I’m not the biggest fan of romantic comedies despite what my VHS movie collection of the 1990s might suggest. I’ll be the first to admit that despite all of the crappy romantic comedies (i.e., just about every Ashton Kutcher movie), there are some good ones. I’m a big fan of movies like (500) Days of Summer, Notting Hill, and The Money Pit. Date Night falls right in line with those movies. The most significant difference between Date Night and the other three is that it’s not quite as heavy. Not that the three movies that I just mentioned are by any means downers, but they do have slightly more sentimental moments than Date Night.

Date Night is pure fun while still bringing a crucial message into focus, that being the perseverance necessary to sustain a loving marriage. At the same time, it sometimes feels like forces from every direction are trying to pull it apart. Steve Carell (The 40-Year Old Virgin, Evan Almighty) brings his Michael Scott (from The Office) character to this movie. And it works well for him. He is goofy, affable, and at times naive. He stars as accountant Phil, who, with his wife, real estate agent Claire (Tina Fey – Baby Mama, Mean Girls), struggle to maintain the romance in their relationship. They have fallen into a very steady daily routine of managing their careers, taking care of their children, and maintaining relationships with their friends, so much so that they hardly have time for each other. Their love is unquestioned, but they both seem to find it tiring to find time to go to a local restaurant for dinner together. Sex almost appears to be out of the equation, not because of lack of want, but because they are so exhausted by the end of the day.

But when Phil is told at book club that two of their best friends are getting a divorce because they have decided they are “really great roommates” rather than a happily married couple, he looks into ways that he and Claire can spice their lives up to avoid this from happening to them. So, on a Friday night, they leave their comfortable suburban community in northern New Jersey in favor of a new upscale restaurant in Manhattan. However, their evening hits an unfortunate snag when they are told that they need reservations weeks in advance for a table at the restaurant called Claw. The couple hangs out in the bar for a couple of minutes, and when the hostess calls out the last name of a couple on their reservation list with no response, Phil and Claire assume the name, and instead of the Fosters, they become the Tripplehorns (the last name of the couple that no-showed) for the night. This is where the real fun begins.

The real-life Tripplehorns, however, are being hunted by the mob. And the two hitmen chasing the Tripplehorns believe Phil and Claire are the actual Tripplehorns, masquerading as the Fosters. Their romantic date night turns into a fun-filled game of cat and mouse as Phil and Claire try to escape the men trying to kill them while also trying to prove that they are not the Tripplehorns.

That is plenty enough of the story. The plot plays out from this point forward, as you would expect. There are no out-of-the-ordinary twists or anything else that could mess up the story. It’s just a fun ride. What makes the film successful, in addition to the comedic performances of Carell and Fey, are the role performances of a few A-list Hollywood stars. These include a shirtless Mark Wahlberg (The Departed, Rock Star), a former client of Claire’s who has a little side job involving special ops and high-tech security. He helps them out a couple of times, the real-life Tripplehorns (James Franco – 127 Hours, Spiderman) and Mila Kunis (Black Swan, The Book of Eli), and Phil’s best friend (Mark Ruffalo – You Can Count on Me, The Kids Are All Right).

This movie is worth the watch. In terms of sound, cinematography, and even acting, there isn’t anything overly special. Still, this movie will work for just about anybody looking for a few good light-hearted, though not laugh-out-loud-out funny, sequences. The film doesn’t require a lot of thinking power, and it whizzes to its conclusion. Carell and Fey fans will love it, as well as fans of the traditional romantic comedy.

Plot 8/10
Character Development 7.5/10
Character Chemistry 10/10
Acting 8/10
Screenplay 7/10
Directing 7/10
Cinematography 6/10
Sound 6/10
Hook and Reel 7/10
Universal Relevance 7/10
73.5%