Steve Carell and Tina Fey might just be the current King and Queen of American sitcoms – Carell stars in the popular American version of The Office, and Fey is the writer/creator/star of critically adored TV satire 30 Rock, so a film that pairs the two would be bound to be highly anticipated even considering the two’s rather patchy big screen careers so far (both got off to strong starts with writing and starring credits on The 40 Year Old Virgin and Mean Girls respectively, but have generally turned in less impressive work since). So it’s hardly a surprise that the two’s team up is a bit of a disappointment – what is more surprising is how a fairly lacklustre script by Shrek the Third writer Josh Klausner drew not only the two stars in but also a selection of other high profile actors in supporting roles, including Mark Wahlberg, James Franco, Mila Kunis, Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson and, in especially small roles, Mark Ruffalo and Kristen Wiig (even more so when you consider that the whole thing is overseen by Night at the Museum/Pink Panther director Shawn Levy, a man hardly known for quality filmmaking).
The set-up is cute enough, with Carell and Fey as a long-time married couple who find that deciding to spice up their weekly ‘date night’ by trying something a bit different finds them on the run, hunted by a crime boss and a bunch of crooked cops, but sadly the madcap events that follow quickly start to feel rather shrill and irritating. In particular Carell, who in Virgin, Little Miss Sunshine and the better episodes of The Office has proved himself to be a comedy actor capable of warmth and subtlety, here just spends most of his screen time shouting and mugging, and although Fey is considerably more likeable she’s not really given the material she deserves. What jokes and amusing situation that there actually are in the script do get repeated more times than necessary as well, the worst offender being a running gag about Wahlberg’s character’s refusal to wear a shirt.
That being said, Date Night doesn’t really warrant a particularly vitriolic response either as at worst it is merely disappointing and rather unmemorable than outright offensive. Despite the general lack of inspiration on show in the script and direction the filmmakers made a smart move getting such a great cast onboard as they do manage to hold the interest and work hard to get the most from every joke (although including out-takes during the end credits was a less wise decision, as every one of the actors’ improvised lines are more amusing than what made it into the final film). As the film’s title would suggest Date Night does make for an acceptable choice for date night viewing, with the plot being so inoffensive and undemanding it’s not going to get in the way of any back-row fumblings, but it’s likely that you’ll struggle to remember much of what happened the day afterwards.
