Date Night

Rating: **

As a much-married couple,resolutely trying to keep it going,Claire and Phil Foster check all the boxes : slump in a suburban eatery and talk about what the other diners may be up to,cuddle with the kids before hitting the sack,without,um,making out,because,well,who has the time for that anymore.

And then,on one such date night,which takes them from dull ol’ New Jersey to swinging Manhattan,everything changes : a couple of mobsters-cum-cops show up,hijack them from the very fancy table which they’ve snaffled under false pretences,and sling them into a night of adventure and excitement and danger.

The most fun part about ‘ Date Night’ isn’t the fact that the mobsters and the cops fumble equally while trying to catch this ordinary couple on the run,though you can crack a smile at the standard bent policemen and jokey bad men banter. Mark Wahlberg,as the proud possessor of rippling pectorals which he shows off all time he’s on screen,and aider-and- abettor of the pair,is funny too.

But the real stars of the film are Carell and Fey for bringing such goofy conviction to this goofball comedy,much better than the director’s previous attempts at broad humour in the two ‘Night at the Museum’ films : they feel so much like a much-married couple dunked into a situation they are clueless about,knowing that the laughs will come when they remain grounded in all the lunacy around them.

shubhra.gupta@expressindia.com