MOVIE REVIEW: DATE NIGHT

DATE NIGHT

Six of Seven Cows

One day Tine Fey will make a bad movie and Date Night will be the yardstick I use to measure it against. This will surely cause T – she thinks it’s cute when I call her “T” – no small amount of irritation, but that’s okay: I fully intend to be married to her at that point, and will take her into the city for a nice, romantic dinner to smooth over her ruffled-but-still-adorable feathers. We’ll leave our small herd of impishly-cute children with the sitter and embark on a date to end all dates, stealing someone else’s reservation at the most fashionable restaurant in town if need be. If that puts us at odds with the reigning mob boss, so be it: Anything for my beloved T-ster.

           

I hope you weren’t expecting an unbiased movie review, because as you may have noticed I have a bit of a thing for Tina Fey. I’d like to think we are just a pair of night-vision goggles and a utility van away from a very meaningful relationship. ‘Nuff said.

            

Creepy bias or not, Date Night is the funniest romantic comedy in recent memory. Fey is spot-on as usual, and Steve Carell, who plays the irritatingly-not-me husband, is the perfect foil. With a marriage grown stale, the two head into the Big Apple where things unfold roughly as described in the opening paragraph – minus, sadly, me.

             

The plot is strangely straight-forward and convoluted at the same time, but is really of only passing interest here as it’s the performances that make this movie what it is. Were there a school of comedic acting I could easily see Date Night on the syllabus. Fey and Carell are truly gifted comedic actors, displaying a range of ability enjoyed by few of their contemporaries. They have excellent timing and physical abilities, true, but what really puts them in a league with the Steve Martins and Phil Hartmans of the world is their ability to play it straight.

             

Both stars have attained a stature that allows studios to spend gobs of money on their movies, which pays off in Date Night with perhaps the best comedic car chase since The Blues Brothers. I hate car chases – hate them – and yet still laughed out loud.

             

There is some language, mild violence and sexually-loaded scenes that make Date Night an imperfect family outing, but then it’s a romantic comedy: What are you doing bringing your kids in the first place? Give yourselves a date night and go see Date Night. I give it six belly laughing cows.