Corner Post movie review —
'Date night' is a bust

by Joe Pecoraro, posted April 26, 2010

Two very likeable characters break out of their normal life and go through a “wild and crazy” night that tests their relationship, only to come back and appreciate the life they had. Sound familiar?

The star-studded “Date Night” portrays an all-too-familiar story of one average night gone horribly wrong. Phil and Claire Foster (Steve Carell and Tina Fey) are a married couple from New Jersey. Hoping to get away from their boring lives controlled by work and family, they plan a night on the town at a fancy downtown restaurant.

After they steal another couple's reservation and finally feel like they have made their spontaneous move for the night, they are confronted by two mobsters (Common and Jimmi Simpson) demanding a flash drive they are convinced the Fosters have.

As Carell and Fey move their characters through the following scenes, they encounter a hodge-podge of established actors including Mark Wahlburg, Kristen Wiig, Mark Ruffalo, James Franco and Mila Kunis.

Entering this movie one would expect that with all of these stars, even a so-so script would have to be somewhat entertaining. Unfortunately this might be asking for a bit too much. Although the cast does a decent job at trying to turn this dull material into comedy, it falls short. Between embarrassingly unfunny scenes and a predictable and overdone plot, this movie never had much of a chance.

Steve Carell and Tina Fay are two of the funniest actors out there right now, but even they weren’t enough to revive this barely conscious film.

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