NBC’s recent ratings woes have been well-documented. From their utter lack of any powerhouse shows to the Conan-Leno debacle, the network could use a break (and renewing “The Marriage Ref” isn’t a good start). Imagine their marketing department’s glee when discovering that two of their biggest stars — Steve Carell of “The Office” and Tina Fey of “30 Rock,” — were going to star in a movie together, and Fox would be footing the bill for the 90-minute ad. “Date Night” isn’t quite the strong hand the Peacock would hope for fluffing its plumage, but it’s a fine vehicle to show off the stars’ talents. The script is weak at times, with dialogue that would have been cut by a sitcom writer, but somehow Carell and Fey emerge looking all the better for their ability to make even lame lines funny.
Claire (Fey) and Phil Foster (Carell) work as a real estate agent and tax lawyer in New Jersey, which is Hollywood shorthand for “boring.” They wake up early with their two kids in the suburbs, and they’re too tired for sex by the time they finally crawl into bed. When they hear that two of their closest friends (Mark Ruffalo and Kristin Wiig in far too brief appearances) are getting a divorce, they decide to shake things up.
Rather than going to their usual place, the pair travels into Manhattan on a whim, desperate for a table at a New York hotspot. When they’re turned away, Phil steals the reservation of another couple, the Tripplehorns. Halfway through their meal, they’re interrupted by two thugs (Common and Jimmi Strong) who want something the Tripplehorns have (and needless to say, the Fosters don’t). The small-town couple are thrown into the midst of a mess.
Thus begins another fish-out-of-water tale of people thrown into a situation they can’t handle (see “The Whole Nine Yards” and “Mickey Blue Eyes,” or, you know, don’t). Claire and Phil spend their formerly romantic evening running from the men while trying to figure out exactly what the real Tripplehorns (James Franco and Mila Kunis) are up to. They run into a variety of made-for-the-movies characters, most notably a security expert played by a shirtless Mark Wahlberg.
There are moments where director Shawn Levy’s past work in films such as “Cheaper by the Dozen” shows through, as the film is far more sentimental than it needs to be. He and screenwriter Josh Klausner (“Shrek the Third”) force feed the audience schmaltz with a hose, when more talented filmmakers know that films are far more palatable with just a touch of the stuff. The script tries too hard to be funny, and the film is at its best when it seems as though Carrell and Fey are improvising. It’s hilariously fresh and effortlessly funny at times, but it falters in the moments when it tries too hard.
“Date Night” features a soundtrack-by-numbers selection of music (Jackie Wilson’s “Higher and Higher,” The Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop,” a generic John Mayer track, etc. ) and unimaginative cinematography (thank you, Dean Semler, who previously marred “Get Smart” with his lazy, fuzzy camerawork). The special effects take you back to the ’80s, the heyday of action-comedies, but it’s not nostalgic; it’s just cheap. However, complaining about it seems akin to whining about how the cooks haven’t mastered the art of plating at Applebees.
Carell has got the goofy everyman down, freaking out and looking hapless with an astonishing amount of skill. Meanwhile, Fey might actually be able to act and not just inhabit the (admittedly awesome) character of Liz Lemon. She gets the best lines in the film, delivering them with a mixture of confidence and self-deprecating charm. Common is believable as the growling thug, but he still hasn’t shown as much range in his acting as in his music. Wahlberg is at his best in small parts where he can provide comic relief such as “The Departed” and “I Heart Huckabees,” and he’s great here, even if his arms are a bigger part of his role than his charm.
As far as dates go, “Date Night” is somewhere on the spectrum between one where the mom’s-basement-dwelling potential partner confesses an addiction to Staten Island strip clubs (true story) and one that involves me and Clive Owen. That said, any date where Tina Fey ends up in lingerie can’t be too bad. [B]