Date Night - 2010

Director: Shawn Levy

Writer: Josh Klausner

Starring: Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg, William Fichtner, Ray Liotta, James Franco, Mila Kunis

After Phil (Carell) and Claire Foster (Fey) take another couple's dinner reservation, they are quickly entangled in an altercation involving a local mob boss and two NYPD officers on his payroll.

I had a lot of concerns about this one going into it. Even though the two leads are probably the biggest names in comedy for their respective genders at the moment, neither was involved with the writing aspect, and many say the film suffers for it. However, even despite my personal distaste for Carell's humor, I kind of liked it. While the premise might not seem terribly original, it was very reminiscent of the screwball comedy of the 1930s and 1940s; I even chuckled a few times. The leads are a very believable worn-out couple, and they have great chemistry with the rest of the cast, especially Franco and Kunis (during their all too brief scene). I feel no remorse about missing this in theaters, but it's good for a rainy day when you're dreaming of something more. C+