The American idea of a date night for married couples, where they book a babysitter and go out to spend ‘quality time’ together doing the things they did pre-marriage and pre-kids, is largely unheard of in the UK. And if the experiences of the Fosters played by Steve Carell and Tina Fey are anything to go by, then I don’t think that the phenomena will be taking off over here anytime soon!
As the film begins we see the overly polite Fosters perhaps a little in denial that their marriage is, at best, slightly crashing up against the proverbial rocks, and, at worst, in aid of some chronic resuscitation to pump some new life blood back into it. They find themselves in a case of mistaken identity when, while waiting for a table at a swish Manhattan restaurant, they slyly answer to the name ‘Tripplehorn’ and take another couple’s reservation.
However, as the ‘Tripplehorns’, they get more than a slap up meal for two at this posh eatery, when they find themselves being pursued by some dodgy cops working for the city’s big time mobster, played by Ray Liotta, who in turn is in cahoots with the equally unsavoury District Attorney, Frank Crenshaw (William Fichtner).
As the story unfolds the Fosters suffer an endless succession of scrapes, accidents, car chases and near misses. They understandably start to look like they’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards, but annoyingly and as if by magic, halfway through all this the characters some how get cleaned up and end up looking almost as scrupulously neat and tidy as they did at the start of the date. I think it’s fair to say that the film has a slight problem with continuity.
So, while following Phil and Claire Foster (Carell and Fey) through their date night from hell, we catch glimpses along the way of those characters whose job it is to basically help them save their skin, such as Holbrooke Grant (Mark Wahlberg), a high tech security and surveillance expert who consistently throughout the film is seen always in his bare chested glory. Wahlberg’s topless scenes are reminiscent of his past life in the public eye, during his previous career as the 90’s rapper, Mark Marky. Then, just as now, his chest is truly a sight to behold.
As the film eventually intensifies, then so to do the relationship issues between the Fosters. Gone is the politeness as they get into the real issues at the heart of their stale, dull, routine marriage. The film becomes more interesting when it departs from the sugary sweet pretence of their supposedly happy family life.
Looking at the central female characters we see two relatively strong ones in Tina Fey and Tarji P. Henson, even though they’re poles apart. Fey as Claire Foster is presented as somewhat of a control freak, whereas the character of Detective Arroyo (Henson) is a more together and measured personality. The women, for the most part, seem to be in charge, with even the babysitter (Leighton Meester) managing to demand from Phil Foster a highly inflated payment for her services. However, by the end of the film things take a different course for Carell’s character.
To be honest, there isn’t really much to be said about this film. That’s not to say that it’s a bad film, because it’s not. It’s actually relatively funny, although it could be said that the actors could have given more … it’s all in the delivery, don’t you know.
Sometimes Carell and Fey are just a little bit ‘off’ with their timing and their lines aren’t always delivered with the power and punch necessary for a really good comedy. Such delivery could have made all the difference between some scenes being just funny and instead being downright hilarious.
However, having said that, there is one scene where they seem to have achieved virtual perfection. It occurs in the nightclub where the Fosters, who are trying various ways to negotiate their way out of their sticky situation, find that their only option is attempting to dirty dance for the pleasure of the sleazy Fichtner character. Now that’s comedy.
I don’t think that this film can really be said to be striving to do anything new that we haven’t seen before - and no doubt we’ll see it all again – but at least it’s a romantic comedy which isn’t too romantic, although it has it’s moments. And perhaps at the very end, it more than makes up for the previous lack of romance, but judge for yourself.
Overall Verdict: Funny, but could have been funnier. Not a bad little movie on the whole, but Mark Wahlberg’s bare, naked, chest may just be the one, if not the only, real highlight.
Reviewer: Dee Davis
