Date Night - Movie Review

Date Night
A; Comedy
Dir: Shawn Levy
Cast: Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg, James Franco, Mark Ruffalo, Ray Liottau00a0
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What's it about: Steve Carell and Tina Fey represent a new genre of humour that's somewhere in between Jim Carrey's slapstick and Kathy Griffin's stand-up.

So their coming together in a romantic comedy is definitelyu00a0 reason to cheer. In Date Night, they play a jaded married couple trying to rekindle their fire by going out dining at a fancy restaurant in Manhattan only to land up in a soup.
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Caught in a hairy situation, they battle some bad cops, get shoved in their guts several times, do a dirty dance in a strip club and go through bizarre situations.

Supporting them in some interesting cameos are a shirtless Mark Wahlberg and a punked-up James Franco.

What's hot: There's something about this pairing that's not only fresh, but also innovative and smart. Putting together the funniest people on TV (The Office and 30 Rock) and letting them loose actually works in their favour. Carell and Fey have an uncanny natural chemistry that doesn't have pretense written all over it.
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While engaged inu00a0 banter, they don't try to outdo each other's timing or get insecure with who has the funniest lines. Instead, they seem to enjoy their association and do a good job of giving their characters a sense of realism.

Levy throws in something for everyone there's the regular slapstick, then there are some really witty lines (scene at the dinner table where Steve and Tina mime other couples) and a special appearance by Will I.

Am that won't go unnoticed! The action scenes are unbelievable yet will have you rolling in the aisles for their sheer ridiculousness.

What's not: You can't keep jumping the gun from one situation to another without tying them together. After a while, the plot loses steam and ends up being just a serious of funny moments tied together by loose string.

The parallel story of the corrupt cops chasing the couple doesn't hold ground and seems random. Also, weaving an entire film over a night's incident does put limitations on the number of original ideas.u00a0
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What to do: If not for Tina Fey and Steve Carell's terrific performances, Date Night would have been quite a washout.