Date Night

I'm a horrible person. I said in my early morning post yesterday that I would post something of substance last night. But I didn't. I missed Sunday Scribblings this week. Someday, I promise I'll make it up to those of you faithful readers who have stuck with me this long. Today is not that day.

Well, I am posting a real blog post of substance today. But I don't think of this as a way to make up for not having anything good for the last two days. This is just a regular blog post. Just a simple movie review.

After an incredibly long, trying, and emotional day yesterday, I went with my mother and Nicole to see Date Night. Now, I'm a big fan of The Office and 30 Rock, so that makes me a fan of Steve Carell and Tina Fey. When I saw the first trailer for this movie, and saw that they were in something together, immediately I thought it would be comedy gold. But then I got a little scared. What if it's like two rights making a wrong?

And my fears were slightly confirmed when I started reading some of the reviews that said all the funniest stuff was in the trailers. I've decided I just need to stop reading professional film critics' reviews. I thought Date Night was hysterical.

Maybe it was because I was tired. Maybe it was because I was so desperate to laugh that you could have had Steve Carell reading the phone book in a funny voice and I would have been in tears from laughing so hard. I don't necessarily think that's the case though.

Steve Carell and Tina Fey had really great chemistry on screen. I'm not saying they're the next Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, but they were very good together. They play a married couple who have grown very comfortable with their roles as husband and wife/father and mother. As they find out that friends of theirs are on their way to divorce, they begin to look at each other. Without saying it, they each want to make things new all over again, and not just remain stagnant in a marriage that brings the same routine day after day.

So they go on a date. Early on we find out that date night is a regular thing for them, which already puts them heads above many married couple who never make time to spend time alone together. But even their dates have become routine. They go to the same steakhouse and order the same items off the menu. They look around at other couples and make up stories for them, and in some cases become envious. Again, without saying it out loud, they want a change.

Mrs. Foster decides to dress up for date night. This inspires Mr. Foster to do the same, and to take her into Manhattan for a real date and a night to remember. They go to an upscale restaurant without a reservation, which is apparently a no-no on a Friday night in Manhattan. They're rudely told to wait at the bar in case something comes open, which should be an impossibility. But then the Triplehorns never showed up to claim their table for two. So the Fosters move in and take the table for themselves. Who takes someone else's reservation like that? I mean, really?

That one move ends up giving them the night they'll never forget. They're soon caught up in an adventure that involves blackmail, gunfire, high speed chases, and corrupt authority figures. Through it all they were able to explore just how they still felt for each other, even though their lives had grown complacent.

Yes, there were a lot of scenarios in the movie that were unbelievable and far-fetched. Those are the kinds of things that a lot of people may scoff at when they see it. But you know, it's a movie. It's purpose is purely for entertainment value. In that case, it succeeds. I found it highly entertaining. And just because I like the two of them together, I'm not saying I'd like to see a sequel, but I wouldn't say no to another movie down the road with these two in the lead roles.