Date Night

This article is about the 2010 film. For other uses, see Date Night (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Date Movie.
Date Night

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Shawn Levy
Produced by
  • Shawn Levy
  • Tom McNulty
Written by Josh Klausner
Starring
Music by Christophe Beck
Cinematography Dean Semler
Edited by Dean Zimmerman
Production
company
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release dates
  • April 6, 2010 (2010-04-06) (New York premiere)
  • April 9, 2010 (2010-04-09) (United States)
Running time
 88 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $55 million[2][3]
Box office $152.3 million[2]

Date Night is a 2010 comedy crime film directed by Shawn Levy and starring Steve Carell and Tina Fey. It was released in the United States on April 9, 2010.[1] For a time it was marketed as Crazy Night in Europe but later the title was changed back to the original Date Night.

Plot

Phil and Claire Foster (Steve Carell and Tina Fey) are a married couple from New Jersey with two children and whose domestic life has become boring and routine. Phil is a tax lawyer while Claire is a realtor. They are motivated to reignite their romance after learning that their best friends, Brad and Haley (Mark Ruffalo and Kristen Wiig), are planning to divorce to escape the married-life routine and to have more excitement in their lives.

To avoid the routine that had become their weekly "date night", Phil decides that he will take Claire to a trendy Manhattan restaurant, but they cannot get a table. Phil takes a reservation from a no-show couple, the Tripplehorns, despite Claire's misgivings. While eating they are approached by two men, Collins (Common) and Armstrong (Jimmi Simpson), who question them about a flash drive they believe Phil and Claire stole from mobster boss Joe Miletto (Ray Liotta). Phil and Claire explain that they are not the Tripplehorns, but the men threaten them at gunpoint. Not seeing any other way out, Phil tells them it is in a boathouse in Central Park.

At the boathouse, Claire pretends to search; while Collins and Armstrong's backs are turned, Phil hits them with a paddle and escapes with Claire on a boat. At a police station, Phil and Claire talk with Detective Arroyo (Taraji P. Henson), but discover Collins and Armstrong are also detectives, presumably on Miletto's payroll. Realizing they cannot trust the police, they decide to find the real Tripplehorns. They return to the restaurant and find the cellphone number of the Tripplehorns.

Claire remembers a former client, Holbrooke Grant (Mark Wahlberg), is a security expert and James Bond-like action hero. He is consistently seen never wearing a shirt. At his apartment, Grant traces the cellphone signal to an apartment owned by Tom Felton. Collins and Armstrong arrive, but Phil and Claire escape in Grant's Audi R8.

They arrive at Felton's apartment and break in. They question Felton, nicknamed "Taste" (James Franco), and his wife "Whippit" (Mila Kunis) about the flash drive and Joe Miletto. It turns out that they went to the restaurant, but left when they spotted Collins. Realizing they are in danger, the couple give the flash drive to Phil and flee. When Phil and Claire get back in the Audi, Armstrong and Collins shoot at them. Phil and Claire crash the Audi head-on into a Ford Crown Victoria taxicab, resulting in their Audi and the Ford being attached at the bumpers. Phil and the cab driver (J. B. Smoove) decide to drive off to get away. Phil climbs into the Ford to navigate while Claire navigates the Audi. Phil checks the flash drive on the driver's Amazon Kindle and finds pictures of district attorney Frank Crenshaw (William Fichtner) with prostitutes (early in the film, a press conference shows Crenshaw highlighting his integrity platform). After evading Collins and Armstrong, they are eventually hit and are separated by an SUV. The cab falls into the river; Phil and the driver escape, but without the flash drive.

In a subway, Phil determines that Felton obtained the flash drive to blackmail Crenshaw. They return to Grant's apartment, and Grant is reluctant to help after becoming exhausted by their incompetence, but Phil begs and he agrees. Phil and Claire go to an illegal strip club that Crenshaw frequents, with Claire under the guise of a new prostitute and Phil as her pimp. After doing a pole dance for Crenshaw, they confront him and tell him they are the Tripplehorns. Collins and Armstrong come in and hold them at gunpoint and take them up to the roof with Crenshaw. Miletto arrives with henchmen and it is revealed that Crenshaw has been paid by Miletto to keep him out of jail. When Phil mentions the photos, a feud escalates between the mobsters and Crenshaw, Collins and Armstrong. Phil asks Claire to count to three (her typical method of calming their children). When she does, a helicopter appears and Arroyo and the SWAT team come onto the roof to arrest Miletto, Crenshaw, and everyone else. It is revealed that Phil was wearing a wire courtesy of Grant, who informed Arroyo of the situation.

