Jack & I saw this on vacation in Minneapolis and thought it was funny, despite an average of only 68% on rottentomatoes. As fans of NBC's Thursday night comedies we love Tina Fey and Steve Carell, and their chemistry is adorable as harried New Jersey parents out on the town for one fateful night in New York. It's telling that Fey is listed on imdb first as a writer (Saturday Night Live (first female head writer), Mean Girls (2004), 30 Rock), then actress (see above, plus Baby Mama (2008)) then producer, etc. That intelligence informs her comedy, even when she's playing dumb. I first noticed Carell in Bruce Almighty (2003) and its sequel Evan Almighty (he played Evan in both); his breakout role was as The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005) which he executive produced, I liked him in Little Miss Sunshine (2006) and Dan in Real Life (2007), plus we never miss an episode of The Office. Many reviewers have complained about the script (first full writing credit for Josh Klausner) and the director Shawn Levy (can't say I'm a fan of much of his previous work, especially Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, though I liked its predecessor), but the actors make up for it. Lots of recognizable talent (Mark Wahlberg in a running gag about being shirtless, Taraji P. Henson as a cop, rapper Common, Fey's SNL colleague Kristen Wiig, Mark Ruffalo, James Franco, Mila Kunis, the list goes on) graces the screen, including J.B. Smoove (Leon on Curb Your Enthusiasm (2007-09)) as the rubber-faced cab driver, in a car stunt we believe is new under the lens. The movie has a few examples of Rule #7, and a goof involving it (I won't say, because it's kind of a spoiler. After you see the movie, read this). One of my fellow bloggers has compiled a list of the music (according to him, no soundtrack release is planned).
Date Night is not particularly art, but we enjoyed it thoroughly, and, as usual, we stayed until the very end to see some hilarious outtakes of Fey and Carell improvising a scene.
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