# Date Night - In Theaters - Box Office Review



## celica_pete21 (Aug 27, 2009)

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=3887[/img]
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Title: Date Night
Starring: Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg, Taraji P. Henson, William Fichtner, Mark Ruffalo, James Franco, Mila Kunis
Directed by: Shawn Levy
Written by: Josh Klausner 
Studio:20th Century Fox
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 1 hr. 28 min.
Release Date: April 9, 2010
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*Movie* :4.5stars:

An evening out with your spouse. After years of doing the same old routine; same restaurant, same food, same time, same everything, you decide to do a 180 and hit up the city for a new...and fancy, experience. Well, that is what Phil and Claire Foster (Carell & Fey) decide to do. However, while trying to have a new experience with each other, and maybe spice up their marriage, their night was definitely one to remember.

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=3888[/img]
Phil and Claire Foster are your typical, all-American family. Both are successful in their jobs, they have a wonderful family, and the white picket fence house. While at a friends house, the Foster's learn that their friends are planning to split because their marriage is nothing but boring. Realizing that they are headed down the same path, Claire decides that tonight's date night will be something different. Instead of her typical khakis and nice shirt, she does her makeup, hair, and puts on a nice dress. Phil comes home from a long day at work, and at first does not realize Claire's new look. After a quick double take Phil's sudden attraction to Claire makes him decide to change things up a bit and spend date night in the city.

Arriving to the restaurant, Phil and Claire realize that in order to eat there, they had to make a reservation a month ago. Disappointed, and waiting at the bar, Phil (still feeling spontaneous) steals someone's reservation. Unknowingly this theft of reservation would lead to the worst night of their lives. Their meal is cut short when two armed men escort them outside asking for their boss' property. Unknowing what the men are talking about the Foster's roll with it, and give phony information, otherwise they are threatened with their lives. Scared for their lives as well as their kids' lives, the Fosters work a plan to get free. However, the men still have Phil's wallet, so the chased becomes the chaser. When Claire remembers a previous client from years ago who worked as an investigator, she and Phil travel to his place.

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=3885[/img]
Holbrooke (Wahlberg), shirtless and built, Phil starts to figure out why of all the clients Claire had dealt with, she remembered Holbrooke. Holbrooke helps with figuring out who is after the Foster's and where the people who originally had the reservation live. The Fosters head over to Taste (Franco) and Whippit's (Kunis) home, to find out why these people are after them. After finding out more clues, and getting what the two men wanted, Phil and Claire learn that the new district attorney (Fichtner) isn't as clean as he appears on TV. Realizing that the D.A. is behind all of their troubles, they hunt him down to stop the madness. This is one night Phil and Claire Foster will never forget.

*Rating*

Language: 1 f-word, half a dozen s-words, and about 20 uses of the others.
Violence: Light violence, gun shots, fight scenes
Sexual Content: Pretty extended scene through a strip club, no nudity shown, but some revealing outfits are worn by many of the women.

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=3886[/img]

*Video* :4stars:

I feel so limited by a lower budget theater. I think the projector light was messing up during the film, because it dimmed and brightened a lot throughout the movie. Trying to ignore it, the video was all right. I thought the direction during the driving scenes were great. And having an Audi R8, i'm sure made it easy. 

This film definitely had an action film feel to it, while still presenting itself as a comedy.

*Audio* :4stars:

Again, with the driving scenes, the engines sound great, and loud! I was a huge fan of those scenes. Other than that, because the focus of this film was a comedy, it wasn't a lot of noises or music, just a lot of dialogue.

*Overall* 

I thought this was one of the funniest movies I have seen in the past year. I thought last year's comedies were very disappointing. Date Night proves yet again that PG-13 rated comedies are the best way to go. Most rated R comedies almost always flop (Men who Stare at Goats, the Informant, Step Brothers, Semi-Pro...), and PG is very limited. I know there are numbers of very funny comedies in the PG and R rating, but PG-13 seem to be where it's at.

Date Night in particular, did a great job of combining comedy and action, as well as throwing in a fairly decent story in there as well, as to marriages that seem to hit a plateau. I know a lot of couples might see some similarities between them and the Fosters, and maybe realize they need to change things up one night, and try something different, go somewhere new, or even take a few days and go somewhere.

I was a tad nervous that the strip club scene would ruin the movie, but I thought they did a great job of keeping the focus (for the most part) away from the dancers, and on Carell, Fey and Fichtner, and it actually played out to be one of the funniest scenes in the movie.


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## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

Great review Steffen. :T My bride wants to go see a movie this weekend and this sounds like it would be perfect for our own 'Date Night'. Thanks!


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## Peter Rygiel (Jan 21, 2010)

Since I have a huge crush on Tina Fey and will watch anything she stars in, and I think Steve Carell is an honest, genuine funny guy, I was counting down the days until the release. Having said that I have mixed feelings about different aspects of the film. 

The chemistry between Carell and Fey was flawless. They seemed so natural together on screen and most of the lines intended to be funny came off as just that.

I liked the running jokes involving stealing someone's reservations and a shirtless Mark Walhberg.

The supporting cast was bang on, likable and very amusing to watch.

What I didn't like, and I stress didn't, was the ridiculous car chase scene in which the R8 and taxi seemed to be welded together. That entire sequence brought the movie in the genre of spoof, and a terrible one at that. Nothing about that entire way too long scene made sense. 
Also near the end when Fey started to count down from three amongst near the entire cast was really stretching it and not in tune with the prior somewhat realistic scenes.

All in all, I thought Carell and Fey saved this movie from being a total flop. I didn't love it, but merely enjoyed myself and thought it was worth my $10.25.

I think it's definitely a fun movie to see with a partner; it's not too serious and most of the dialogue is very well written.


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## celica_pete21 (Aug 27, 2009)

I agree that the R8/Taxi scene was long, but (this is just my opinion), I thought it was one of the funnier scenes of the movie. The entire room was an uproar in laughter, and I was actually on the verge of tears. Cheesy? Of course, but I'm pretty easy to make laugh, so that could be a factor as well. lol


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