#13. Date Night - Review
Sunday, September 12, 2010 at 8:57PM 
Date Night PosterDate Night falls perfectly in line with the rest of Steve Carrell’s cinematic efforts post 40-Year-Old Virgin and Little Miss Sunshine: this could have been so much better. This near-debacle could never find its own cadence because the screenplay could never stay on one track. Is it a comedy? Then why have we gone eight minutes without a single joke, save the “he turned the gun sideways” line that is recycled a half-dozen times? I have a feeling they imagined a True Lies of sorts, but ended up lacking in the fun department.
It is interesting to me that its quite easy to distinguish between a Judd Apatow comedy, and all the rest. His films effortlessly find that blend of crude humor and sap. Unfortunately Date Night falls in with the rest crap we have seen in the last couple years that don’t tout Apatow as a producer. Films like Hot Tub Time Machine, Grown-ups, The Other-Guys, and Cop-Out, all over-promise and under-deliver, just like Date Night.
Reader Comments (2)
No way! Don't include Hot Tub Time Machine in that lineup. Yeah the sweet stuff was a little sappy but it was SO funny. The self-aware time traveling comedy was the best.
Ok this is one of the few movies on your list I have actually seen...you are probably laughing because you know how pathetic my movie repertoire can be. This being oe of the pathetic ones. As they set the couples "normal/ordinary" life I couldn't help but thing how un-normal and ordinary their life really is. This couple lives in an upper middle class house in the suburbs of New York, they are probably making in the $200,000 range which I know you and I would be ecstatic to be making that kind of money. Obama wouldn't consider you well off because you would still be getting the tax break, but that is neither here nor there and I digress. Not only are they financially secure which is not necessarily a normal thing in today's society, they are part of a book club. Now a book club is not one of the most prestigious clubs but it is one night that they have a babysitter and are away from the kids...a break, not very normal. Where they find time for this is beyond me, I have two kids and a full-time job, the last thing on my mind as Jamison is shooting me with his toy gun and ripping his diaper off to show me the poop that he is so proud of is reading some lame book. Thirdly, they have "DATE NIGHT," now what exactly is "Date Night." I can only assume that it is another night away from your life and kids where you go out with your significant other to eat dinner and see a movie, to me it seems like some mystical place that only happens in the movies. I wish I was able to afford going out once a week to a nice resturant and was able to get someone to watch my kids once a week. They have someone do it twice a week. I can't even get family to watch my monsters! Now if I was able to have said Date Night and I wanted to spice it up and go into the city...which in my case would be Baltimore, going to the new hip spot wouldn't cross my mind because I didnt think I could get in but it would be because I dont want to drop $300 on dinner. So as you can see my personal take of this humorous event wasn't so humorous because I can't relate. And who do they think they are stealing someones reservation, really who does that? Anyway, now that my rant is over I did find some parts of this movie funny but I wasnt falling out of my chair lauging like in the 40 Year Old Virgin and Anchorman. I know Carrell had a secondary roll in Anchorman but his charater was hilarious. Also I am a huge Office fan and now my view of him is tainted as Michael Scott sort of like Michael Richards will always be Kramer.