Date Night is one of those comedies where the funniest moments were the ones you saw in the trailer, unfortunately. Phil and Claire Foster (Steve Carell and Tina Fey) are a married couple who have become a little too comfortable and predictable with each other. As they see their friends divorcing and spreading their wings, they decide to mix things up a bit and go out for a night on the town instead of their regular "salmon and potato skins" date night at the local haunt in New Jersey. Of course, they have no reservation at Claw, the upscale and trendy new restaurant in NYC they decide to visit, but when Phil hears the hostess calling out a table for two for the Tripplehorns and no one answers, he gets the bright idea to lie and take the table. All is well with the meal until two rough looking characters come to the "Tripplehorn" table and ask them to come outside. It is very clear that Armstrong (Jimmi Simpson) and Collins (Common) think that the Tripplehorns have stolen something that belongs to their boss and if the Fosters don't come through with it, it will cost them their very lives. With some quick thinking, they escape and embark on a crazy journey to discover the truth that will have them calling for help from Claire's former client, the handsome Holbrooke (Mark Wahlberg); having a very unusual high-speed car chase; doing a really weird strip tease together in a cheesy strip club; and finally, facing off against a mob boss (Ray Liotta) and a shady politician (William Fichtner).
While the movie was only mildly amusing, I must admit that they did something very clever with the car chase scene since I've never seen one with two cars connected like that. Sadly, that was the best and most exciting part of the movie. While I am typically a fan of Steve Carell's, this movie just didn't have the zing his movies normally do and the acting felt phoned-in at times. Not terrible, but I just found myself bored for a good part of the film. What I can say is that they tried to pack a ton of extras into the Blu-ray version, so if you opt for the high def version, you'll get deleted, extended and alternate scenes, a handful of featurettes such as a "day in the life" of the director/producer, Shawn Levy, and one on how he directed from the sidelines, a gag reel, a bit on the casts' disaster date stories, camera tests for Carell and Fey, plus audio commentary by Levy. You'll also get a digital copy of the film, plus both the theatrical release and the extended version. As for the high def aspect, I didn't really notice anything outstanding. Sure the film looked and sounded crisp and clear, but there wasn't anything that stood out, which is basically the mantra I am saying about the whole movie. Nothing stands out. There are a lot of stars in the film aside from the ones I mentioned earlier, including James Franco and Mila Kunis (who play the real Tripplehorns), and Mark Ruffalo and Kristen Wiig (who play the Fosters' divorcing friends), but again, nothing about Date Night really grabbed me. If you are a huge Carell or Fey fan, give it a rent. Just know that he crash scene and Mark Wahlberg walking around shirtless in all of his scenes (and looking really hot, I might add) are the best parts of the whole shebang.
