Review: Date Night

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Take two genuinely funny people, put them in a comedy ... and then ruin it by trying to make it really funny. You know the emphasis in that sentence, right?

Date Night stars two of the funniest people on the planet -- Steve Carell and Tina Fey -- as Phil and Claire Foster, two comfortably marrieds with kids whose attempt to shake up date night gets sidetracked by mistaken identity. The Fosters end up running all over Manhattan to get clear of the criminals and, well, hilarity does not ensue.

Like many Hollywood comedies, many of the jokes in Date Night seem to be planned by committee, from one particularly lame attempted getaway from gun-toting thugs involving penis meds, to bad physical comedy attempts to be sexy. Every time it seems to get interesting, something stupid happens to sabotage any chance of really enjoying it. It's surprising only one writer (Josh Klausner) is credited.  Interestingly, he also wrote Shrek the Third, another derivative and unfunny comedy. 

When Date Night works best is when it's not trying to be funny. Imagining it as a straight drama with comedic elements instead of the reverse makes Date Night an even more disappointing film. In fact, it's hard to write this review without being tempted to point out all the places where something genuine instead of a quick and cheap laugh would have produced a far superior film. 

Both Fey and Carell have great comedic timing, but comedy works best when it's not so patently forced and predictable. The thugs are menacing but careless, the host at the restaurant exceptional snooty, ad nauseum. Even the soundtrack is full of re-treaded songs.  At least Taraji P. Henson as Detective Arroyo gets to play straight and doesn't have to lower her standards throughout her investigation, but she's the only one who doesn't seem to be cut and pasted from other, better crime comedies. 

Date Night is likely to have at least moderate success based on the headliners; unfortunately, anyone watching this on a date night is not likely to go home happy.