DATE NIGHT
Oh Baby why you spoiled my night
By Quiien

A 20th Century Fox release of a 21 Laps production in association with Dune Entertainment

Produced by Shawn Levy
Executive producers Joe Caracciolo Jr., Josh McLaglen, Tom McNulty
Directed by Shawn Levy
Screenplay Josh Klausner



Starring

Phil Foster - Steve Carell
Claire Foster - Tina Fey
Det. Arroyo - Taraji P. Henson
Armstrong - Jimmi Simpson
Collins - Common
D.A. Frank Crenshaw - William Fichtner
Holbrooke - Mark Wahlberg







Technical Analysis:

Shawn Levy’s Date Night makes you feel like you’re watching a really bad Hindi Film. It has all the masala of our regular Bollywood bakwaas.

The stereo typical case of mistaken identity, goons chasing the hero and the heroine, cars chasing and banging into other cars, a cab driver who gets pulled into the chase and who seems to have better comic timing than any of the other actors in the film. A cameo by Mark Walbergh and Mark Ruffalo and Kristen Wiig also don’t do much for the film.. The dialogues are not in the least bit rib tickling. 

Carell and Fey unfortunately don’t click as well when it comes to romantic chemistry.  They both are great comic actors, but neither the script nor the dialogues are able to support them in showing us what they got! There’s a scene where Carell and Fey pull over to talk about their feelings even though they’re in the middle of being chased down by the bad guys. Seriously???? First of all it is a forced moment of emotional connection that’s being shoved down your throat and secondly the characters feel more like good friends attempting to reconnect rather than a husband and wife talking intimately about their feelings. This scene is a far cry from the emotional connect it tries to make with the audience. 

It’s also unfortunate that the entire supporting cast is wasted with the surprise exception of William Fichtner as the New York City District Attorney.  It’s not surprising that Fichtner’s good ! He’s a damn neat character actor!. But reliable actors like Franco and Kunis would hardly get any laughs in their brief appearances..

The action sequences are things we have seen before. The typical car chase and at the end the car falling into the river and the likes. Breaking into an office or doing a pole dance disguised as a hooker and a pimp. These are drills seen and done before.

There are moments that make you smile and there are just a handful of scenes that actually make you laugh.. But it is not in the least bit the funniest date ever. 

For me this is a one star on 5. This is one date you won’t regret you missed.



The Story

Phil ( Steve Carell) and Claire Foster (Tina Fey) are “just another boring married couple from New Jersey”. They have two kids and their marriage has come to a point where everything is a chore – right from the time you wake up until you put on the nasal strips and the mouth guard and go to sleep.

The Fosters in order to bring back and re experience the spice in their relationship that they had before it reached this state have a weekly “date night”, where the couple go out to dinner at the local Teaneck Tavern, while the baby sitter stays home with the children.  They almost have to drag each other and convince themselves to go for this date night every week.. Cause even this feels like just another routine chore. 

Their conversations quickly drift from “what’s their story?” which they ask each other about their fellow diners to the same chore-chat they have at the dinner table at home. Exhausted from their jobs and kids, their dates rarely end in fore- or any other kind of play, let alone romance. 
 
After seeing two of their best friends (Mark Ruffalo and Kristen Wiig) - another married couple with kids in suburban New Jersey - split apart from living the same life and them being reduced to being the “best roommates”, Phil and Claire begin to fear what may lie ahead: a state of bland indifference and eventual separation. 
 
In an attempt to take date night off auto-pilot, and hopefully inject a little spice into their lives, Phil decides a change of plans is in order: take Claire into Manhattan to the city's hottest new sea food restaurant “Claws”. 

The Fosters, however, don't have reservations. Hoping to be seated sometime before the clock strikes twelve, they steal a no-show couple's reservations. What could it hurt? Phil and Claire are now the Tripplehorns. 
 
The real Tripplehorns, Taste and Whippit (James Franco and Mila Kunis) however, it turns out, are a thieving couple who are being hunted down by a pair of corrupt cops for having stolen property from some very dangerous people. Forced on the run before they've even finished their risotto, Phil and Claire soon realize that their play-date-for-parents has gone hilariously awry, as they embark on a wild and dangerous series of crazy adventures to save their lives. . and their marriage.



Business Analysis

Coming with an Oscar winner ‘Date Night’ has minimum moments to attract and hold.
Chances are very less.



Other Credits

Camera (Deluxe color), Dean Semler; editor, Dean Zimmerman; music, Christophe Beck; production designer, David Gropman; art director, Dan Webster; set designers, Nancy Deren, Al Hobbs, Lauren Polizzi; set decorator, Jay Hart; costume designer, Marlene Stewart; sound (Dolby/DTS) Steve Cantamessa; supervising sound editor, Craig Henighan; stunt coordinators, Jack Gill, Andy Gill; associate producer, Billy Rosenberg; assistant director, Josh McLaglen; second unit director, Jack Gill; second unit camera, Paul Hughen; casting, Donna Isaacson. Media Relations (India): Universal Communications. Reviewed at Famous Studios, Mumbai on April 07 2010.  Running time: 88 MIN.

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