After learning that their friends, played by Mark Ruffalo and Kristen Wiig, are getting a divorce, Phil and Claire try to spice up their own life in various ways, culminating with leaving their children with the sitter at their New Jersey home and venture into Manhattan to have dinner at an exclusive restaurant. When they're denied a seat because they didn't have a reservation, Phil claims to be the Tripplehorns (later to be seen as James Franco and Mila Kunis), a couple who has not shown up. Things are working out fine until a couple of thugs (Common and Jimmi Simpson) show up looking for the Tripplehorns, thus launching a mistaken identity night of car chases and Mark Wahlberg's abs. Ray Liotta, will.i.am, and Olivia Munn also appear.
This movie would have been a lot better if Phil and Claire from Modern Family had replaced Carell and Fey. As funny as the two of them can be, I didn't see them as anything but Steve Carell and Tina Fey - their characters never came through and it felt more like an extended SNL skit with a big budget. Half the jokes revolve around people being appalled that the couple took someone else's reservation and not being concerned about the fact that the mob and crooked cops are chasing a couple around the city. The other half of the jokes were already in the trailers.
There were a couple chuckles here and there, but a comedy needs more than a couple of laughs. It seems like the actors were having a lot of fun - off screen. I get the feeling that there were a lot of inside jokes and out takes that made what they were doing and saying seem a lot funnier at the time, but none of that made it into the final cut.
Date Night is not funny and borders on tedious - sad to say.
** (2/5 stars)
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