Date Night

This is a great movie starring Steve Carell (who is one of my favorite actors) and Tina Fey play Phil and Claire Foster, who are a married couple from New York that realize that their marriage consists of routine activities and may be becoming a little boring to them. Their best friends, they recently discover, are getting a divorce because they realize that they are just "really good roommates" but nothing more. Although they are in love and have some fun traditions already, Phil and Claire do not want to be like their friends, so they attempt to spice up their relationship by going to the nicest restaurant in town instead of the usual steakhouse. The restaurant is booked, so they steal another couple's (The Tripplehorns) reservations by pretending to be them. What they don't know is that this couple is wanted by mobster Joe Miletto (Ray Liotta) who has hired two hit men to find the Tripplehorns and make them give back a flash drive that they have stolen from Miletto's house. The hit men don't believe Phil and Claire when they say that they are not the Tripplehorns, so there begins the chase as Phil and Claire attempt to uncover the mystery behind their problem and the mysterious flash drive, while at the same time, try to solve the case for themselves.

It was a great movie and laugh-out-loud funny (however, Steve Carell can do anything and I would think it's funny). But honestly, it was well written, well cast, and has a great message about always being positive about your marriage, making the best of it, and learning about each other from your mistakes. It may not be the best Steve Carell film, but it still has his same style that many of his fans love about him. Fey and Carell's chemistry is seamless throughout the film, and for a second, one may forget that they are not actually married.

I like how there weren't any unaddressed problems within Phil and Claire's marriage, and that they worked out every aspect of it that needed working out. I feel like their issues were realistic to many married couples, especially nowadays when technology may seem to distract us and force us into repetition at times. However, their love for each other is still very much obvious, although they may be lacking some excitement in their relationship. They are still good to one another.

Some of the action scenes were a little childish (not that I mind), but were saved by the humor that prevented the film from taking itself too seriously during those sequences. I also didn't like the how Claire seemed to be obsessing over one of her clients, Holbrooke (Mark Wahlberg), because it was not only unrealistic, but unnecessary--and it makes you feel bad for her husband.

Anyway, I loved the film and recommend seeing it very much. I would definitely buy this movie on DVD.

Overall Grade: A-


-Ethan Brehm