own admission, “just these boring people from New Jersey.” With two rambunctious young girls, they are grateful for their regular date night escape. Fearful that their marriage is in danger of turning stale, the couple switch their usual restaurant for a swanky new Manhattan hot spot. But when their efforts to get a table without a reservation are mocked by the maitre d, in frustration Phil steal the reservation of the no-show Tripplehorns.
Midway through their meal, a couple of heavies show up mistaking the Fosters for the Tripplehorns. Their demand for the couple to handover a flash drive containing valuable information sets in motion a chaotic sequence of events as the Fosters find themselves embroiled in a nefarious plot involving the police, the local district attorney and a notorious gangster.
Carell plays it slightly more low key than normal making a perfect counterpoint to Fey’s droll delivery. Another of the film’s many recurring jokes involves Phil and Claire playing “what’s the story,” where they eye fellow diners, guessing their relationship and dubbing their own imagined conversation. It’s a set-up that showcases Carell and Fey’s ad-lib skills to uproarious effect.
Date Night is directed with energy and pace by Shawn Levy, whose credits include both Night at the Museum films. He keeps Josh Klausner’s solid script barreling along so the jokes rarely let up. Amidst the laughs, the film touches on the stresses of parenthood and the pressures in keeping a marriage fresh. It’s a degree of realism that serves to ground the film even while much of the action veers into the absurd.
With the Fosters proving to be an engaging couple and Fey and Carell a good double-act, the prospect of Date Night 2 seems a distinct possibility.
Kevin Murphy
