Date Night is a new comedy directed by Shawn Levy (Night At The Museum) and written by Josh Klausner (Shrek The Third).  The plot is incredibly simple.  A husband (Steve Carell) and wife (Tina Fey) feel things are getting stale in their marriage so they decide to have a night out in the city.  They go to a trendy restaurant and can’t get a table so they pretend to be other people.  The other people however are wanted by a some thugs working for a mafia boss.  Now they must spend the night trying to outrun their pursuers and find a way out of this situation.

To be honest this movie is pretty dull.  I was hoping for a lot more from the combo of Fey and Carell, two comedians whose work I usually love. Unfortunately the script is what it appears to be, bland hollywood dribble.  You’ve seen some incarnation of this movie a million times and nothing is added here.  The only reason you wouldn’t walk out of the theatre is Fey and Carell.

OK well it’s not all bad.  There are a couple of good little things from Carell & Fey scattered throughout, and at one point Fey has to dress like a stripper.  It’s also nice that Fey plays a different character, she’s still playing a version of herself but more the mom side than the manic/crazy or powerful woman we’re used to seeing on 30 Rock or SNL.

The real high point of the movie is the scene featuring James Franco and Mila Kunis as the real criminals that Fey & Carell have been mistaken for.  They totally steal the movie in two minutes and it’s pretty amazing.  Mark Wahlberg also has a memorable scene.  I think these cameos shine so bright because of their length.  They’re little breaths of fresh air.  Perhaps they would have grown tired as well if they were longer.  Other highlights include the casting of Jimmi Simpson (It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia) as one of the thugs, and he’s always great.  I also really liked Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl) in a very small role as the babysitter for the couples kids.  I liked her because here she actually looked like a teenage girl next door who could be babysitting.

Overall I’d skip this one, at least till you can Netflix it.  But if you want to go: