cult film freak: DATE NIGHT

Written by James M. Tate / 6/02/2011 / 1 Comment / action , comedy , mark walhberg , ray liotta , steve carell , tens , tina fey

DATE NIGHT

6/02/2011 | 1 Comment

title: DATE NIGHT
year: 2010
cast: Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg, Ray Liotta
rating: **

The tale of a husband and wife who’ve been married too long. They have kids, a scheduled routine, and no sex life. So they go out on a "date" to a fancy restaurant, but there are no tables… Until the waiter calls out the name of a party with a table for two, and when no one shows up, Steve and Tina pretend be the couple. Thus the adventure begins as two thugs, thinking they're someone else, escort them into an alley and, at gunpoint, want a flash drive containing… Well that’s the plot, or what Hitchcock calls the “McGuffin”: an essential element the audience needs but doesn't really care about. With Steve Carell and Tina Fey, they’re most likely hoping for a lotta laughs. Well there aren’t too many. The look of the film is grainy, the colors blown-out like a modern thriller, and with car chases and gun-toting, nasty (though not very formidable) villains, you’ll forget it’s a comedy for more reasons than not being very funny. Although Carell and Fey have a few chucklesome moments, it’s an uneven ride. And Mark Walhberg contributes a glorified cameo as a shirtless secret agent providing imperative information much too easily. But thankfully his shortcuts bring the screen-time to a minimum, because the running-around gets tiresome, quick.

Share This Post :

Tags : action , comedy , mark walhberg , ray liotta , steve carell , tens , tina fey

James M. Tate

1 comment:

RileyJune 17, 2011 at 11:28 AM
What a bad movie. Something like "Abbott & Costello Meet the Mafia" , except lacking the acting talent. Tina Fey was good, but Steve Carroll was bad, and there was no chemistry between them.
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

PERSONAL FAVORITES

1)THE CROWDED SKY 2)THE FEARMAKERS 3)PULP 4)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 5)OTLEY 6)ANATOMY OF A MURDER 7)VIOLENT SATURDAY 8)CANYON PASSAGE 9)THE MAN FROM LARAMIE 10)HARDCORE 11)CURSE OF THE DEMON 12)HOT CARS 13)SHARKS' TREASURE 14)SWEENEY TWO 15)WAR OF THE WORLDS 16)EASY LIVING 17)ASH WEDNESDAY 18)THE SERGEANT 19)AL CAPONE 20)CORVETTE SUMMER 21)THE ROARING TWENTIES 22)FALLEN ANGEL 23)THE DEFECTOR 24)DUEL IN THE JUNGLE 25)AIR PATROL 26)THE SYSTEM 27)KILLER FISH 28)WHITE HEAT 29)ROYAL FLASH 30)ATLANTIC CITY 31)COMPULSION 32)WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS 33)THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN 34)MADISON AVENUE 35)THE SHARKFIGHTERS 36)DEMETRIUS AND THE GLADIATORS 37)MY BLOOD RUNS COLD 38)THE LINEUP 39)SWAMP WATER 40)THE DAY THEY ROBBED THE BANK OF ENGLAND 41)RUMBLE FISH 42)CANYON RIVER 43)THE HEARSE 44)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 45)JUNGLE STREET 46)THE DRIVER 47)FRENZY 48)PECKINPAH'S STRAW DOGS 49)THE KILLING 50)FORCE TEN FROM NARAVONE 51)BULLITT 52)WICHITA 53)QUANTRILL'S RAIDERS 54)KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE 55)LAURA 56)THE BREAK 57)CRIME WAVE 58)SORCERER 59)THE STONE KILLER 60)BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA

GREATEST MOVIES EVER 1)THE GODFATHER PART II 2)GOODFELLAS 3)THE GODFATHER 4)CHINATOWN 5)LAWRENCE OF ARABIA 6)JAWS 7)A CLOCKWORK ORANGE 8)IN COLD BLOOD 9)CITIZEN KANE 10)PSYCHO

ACTORS 1)DANA ANDREWS 2)JAMES CAGNEY 3)MARLON BRANDO 4)JACK NICHOLSON 5)ORSON WELLES 6)PETER O'TOOLE 7)TOM COURTENAY 8)CHARLES BRONSON 9)GENE HACKMAN 10)VICTOR MATURE ACTRESSES 1)VIRGINIA MAYO 2)SUE LYON 3)GENE TIERNEY 4)MERRY ANDERS 5)FAYE DUNAWAY DIRECTORS 1)JACQUES TOURNEUR 2)RICHARD FLEISCHER 3)STANLEY KUBRICK 4)ORSON WELLES 5)OTTO PREMINGER 6)JOHN CARPENTER 7)MAURY DEXTER 8)JOHN LANDIS 9)MICHAEL WINNER 10)SAM PECKINPAH