After being declared heroes, Phil and Claire enjoy breakfast at a diner, where Phil admits he would marry Claire and have their kids all over again if given the chance. When they return home, they make out on the front lawn.

Cast

Production

Filming began in mid-April 2009.[6]

Soundtrack

Confirmed songs for the soundtrack are listed below:

Reception

Critical response

Date Night received mixed to positive reviews from critics. On review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes the film has a rating of 67%, based on 220 reviews, with an average rating of 6.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "An uneasy blend of action and comedy, Date Night doesn't quite live up to the talents of its two leads, but Steve Carell and Tina Fey still manage to shine through most of the movie's flaws."[7] Another review aggregator, Metacritic, assigned the film a weighted average score of 56 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[8]

Roger Ebert gave the film three and a half stars and two thumbs up saying "If you don't start out liking the Fosters and hoping they have a really nice date night, not much else is going to work."[9] Jim Vejvoda of IGN gave the movie 3 out of 5 stars saying "Date Night suggests a lot of comedic possibilities (Wahlberg's character being just one of them, and the Fosters' escape from the police station being another example) but it never quite capitalizes on all of these set-ups. Despite these shortcomings, the film still manages to be a lot of fun".[10]

Box office

On its opening weekend, 20th Century Fox reported that Date Night grossed $27.1 million, about $200,000 more than Warner Bros. reported for Clash of the Titans. In a recount, Clash of the Titans retained the #1 spot for a second-straight weekend with $26.6 million. Date Night debuted at #2 with $25.2 million, nearly $2 million less than Fox had reported a day earlier.[11] The film went on to gross $98.7 million in the United States and Canada and $53.6 million in other countries totaling a worldwide gross of $152.3 million.[2]

Awards and nominations

The film won the Teen Choice Award for Movie Comedy and Fey won the Teen Choice Award for Movie Actress: Comedy.[12]

Home media

Date Night was released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 10, 2010.[13] The DVD includes both theatrical (88 minutes) and extended (101 minutes) versions of the film, alternate scenes, two featurettes, public service announcements, and a gag reel. The Blu-ray contained a digital copy while Target had an exclusive combo pack that contained the Blu-ray, a DVD copy, and a digital copy. The Target exclusive also had a different cover.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Date Night at Box Office Mojo
  2. 1 2 3 Date Night. The Numbers
  3. ↑ Fritz, Ben (April 8, 2010). "Movie projector: Steve Carell, Tina Fey do battle with 'Titans'". Los Angeles Times (Tribune Company). Retrieved May 9, 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Tatiana Siegel; Michael Fleming (2009-04-13). "Wahlberg, Franco join 'Date Night'". Variety. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
  5. ↑ Justin Kroll (2009-05-26). "William Fichtner". Variety. Retrieved 2009-06-19.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Jay A. Fernandez (2009-05-13). "Threesome set for 'Date Night'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
  7. ↑ Date Night at Rotten Tomatoes
  8. ↑ Date Night at Metacritic
  9. ↑ Ebert, Roger (April 7, 2010). "Date Night". Chicago Sun-Times. If you don't start out liking the Fosters and hoping they have a really nice date night, not much else is going to work.
  10. ↑ Date Night Review. IGN. April 9, 2010.
  11. ↑ Germain, David (2010-04-12). "'Titans' tops 'Date Night' in box-office recount". ABC News. Associated Press. Retrieved 2010-04-12.
  12. ↑ Seidman, Robert (August 8, 2010). "Winners of 'Teen Choice 2010' Awards Announced; Teens Cast More Than 85 Million Votes". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on August 9, 2010. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  13. ↑ Date Night - DVD Sales. The Numbers

External links

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